Kim Lab

The research laboratory led by Jungsu Kim, PhD, is interested in understanding the molecular and cellular basis of neuronal and glial dysfunction in Alzheimer’s disease, other aging-associated neurodegenerative diseases, and normal brain aging.

Research in Kim lab is aimed at developing therapeutic strategies for Alzheimer’s disease by targeting microglial proteins implicated in neuroinflammation as well as brain lipid-regulating proteins, such as apolipoprotein E (ApoE), low density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR), and ATP-binding cassette transporter A1 (ABCA1). Kim lab is also interested in the role of epigenetics and non-coding RNAs in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease and other aging-associated neurodegenerative diseases. Emerging transcriptomics technologies recently revealed that many non-coding regions encode functional RNAs, such as microRNAs (miRNAs) and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs).

Using genetically modified animal models, human biospecimens, induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC), emerging single-cell transcriptomics, single-cell proteomics, and systems biology approaches, Kim lab investigates the function of multiple microglial proteins, ApoE-binding proteins, and non-coding RNAs that may play critical roles in neurodegenerative diseases and brain aging.

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Active Research

Research interests are centered on understanding the critical role of ApoE-associated proteins, microRNAs and long non-coding RNAs, leading aging-associated neurodegenerative disease. The lab has been interested in the function of microglia-mediated immune responses to Alzheimer’s disease progression. The research goal is to develop therapeutic targets to delay progression of Alzheimer’s disease by targeting brain lipid-regulating proteins such as apolipoprotein E, low density lipoprotein receptor and ATP-binding cassette transporter A1. The approaches used in the Kim lab include human and mouse genetics for candidate gene discovery, cell biology and animal modeling for functional study, small-scale drug screening and long-term in vivo drug efficacy testing.

The Role of Aging-Associated MicroRNAs in Alzheimer’s Disease

PI: Jungsu Kim

Agency: NIH

Period: 9/1/2016 – 5/31/2021

The goals of this project are to determine the role of aging-associated microRNA cluster in brain insulin signaling during aging and memory loss using animal models.
Role of MicroRNA-33 in Alzheimer’s Disease

PI: Jungsu Kim

Agency: NIH

Period: 9/1/2016 – 4/30/2021

The goals of this project are to study how miR-33 regulates neuroinflammation, ABCA1, and lipid metabolism and to determine the therapeutic effect of anti-miR-33 ASO using animal models.
Role of LDLR in Regulating Metabolism of Apolipoprotein E and Amyloid-Beta

PI: Jungsu Kim

Agency: NIH

Period: 9/15/2016 – 4/30/2021
MicroRNA-758-3p in Cognition and Alzheimer's Disease

PI: Jungsu Kim

Agency: NIH

Period: 9/1/2016 – 5/31/2019

The goal of this project is to study how microRNA-758-3p affects synaptic spine density and cognition by regulating CREB, ABCA1, ApoE lipidation and its implication to Alzheimer’s disease.
Modeling Neuronal Aging and Alzheimers Disease in Human Neurons Directly Converted from Fibroblasts

PI: Andrew Yoo (Washington University)

Agency: NIH

Period: 9/15/2017 – 6/30/2022

The major goal of this project is to use our established miRNA-TF- based conversion protocol to generate human cortical neurons, a neuronal type largely affected in AD, from fibroblast donors across the age spectrum, and obtain cortical neurons that represent donors’ ages as a cellular model of aging.

Recent Publications

2023

Acri DJ, You Y, Tate MD, Karahan H, Martinez P, McCord B, Sharify AD, John S, Kim B, Dabin LC, Philtjens S, Wijeratne HRS, McCray TJ, Smith DC, Bissel SJ, Lamb BT, Lasagna-Reeves CA, Kim J. Network analysis identifies strain-dependent response to tau and tau seeding-associated genes. J Exp Med. 2023 Nov 6;220(11):e20230180. https://rupress.org/jem/article/220/11/e20230180/276197/Network-analysis-identifies-strain-dependent
2022

Smith DC, Karahan H, Wijeratne HRS, Al-Amin M, McCord B, Moon Y, Kim J. Deletion of the Alzheimer's disease risk gene Abi3 locus results in obesity and systemic metabolic disruption in mice. Front Aging Neurosci. 2022 Dec 22;14:1035572. doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2022.1035572.
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnagi.2022.1035572/full
2021

Karahan H, Smith DC, Kim B, Dabin LC, Al-Amin MM, Wijeratne HRS, Pennington T, Viana di Prisco G, McCord B, Lin PB, Li Y, Peng J, Oblak AL, Chu S, Atwood BK, Kim J. Deletion of Abi3 gene locus exacerbates neuropathological features of Alzheimer's disease in a mouse model of Aβ amyloidosis. Sci Adv. 2021 Nov 5;7(45):eabe3954.
https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/sciadv.abe3954

Research Team

Jungsu Kim, PhD

P. Michael Conneally Professor of Medical and Molecular Genetics

Hande Karahan, PhD

Assistant Research Professor of Medical & Molecular Genetics

Byungwook (BK) Kim, PhD, MS

Assistant Research Professor of Medical & Molecular Genetics

Additional Research Team Members

Luke Child Dabin, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow

MD. Mamun Al-Amin, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow

Sutha John
Laboratory Manager

Dom James Acri
Graduate Student

Mason Douglas Tate
Graduate Student

Daniel Curtis Smith
Graduate Student

Sagara Wijeratne
Graduate Student

Richard Mustaklem
Graduate Student

Kelly Hartigan
Graduate Student

Jung Hyun Park
Graduate Student

Holly Kersey
Graduate Student

Narmeen Hashim
Graduate Student

Ahmad Daniel Sharify
Senior Laboratory Assistant

Ryan McMullen
Lab Technician

Ashley Dean
Lab Technician

Sam Walsh
Lab Technician

Justin R. Kim
Lab Technician