Jin-Gu Lee, PhD

1991 – 1999      B.S., Microbiology, Keimyung University in Korea

2002 - 2004      M.S., College of Medicine, Keimyung University in Korea

2004 - 2006      Ph. D., College of Medicine, Keimyung University in Korea

2006 - 2008      Post-doctoral fellow, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Medicine, Yeungnam University

2008 - 2013      Visiting Post-doctoral fellow, Laboratory of Molecular Biology, NIDDK, NIH

2013 - 2017      Research fellow, Laboratory of Molecular Biology, NIDDK, NIH

My major is biochemistry, molecular and cellular biology. Particularly, my doctoral research focused on the cellular signaling pathways of inflammatory responses mediated by phospholipases and reactive oxygen species (ROS), and my postdoctoral research has focused on protein quality control which is dedicated to the surveillance of protein misfolding errors in the cells. Dysfunction of the protein quality control system has been increasingly linked to the pathogenesis of human diseases including amyloidosis, type 2 diabetes, and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Huntington’s disease. Elimination of misfolded proteins generally involves tagging the affected substrates with ubiquitin (this is called ubiquitination), which targets modified polypeptides to proteasomes for degradation. For several years, I have been investigating molecular mechanisms underlying Apolipoprotein L1 (APOL1)-related kidney disease in humans. APOL1, an innate immune gene found in humans and some primates, offers protection against African trypanosome parasites that cause sleeping sickness. However, in individuals with recent African ancestry, two coding alleles in the APOL1 gene (termed risk alleles) significantly increase the risk of nondiabetic kidney disease. My recent work demonstrates that APOL1 risk alleles insert into the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane, disrupting cellular ion homeostasis. This novel mechanism of APOL1-induced cellular toxicity has the potential to inform the development of future therapeutic strategies. 

Currently, I joined Dr. Peixin Yang's lab and will be working on maternal diabetes-induced embryonic anomalies using mouse, embryo, and cell culture models.

I have totally published 33 papers in international refereed journals, which have been cited more than 1,300 times (excluding self-citations of all authors).

Protein Quality Control, Protein trafficking, Ubiquitination, Neurodegenerative Diseases, Cellular Signalling

1. Jin-Gu Lee, Yulong Fu, Jun-Yi Zhu, Pei Wen, Joyce van de Leemput, Patricio E Ray, Zhe Han (2023) A SNARE protective pool antagonizes APOL1 renal toxicity in Drosophila nephrocytes. Cell & Bioscience. 13(1):199

2. Jin-Gu Lee, Weiliang Huang, Hangnoh Lee, Joyce van de Leemput, Maureen A Kane, Zhe Han (2021) Characterization of SARS-CoV-2 proteins reveals Orf6 pathogenicity, subcellular localization, host interactions and attenuation by Selinexor. Cell & Bioscience 11:58

3. Jin-Gu Lee, Shokichi Takahama, Guofeng Zhang, Stanislav Tomarev, Yihong Ye (2016) Unconventional secretion of misfolded proteins adapts cells to proteasome dysfunction in mammalian cells. Nat. Cell Biol. 18(7): 765-76

4. Jin-Gu Lee, Woong Kim, Steven Gygi, Yihong Ye (2014) Characterization of the deubiquitinating activity of USP19 and its role in endoplasmic reticulum-associated degradation. J Biol Chem. 289(6): 3510-7

5. Jin-Gu Lee, Nia Soetandyo, Kheewoong Baek, Yihong Ye (2013) Reversible inactivation of deubiquitinases by reactive oxygen species in vitro and in cells. Nature Communications. 4: 1568.