Skip to main content

Junho Kim

Sungkyunkwan University · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

About the Lab

Professor Junho Kim's research lab specializes in biomedical and bioengineering research, focusing on the molecular mechanisms of inflammatory diseases and cancer, particularly through the investigation of natural compounds and their pharmacological effects. The lab explores the therapeutic potential of flavonoids and synthetic derivatives in modulating immune responses and signaling pathways, such as NF-κB and iNOS, in macrophage and cancer cell models. Additionally, the lab engages in clinical research related to post-surgical complications, such as post-thyroidectomy hypocalcemia, aiming to identify early predictors and improve patient outcomes. The integration of molecular biology, immunology, and biomedical device development—such as soft-switching power converters—demonstrates a multidisciplinary approach to advancing health technologies.

inflammatory signalingnatural compoundscancer biologypostoperative complicationsbiomedical devices

Research Overview

Papers
27
Total Citations
296
Papers (5y)
10
Primary Field
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Research Output Trend

Figures are computed from collected data and may differ slightly.

Publications per year (5y)
10total
2021
2022
2024
2025
2026
Citations per year (5y)
147total
20212022202420252026

Selected Papers

15
1
Article|105 citations·2022
Single-cell genome sequencing of human neurons identifies somatic point mutation and indel enrichment in regulatory elements
Lovelace J. Luquette, Michael B. Miller, Zinan Zhou, Craig L. Bohrson, Yifan Zhao, Hu Jin, D. Gulhan, Javier Ganz, Sara Bizzotto, Samantha L. Kirkham, Tino Hochepied, Claude Libert
SJR Q1Nature GeneticsOA
Molecular BiologyBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
2
Article|51 citations·2015
Fisetin Suppresses Macrophage-Mediated Inflammatory Responses by Blockade of Src and Syk
김준호, 김미연, 김종훈, 조재열

Flavonoids, such as fisetin (3,7,3’,4’-tetrahydroxyflavone), are plant secondary metabolites. It has been reported that fisetin is able to perform numerous pharmacological roles including anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, and anti-cancer activities; however, the exact anti-inflammatory mechanism of fisetin is not understood. In this study, the pharmacological action modes of fisetin in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated macrophage-like cells were elucidated by using immunoblotting analysis, ki

3
Article|40 citations·2011
Overexpressions of Cyclin B1, cdc2, p16 and p53 in Human Breast Cancer: The Clinicopathologic Correlations and Prognostic Implications
채승완, 김동훈, 손진희, 최윤정, 박용래, 김경은, 조영혜, 표정수, 김준호
http://kmbase.medric.or.kr/Main.aspx?d=KMBASE&m=VIEW&i=0311120110520030445

Purpose: The molecular mechanisms that are responsible for the initiation and progression of breast cancers are largely unknown. This study was to analyze the cyclin B1, cdc2, p53 and p16 tumor suppressor genes in human breast cancer. Materials and Methods: To investigate the role of cyclin B1, cdc2, p53 and p16 in the pathogenesis and progression of breast carcinomas, 98 cases of breast cancers were examined by immunohistochemical method. The correlations of cyclin B1, cdc2, p53 and p16 express

4
Article|19 citations·2011
Reliable Early Prediction for Different Types of Post-Thyroidectomy Hypocalcemia
김준호, 정만기, 손영익

Objectives. High incidence of hypocalcemia after thyroidectomy is a major determinant in delay of discharge. Even though many studies have focused on the search for reliable early predictors of postoperative hypocalcemia, definitions of hypocalcemia are diverse; therefore, interpretation and application of previously reported findings may not be easy. We aimed to elucidate diverse patterns of post-thyroidectomy hypocalcemia and to provide reliable early predictors for these different types of hy

5
Article|14 citations·2009
High Efficiency Soft-Switching Boost Converter Using a Single Switch
김준호, 정두영, 박상훈, 정용채, 이수원, 원충연

This paper presents a new soft-switching boost converter based on the LC resonance and passive clamping technique without additional active switches. The circuit achieves high efficiency and low voltage stress by adopting a soft switching method using LC resonance. This paper gives a mathematical analysis of each mode and a detailed design procedure of the proposed boost converter. First of all, the operational principles are verified through simulation results. Then, according to the design pro

6
Preprint|14 citations·2024
Somatic cancer driver mutations are enriched and associated with inflammatory states in Alzheimer’s disease microglia
August Yue Huang, Zinan Zhou, Maya Talukdar, Michael B. Miller, Brian H. Chhouk, Liz Enyenihi, Ila Rosen, Edward Stronge, Boxun Zhao, Dachan Kim, Jaejoon Choi, Sattar Khoshkhoo
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)OA

Summary Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is an age-associated neurodegenerative disorder characterized by progressive neuronal loss and pathological accumulation of the misfolded proteins amyloid-β and tau 1,2 . Neuroinflammation mediated by microglia and brain-resident macrophages plays a crucial role in AD pathogenesis 1–5 , though the mechanisms by which age, genes, and other risk factors interact remain largely unknown. Somatic mutations accumulate with age and lead to clonal expansion of many cell

NeurologyNeuroscience
7
Article|11 citations·2016
Pyrrole-Derivative of Chalcone, (E)-3-Phenyl-1-(2-Pyrrolyl)-2- Propenone, Inhibits Inflammatory Responses via Inhibition of Src, Syk, and TAK1 Kinase Activities
양성재, 김용, 정덕, 김준호, 김성규, 손영진, 유병철, 정은정, 김태웅, 한인숙, 조재열

(E)-3-Phenyl-1-(2-pyrrolyl)-2-propenone (PPP) is a pyrrole derivative of chalcone, in which the B-ring of chalcone linked to bcarbon is replaced by pyrrole group. While pyrrole has been studied for possible Src inhibition activity, chalcone, especially the substituents on the B-ring, has shown pharmaceutical, anti-inflammatory, and anti-oxidant properties via inhibition of NF-kB activity. Our study is aimed to investigate whether this novel synthetic compound retains or enhances the pharmaceutic

8
Preprint|9 citations·2025
Recurrent patterns of TOP1-mediated neuronal genomic damage shared by major neurodegenerative disorders
Zinan Zhou, Lovelace J. Luquette, Guanlan Dong, Junho Kim, Jayoung Ku, K M Kim, Mingyun Bae, Diane D. Shao, Bezawit Sahile, Michael B. Miller, August Yue Huang, William J. Nathan
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), frontotemporal dementia (FTD), and Alzheimer's disease (AD) represent two major categories of neurodegenerative disorders—TDP-43 and tau proteinopathies—for which the mechanisms driving neuronal death remain unclear. Single-cell whole-genome sequencing of 469 neurons from C9ORF72 ALS, C9ORF72 FTD, AD, and control brains revealed increased somatic single nucleotide variants (sSNVs) and insertions/deletions (sIndels) in all three diseases. Mutational signature

GeneticsBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
9
Preprint|6 citations·2021
ATM-deficiency induced microglial activation promotes neurodegeneration in Ataxia-Telangiectasia
Jenny Lai, Didem Demirbas, Junho Kim, Ailsa M. Jeffries, Allie K. Tolles, Junseok Park, Thomas W. Chittenden, Patrick G. Buckley, Timothy W. Yu, Michael A. Lodato, Eunjung Alice Lee
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)OA

Abstract While ATM loss-of-function has long been identified as the genetic cause of Ataxia Telangiectasia (A-T), how this genetic mutation leads to selective and progressive degeneration of cerebellar Purkinje and granule neurons remains unclear. ATM expression is enriched in microglia, the resident immune cell of the central nervous system, throughout cerebellar development and adulthood. Microglial activation has been strongly implicated in neurodegenerative disease and observed in rodent and

NeurologyNeuroscience
10
Article|4 citations·2016
4-(Tert-butyl)-2,6-bis(1-phenylethyl)phenol induces pro-apoptotic activity
김준호, 이윤미, 김미연, 조재열

Previously, we found that KTH-13 isolated from the butanol fraction of Cordyceps bassiana (Cb-BF) displayed anti-cancer activity. To improve its antiproliferative activity and production yield, we employed a total synthetic approach and derivatized KTH-13 to obtain chemical analogs. In this study, one KTH-13 derivative, 4-(tert-butyl)-2,6-bis(1-phenylethyl)phenol (KTH-13-t-Bu), was selected to test its anti-cancer activity. KTH-13-t-Bu diminished the proliferation of C6 glioma, MDA-MB-231, LoVo,

11
Article|4 citations·2025
Diverse somatic genomic alterations in single neurons in chronic traumatic encephalopathy
Guanlan Dong, C. Chanthia, Shulin Mao, Katherine Sun-Mi Brown, Samuel M. Naik, Gannon A. McDonough, Samadhi P. Wijethunga, Junho Kim, Samantha L. Kirkham, Diane D. Shao, Jonathan D. Cherry, Madeline Uretsky
SJR Q1ScienceOA

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a neurodegenerative disease linked to exposure to repetitive head impacts (RHI), yet little is known about its pathogenesis. Applying two single-cell whole-genome sequencing methods to hundreds of neurons from prefrontal cortex of 15 individuals with CTE and 4 with RHI without CTE, we revealed increased somatic single-nucleotide variants in CTE, exhibiting a pattern previously reported in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Furthermore, we discovered high burdens

EpidemiologyMedicine
12
Preprint|3 citations·2019
Evidence that APP gene copy number changes reflect recombinant vector contamination
Junho Kim, Boxun Zhao, August Yue Huang, Michael B. Miller, Michael A. Lodato, Christopher A. Walsh, Eunjung Alice Lee
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)OA

Abstract Mutations that occur in cells of the body, called somatic mutations, cause human diseases including cancer and some neurological disorders 1 . In a recent study published in Nature, Lee et al. 2 (hereafter “the Lee study”) reported somatic copy number gains of the APP gene, a known risk locus of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), in the neurons of AD-patients and controls (69% vs 25% of neurons with at least one APP copy gain on average). The authors argue that the mechanism of these copy number

Molecular BiologyBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
13
Preprint|3 citations·2025
Diverse somatic genomic alterations in single neurons in chronic traumatic encephalopathy
Guanlan Dong, C. Chanthia, Shulin Mao, S. T. Naik, Katherine Brown, Gannon A. McDonough, Junho Kim, Samantha L. Kirkham, Jonathan D. Cherry, Madeline Uretsky, Elizabeth Spurlock, Ann C. McKee
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)OA

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a neurodegenerative disease that is linked to exposure to repetitive head impacts (RHI), yet little is known about its pathogenesis. Applying two single-cell whole-genome sequencing methods to hundreds of neurons from prefrontal cortex of 15 individuals with CTE, and 4 with RHI without CTE, revealed increased somatic single-nucleotide variants in CTE, resembling a pattern previously reported in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Furthermore, we discovered remarka

Molecular BiologyBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
14
Article|3 citations·2026
Somatic cancer variants enriched in Alzheimer’s disease microglia-like cells drive inflammatory and proliferative states
August Yue Huang, Zinan Zhou, Maya Talukdar, Liz Enyenihi, Michael B. Miller, Brian Chhouk, Ila Rosen, Mengyue Zheng, Minye Zhou, Averill Yang, Edward Stronge, Madel Durens
SJR Q1CellOA

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative condition characterized by microglia-mediated neuroinflammation. Deep (>1,000×) panel sequencing of 311 brain samples revealed enrichment of somatic single-nucleotide variants (sSNVs) in cancer driver genes in AD brains, especially in genes associated with clonal hematopoiesis (CH). These sSNVs were associated with clonal expansion and carried by both microglia-like brain macrophages (MLBMs) in multiple brain regions as well as paired blood, sugges

NeurologyNeuroscience
15
Article|3 citations·2024
Low-level brain somatic mutations in exonic regions are collectively implicated in autism with germline mutations in autism risk genes
Il Bin Kim, Myeong-Heui Kim, Saehoon Jung, Woo Kyeong Kim, Junehawk Lee, Young Seok Ju, Maree J. Webster, Sanghyeon Kim, Ja Hye Kim, Hyun Jung Kim, Junho Kim, Sangwoo Kim
SJR Q1Experimental & Molecular MedicineOA

Low-level somatic mutations in the human brain are implicated in various neurological disorders. The contribution of low-level brain somatic mutations to autism spectrum disorder (ASD), however, remains poorly understood. Here, we performed high-depth exome sequencing with an average read depth of 559.3x in 181 cortical, cerebellar, and peripheral tissue samples to identify brain somatic single nucleotide variants (SNVs) in 24 ASD subjects and 31 controls. We detected ~2.4 brain somatic SNVs per

GeneticsBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Research Areas

NeurologyMolecular BiologyGeneticsEpidemiology

Dive deeper into Junho Kim's research on Nubint

Open this lab's papers in the app to read with AI, summarize, and cite in your writing.