Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
Professor Kyungjae Myung's research lab focuses on the molecular mechanisms underlying genome stability and DNA damage response, with a particular emphasis on DNA replication, repair pathways, and the regulation of chromosomal integrity. The lab investigates key proteins and complexes—such as PCNA, RPA, CAF-I, RCAF, Ku86, and ATAD5—that maintain genomic fidelity during replication and in response to genotoxic stress. Using yeast and mammalian models, the lab explores how defects in these pathways lead to genomic instability, cancer predisposition, and cellular senescence, with a strong focus on post-translational modifications like ubiquitination and phosphorylation. Their work bridges fundamental DNA metabolism with human disease mechanisms, especially cancer and aging-related disorders.
Figures are computed from collected data and may differ slightly.
Cancer cells show increased genome rearrangements, although it is unclear what defects cause these rearrangements. Previous studies have implicated the Saccharomyces cerevisiae replication checkpoint in the suppression of spontaneous genome rearrangements. In the present study, low doses of methyl methane sulfonate that activate the intra-S checkpoint but not the G1 or G2 DNA damage checkpoints were found to cause increased accumulation of genome rearrangements in both wild-type strains and to a
Some spontaneous gross chromosomal rearrangements (GCRs) seem to result from DNA-replication errors. The chromatin-assembly factor I (CAF-I) and replication-coupling assembly factor (RCAF) complexes function in chromatin assembly during DNA replication and repair and could play a role in maintaining genome stability. Inactivation of CAF-I or RCAF increased the rate of accumulating different types of GCRs including translocations and deletion of chromosome arms with associated de novo telomere ad
Stalled DNA replication forks activate specific DNA repair mechanism called post-replication repair (PRR) pathways that simply bypass DNA damage. The bypassing of DNA damage by PRR prevents prolonged stalling of DNA replication that could result in double strand breaks (DSBs). Proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) functions to initiate and choose different bypassing pathways of PRR. In yeast, DNA replication forks stalled by DNA damage induces monoubiquitination of PCNA at K164, which is cat
Ku86 plays a key role in nonhomologous end joining in organisms as evolutionarily disparate as bacteria and humans. In eukaryotic cells, Ku86 has also been implicated in the regulation of telomere length although the effect of Ku86 mutations varies considerably between species. Indeed, telomeres either shorten significantly, shorten slightly, remain unchanged, or lengthen significantly in budding yeast, fission yeast, chicken cells, or plants, respectively, that are null for Ku86 expression. Thu
ATAD5, the human ortholog of yeast Elg1, plays a role in PCNA deubiquitination. Since PCNA modification is important to regulate DNA damage bypass, ATAD5 may be important for suppression of genomic instability in mammals in vivo. To test this hypothesis, we generated heterozygous (Atad5(+/m)) mice that were haploinsuffficient for Atad5. Atad5(+/m) mice displayed high levels of genomic instability in vivo, and Atad5(+/m) mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) exhibited molecular defects in PCNA deubi
Hyperphosphorylation of RPA2 at serine 4 and serine 8 (S4, S8) has been used as a marker for activation of the DNA damage response. What types of DNA lesions cause RPA2 hyperphosphorylation, which kinase(s) are responsible for them, and what is the biological outcome of these phosphorylations, however, have not been fully investigated. In this study we demonstrate that RPA2 hyperphosphorylation occurs primarily in response to genotoxic stresses that cause high levels of DNA double-strand breaks
Genomic integrity depends on DNA replication, recombination and repair, particularly in S phase. We demonstrate that a human homologue of yeast Elg1 plays an important role in S phase to preserve genomic stability. The level of ELG1 is induced during recovery from a variety of DNA damage. In response to DNA damage, ELG1 forms distinct foci at stalled DNA replication forks that are different from DNA double strand break foci. Targeted gene knockdown of ELG1 resulted in spontaneous foci formation
The accumulation of gross chromosomal rearrangements (GCRs) is characteristic of cancer cells. Multiple pathways that prevent GCRs, including S-phase cell cycle checkpoints, homologous recombination, telomere maintenance, suppression of de novo telomere addition, chromatin assembly, and mismatch repair, have been identified in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. However, pathways that promote the formation of GCRs are not as well understood. Of these, the de novo telomere addition pathway and nonhomologou
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