약 2미터 길이의 아주 긴 human DNA는 복잡한 구조를 이루며 접히고 또 접히어 아주 작은 크기의 세포안에 들어 있다. 이 구조는 특정한 규칙을 가지고 여러 단계의 계층적 구조를 이루고 있으며, 다양한 유전자들은 그 3차원 유전체 구조를 통해 effector 등 과 유기적 관계를 맺으며 유전자 발현을 조절하고 있다. 본 연구실은 :

• 첨단 기술을 개발 및 이용하여 3차원 유전체 구조를 관찰하고
• 이들이 각종 질병 발병의 기전 등에 어떠한 역할을 하는 지를 알아보며,
• 이에 따라 새로운 개념의 치료법을 모색해본다.

About 2 meter long of a human genome is highly folded to be packed into a tiny cell. The recent technological advancement has revealed that the sophisticated genome folding is directly connected to the transcriptional activities, and are implicated in a wide spectrum of biological phenomena, including disease development. Therefore, understanding 3D chromatin structure is a key to elucidate the novel disease mechanisms and identifying a potential cures to them.
Kim lab for 3D Chromatin Dynamics focuses on unraveling complex 3D genome folding and its molecular mechanisms in disease development, such as cancer or neurological diseases. To achieve the aims, Kim lab adopts two tracks : 1) science and 2) engineering.

• Apply the cutting edge genomic tools to investigate the novel 3D genome structures and its functional roles in diseases. To better understand, we will also adopt the state-of-the-art technologies to induce or disrupt the 3D genome folding to identify the direct function of the genome folding in the disease development.
• Develop 3D genome engineering tools. This includes two types : to develop an efficient molecular tools to engineer 3D genome folding, like LADL, and to develop a better method to provide more precise insight to the 3D genome foldings and are more easily accessible to the clinical studies and ultimately help developing the personalized medicine.

• Ji Hun Kim, Mayuri Rege, Jacqueline Valeri, Margaret C. Dunagin, Aryeh Metzger, Katelyn R. Titus, Thomas G. Gilgenast, Wanfeng Gong, Jonathan A. Beagan, Arjun Raj, Jennifer E. Phillips-Cremins, LADL: light-activated dynamic looping for endogenous gene expression control, Nature Methods

  10.1038/s41592-019-0436-5, 2019

  down
• Ji Hun Kim, Katelyn R. Titus, Wanfeng Gong, Jonathan A. Beagan, Zhendong Cao, Jennifer E. Phillips-Cremins, 5C-ID: Increased resolution Chromosome-Conformation-Capture-Carbon-Copy with in situ 3C and double alternating primer design, Methods, 142, 39-46

  10.1016/j.ymeth.2018.05.005, 2018

  down
• Ji Hun Kim, Tao Zhang, Nicholas C. Wong, Nadia Davidson, Jovana Maksimovic, Alicia Oshlack, William C. Earnshaw, Paul Kalitsis, Damien F. Hudson. Condensin I associates with structural and gene regulatory regions in vertebrate chromosomes. Nature Communications, 4, 2537

  10.1038/ncomms3537, 2013

  down