Nationality South Korean Name Kim Sunghoon Residence Seoul, South Korea | Doctoral advisor Dr. Arthur Landy | |
Fields Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase, Translation, Cancer biology, Therapeutic target discovery Known for Aminoacyl-tRNA Synthetases Notable awards The National Presidential Award, Ministry of Science and Technology (2003)The Scientist of the Month, Korea Science and Engineering Foundation(KOSEF) (2003)The Best Scientist of the Year, Ministry of Science and Technology(2006)The Award of Korean National Academy of Science (2012) | ||
Education
Work
Dr. Sunghoon Kim has been studying novel functions of human aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases(ARSs) and searching for their pathophysiological connections to human diseases(PNAS 105:11043, 2008; Nat Rev Cancer 11:708, 2011). He has identified potent novel tumor suppressors such as AIMP2/p38(Nat Genet 34:330, 2003), AIMP3/p18(Cell, 120:209, 2005). Besides, he has also investigated novel extracellular activities of ARSs and associated factors such as lysyl-tRNA synthetase(KRS)(PNAS 102, 6356, 2005), tryptophanyl-tRNA synthetase(WRS)(Nat Struct Mol Biol 11:149, 2004) and AIMP1/p43(PNAS 103:14913, 2006). He also discovered the oncogenic variant of AIMP2, designated AIMP2-DX2, as one of the critical factors that determines the survival of lung cancer patients(Plos Genet 7:e1001351, 2011). More recently, he found that leucyl-tRNA synthetase(LRS) serves as an amino acid sensor for mTOR signal pathway(Cell 149:410, 2012).
In summary, his research is unveiling novel regulatory network mediated by human aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases that have been regarded as housekeeping machinery for protein synthesis. The regulatory roles and implications of these proteins in human diseases have been largely overlooked for decades. His series of the discoveries on the new function, pathology and medicine of ARSs are rapidly opening a research area that throws new insights into the central dogma of life and human diseases.