Sangwon Kim, PhD is a member of the Center for Neurobiology and Behavior in the department of Psychiatry and his laboratory is located in the Translational Research Laboratories.
Dr. Kim is, in general, interested in cellular signaling cascades in the brain but particularly, in two following areas right now.
1) Oxidative stress-mediated neurodegeneration: He has identified a cascade whereby glutamate-NMDA receptor activation via NO and Dexras1, a novel small GTP binding protein, physiologically stimulates DMT1, the major iron importer. He is investigating the role of Dexras1 in brain iron trafficking and iron homeostasis on the cellular and systemic level in relation to neurodegeneration.
2) Nutrient sensing mechanism: More recently, he addressed the major weight gain problem, elicited by atypical antipsychotic drugs (e.g. clozapine or olanzapine-Zyprexa). He showed that the weight gain is caused by selective activation of hypothalamic AMPK-activated kinase via histamine H1 receptors. Deletion of histamine H1 receptors abolishes drug-mediated activation of hypothalamic AMPK. He continues to investigate the nutrient sensing and appetite control mechanism in hypothalamus.
Selected Publications
Kim, Sangwon F. Huang, Alex S. Snowman, Adele M. Teuscher, Cory. Snyder, Solomon H.: From the Cover: Antipsychotic drug-induced weight gain mediated by histamine H1 receptor-linked activation of hypothalamic AMP-kinase. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 104(9): 3456-9, Feb 27 2007.
Cheah, Jaime H. Kim, Sangwon F. Hester, Lynda D. Clancy, Kathleen W. Patterson, Stanley E 3rd. Papadopoulos, Vassilios. Snyder, Solomon H.: NMDA receptor-nitric oxide transmission mediates neuronal iron homeostasis via the GTPase Dexras1. Neuron 51(4): 431-40, Aug 17 2006.
Mikhael, Marc. Kim, Sangwon F. Schranzhofer, Matthias. Soe-Lin, Shan. Sheftel, Alex D. Mullner, Ernst W. Ponka, Prem.: Iron regulatory protein-independent regulation of ferritin synthesis by nitrogen monoxide.[erratum appears in FEBS J. 2006 Oct;273(20):4805 Note: Lin, Shan S [corrected to Soe-Lin, Shan]]. FEBS Journal 273(16): 3828-36, Aug 2006.
Kim, Sangwon F. Huri, Daniel A. Snyder, Solomon H.: Inducible nitric oxide synthase binds, S-nitrosylates, and activates cyclooxygenase-2. Science 310(5756): 1966-70, Dec 23 2005.
Hara, Makoto R. Agrawal, Nishant. Kim, Sangwon F. Cascio, Matthew B. Fujimuro, Masahiro. Ozeki, Yuji. Takahashi, Masaaki. Cheah, Jaime H. Tankou, Stephanie K. Hester, Lynda D. Ferris, Christopher D. Hayward, S Diane. Snyder, Solomon H. Sawa, Akira.: S-nitrosylated GAPDH initiates apoptotic cell death by nuclear translocation following Siah1 binding.[see comment]. Nature Cell Biology 7(7): 665-74, Jul 2005.
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Last updated: 09/21/2009
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