Laboratory of Neuroinflammatory & Neuroimmunology

LNN

LNN

Laboratory of Neuroinflammation & Neuroimmunology

Laboratory of Neuroinflammation & Neuroimmunology
Introduction People Research Publication Contact
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position.2018-10-11

Open Positions

글리아세포, 신경염증반응 및 퇴행성신경질환을 연구할 인재를 구합니다. 석사과정, 박사과정, 석-박통합과정, 박사후연구원, 연구교수 모두 열려있습니다.

We are recruiting people who are interested in glia-mediated neuroinflammation and neurodegenerative diseases. All positions are open including: master & PhD students, post-docs, and research professors.

관심있는 연구자 분들께서는 이력서와 함께 커버레터로 연구경력 및 계획을 간단하게 적어서 보내주시기 바랍니다.

If interested, please send us your CV along with a short cover letter briefly describing your background & research interests.

석경호(Kyoungho Suk, Ph.D.) 교수(Professor)
신경염증면역연구실 (Lab of Neuroinflammation & Neuroimmunology)
Tel. 053-420-4835, ksuk@knu.ac.kr
introduction parent nodes: COXbrain

신경염증면역 연구실 (Laboratory of Neuroinflammation and Neuroimmunology)

    본 연구실에서는 신경계에 존재하는 비신경세포인 글리아세포가 주요 관심사이다. 본 연구실에서는 글리아세포에 의한 신경염증반응과 신경면역반응이 어떻게 조절되는지를 이해하고자 하며, 이러한 연구결과를 토대로 급성 뇌손상 및 알츠하이머, 파킨슨 등의 만성 퇴행성 뇌질환 등에 대한 새로운 진단/예방/치료법을 개발하고 있다.
    Glial cells, the non-neuronal cells in the nervous system, are the major interest in our lab. We are seeking to understand how neuroinflammatory and neuroimmunological responses are regulated by glial cells, and hope this knowledges eventually contribute to the development of diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of chronic neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's diseases as well as those of acute brain injury.
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Research

중점연구분야 (Research focuses): 뇌과학 연구 및 뇌질환 치료제 개발 (Scientific & therapeutic approaches to brain diseases)

(1) 뇌염증 분야: 알츠하이머, 파킨슨, 뇌졸중, 다발성경화증, 만성통증 등과 같은 다양한 뇌신경질환의 근본적인 발병기전 연구 및 치료약물/진단법 개발

(1-1) Neuroinflammation: Study of disease mechanisms and development of therapeutics/diagnostics against neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, stroke, multiple sclerosis, or chronic pain.

본 연구실에서는 알츠하이머, 파킨슨 등과 같은 퇴행성뇌질환의 주범으로 생각되는 “글리아세포”와 “뇌염증반응”을 주로 연구하고 있다. 글리아세포는 신경세포의 기능을 도와주는 좋은 역할도 하지만, 과도하게 지속적으로 활성화된 글리아세포는 신경독성을 나타내기도 한다. 이 경우 신경세포 및 조직보호를 목적으로 글리아세포의 활성 및 뇌염증을 제어할 필요가 있고, 이를 위하여 글리아세포가 활성화되는 경로를 정확히 이해해야 한다. 이러한 배경 하에 글리아세포의 활성화 신호전달과 퇴행성뇌질환의 발병기전 규명이 본 연구실의 주요 연구주제이며, 이와 더불어 과도한 글리아세포의 활성을 조절하는 치료약물 개발과 뇌질환의 조기 진단 표지자 발굴이 또 다른 관심사이다.

Our lab is studying glial cells and neuroinflammation, which are thought to be the major causes of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. In addition to their beneficial roles, glial cells also show neurotoxic activities when chronically over-activated. In this case we need to downregulate the glial activation as well as neuroinflammation in order to protect neural tissues. Therefore, we need to understand the precise pathways whereby glial activation takes place. Over this background our lab's major research subject would be elucidating the signal pathways involved in glial activation, and as a result finding the pathological mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases. In addition, we are also interested in the development of therapeutic agents to control glial activation and molecular biomarkers to detect brain diseases in the early stage.

(1-2) Glia secretome: Study of glia-secreted proteins. The Gliome Database 1.0

글리아세포는 다양한 단백질을 분비하여 신경세포 및 다른 글리아세포와 신호를 주고받는다. 이러한 글리아세포 유래의 분비단백을 동정하고 이의 특성을 규명하여 신경염증반응 및 글리아세포의 기능 조절이 가능함.

Neuroinflammation is mainly driven by non-neuronal glial cells in the brain. Glia are heterogeneous and multi-functional cells, which mediate many supportive functions for the brain homeostasis. Recently, paradigm shift from the neurocentric to the gliocentric view of the brain has been proposed, and the complexity of the brain has been revealed by the recent studies on the novel functions of glia in the brain homeostasis as well as neuronal functions. Glia (namely, microglia and astrocytes) also participate in neuroinflammation, which is a common component of many brain disorders. Proteins secreted from glial cells execute much of the important functions of glia under neuroinflammatory condition, and they can be a fundamental source for diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets for the neuroinflammatory diseases. Over the last decade, we investigated the role of astrocyte-secreted proteins such as LCN2, L-PGDS, PTX3, and HMGB in CNS health and disease. In particular, a pathological role of LCN2 has been investigated in a variety of animal models of CNS disorders, including stroke, chronic pain, Parkinson’s disease, vascular dementia, multiple sclerosis, etc.

neuroinflammation

(2) 분자세포생물학 분야: 세포사멸, 세포이동 및 포식작용의 조절기전 연구

(2) Molecular cell biology: Studying the mechanisms of cell death, migration and phagocytosis

세포의 사멸, 이동, 포식작용 등의 다양한 세포현상은 인체질환에서 중요한 역할을 하며 여러 가지 유전자들에 의해 복잡한 기전으로 조절되는데, 이러한 조절기전을 이해하려는 시도로서, 관련된 유전자를 RNAi screen 등의 방법을 통해 무작위로 선별해내고 이들의 기능을 통합적으로 연구한다. 시스템생물학적 기법을 이용하여 다수의 유전자를 대상으로 그 기능 및 상호작용 네트워크를 밝히고자 한다.

Cell behaviors such as cell death, migration, and phagocytosis play important roles in human diseases, and they are regulated by complex mechanisms and a variety of genetic interactions. To understand these regulatory mechanisms, we are employing systems approaches toward their functions by using unbiased methods such as RNAi screening, in an attempt to discover functional interactive networks of multiple genes.

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Publications

  1. Yeast genetic interaction screen of human genes associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: identification of MAP2K5 kinase as a potential drug target. Genome Res. 2017 Sep;27(9):1487-1500.
  2. Role of the p55-gamma subunit of PI3K in ALK-induced cell migration: RNAi-based selection of cell migration regulators. Cell Adh Migr. 2017 May 4;11(3):205-210.
  3. RNAi-based functional selection identifies novel cell migration determinants dependent on PI3K and AKT pathways. Nat Commun. 2014 Oct 28;5:5217.
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Professor

석경호
Kyoungho Suk
  • Dr. Kyoungho Suk is currently a professor of Department of Pharmacology, Kyungpook National University (KNU) School of Medicine (Daegu, Korea). He obtained his Ph.D. in Immunology at University of California at Davis in 1994, and M.S. degree in Immunology at Cornell University in 1991. He graduated from KNU with the genetic engineering major in 1989. Prof. Suk received his postdoctoral training in the division of Rheumatology, Yale University School of Medicine, and he has been a visiting professor at Harvard Medical School between 2008 and 2009, during which he participated in large-scale experiments and systems biology approaches toward understanding of disease networks and pathways. Prof. Suk is the author of more than 200 papers published in peer-reviewed journals (h-index 41, total citations 5,937), and holds patents on various therapeutic targets and lead compounds that could be used for the diagnosis or therapy of neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases. Prof. Suk is currently acting as an associate editor of J Neurosci Res, and editorial board of J Neuroinflammation, Exp Neurobiol, Medicine, Mol Cells, Biochem Pharmacol, etc. Prof. Suk’s lab is interested in the proteins secreted from glia. A long-term goal of the lab is to identify and functionally characterize glial secretory proteins with respect to brain health and disease. Their findings so far based on in vitro and in vivo experiments as well as the analyses of clinical samples led them to propose that these glial proteins might be valuable theragnostic biomarkers and drug targets for the CNS injuries and disorders such as Alzheimer's disease. Omics approach and large-scale experiments are being employed to better understand a big picture of neuroinflammation and to uncover new drug targets.
  • BK21플러스 KNU 의생명융복합 창의인재양성사업단 참여교수 소개
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Researcher

김종헌
김종헌
연구교수
김재홍
김재홍
박사과정
Anup Bhusal
Anup Bhusal
박사과정
Ruqayya Afridi
Ruqayya Afridi
박사과정
강리진
강리진
박사과정
박현주
박현주
Lab Manager
Contact Us

Address

(41944)대구광역시 중구 국채보상로 680, 경북대학교 의과대학 약리학교실

Department of Pharmacology, Kyungpook National University School of Medicine, Daegu, Republic of Korea

+82-53-420-4835

 ksuk@knu.ac.kr