Dr. Minsoo Kim is Dean's Professor of Microbiology and Immunology, and a member of the David H. Smith Center for Vaccine Biology and Immunology. He is also Co-Leader of the Cancer Micro...
University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry Trainee Academic Mentoring Award.2015
Brown University Seed Fund Award (Co-investigator).2007
Rhode Island Foundation, Medical Research Grant.2005
American Heart Association, Scientist Developmental Grant.2005
DDW Poster of Distinction.2001
DDW Poster of Distinction.2000
American Digestive Health Foundation Student Abstract Award.2000
Digestive Disease Week (DDW) Poster of Distinction.1999
Honor student of 1992 by Korea University.1992
Research
Precise spatial and temporal regulation of cell migration is critical not only for normal immune responses, but also for successful organ development, wound healing, and tumor metastasis. Integrins, a family of membrane receptors, are expressed in all different types of cells in human body and regul...
Precise spatial and temporal regulation of cell migration is critical not only for normal immune responses, but also for successful organ development, wound healing, and tumor metastasis. Integrins, a family of membrane receptors, are expressed in all different types of cells in human body and regulate important cell adhesion and migration. Early in his career, Dr. Kim developed a highly innovative bio-imaging assay using FRET (Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer) techniques and show for the first time in live cells that the intracellular domains of integrin LFA-1 moved apart substantially during immune cell migration, and his paper describing this (Kim et al. 2003, Science) has been highly cited and is regarded as a cornerstone of the integrin field. Dr. Kim has continued to develop this area in his lab in Rochester, establishing a role for conformational change in other important integrins like Mac-1 and VLA-4.
Dr. Kim has continued to break new ground, most recently with the identification of important cross-talks between the innate immune and adaptive immune systems during influenza virus infection. This study, published in Science in 2015, developed from the Kim lab's careful observation of innovative fluorescence markers, using their high-resolution live animal imaging technique. In this paper, Dr. Kim showed that, much like birds fly in flocks to conserve energy, dolphins swim in pods to mate and find food, and colonies of ants create complex nests to protect their queens, immune cells engage in coordinated behavior to wipe out viruses like the flu. The findings reveal, for the first time, how immune cells work together to get to their final destination - the site of an injury or infection. The Kim lab discovered that neutrophils - the "first responders" of the immune system - arrive at the site of injury within an hour of infection and leave a chemical "trail" behind them. Killer immune cells called T cells use this trail to find the site of injury and subsequently destroy the virus. This study led to the important paradigm that the adaptive immune system doesn't generate the successful response without instruction from the innate immune system. This novel concept will be highly influential and are of special interest to clinicians. For example, in people with autoimmune disorders like multiple sclerosis and lupus, the immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys healthy body tissue. If scientists understood how to disrupt or stop immune cells' movement to healthy tissue, they may be able to improve the quality of life of people living with these devastating diseases. Similarly, recognizing how to boost the number of immune cells that travel to fight an infection could help scientists design better vaccines for viruses like the flu.
Dr. Kim has continued to develop sophisticated new biomedical technologies. Recently, he established a remarkable optogenetic system in which he constructed hybrid receptors that connected the light-sensing properties of rhodopsin to the signaling functions of two chemokine receptors. In this ground-breaking study, his carefully-constructed system allows the migration of T cells to be controlled by light, e.g. attracting more effector T cells into local tumor sites and reducing tumor growth. The achievement of functional hybrid photosensitive receptors represents a real tour de force, and opens up many analytical and therapeutic possibilities. This is particularly important because of the increasing success of adoptive cell therapies for cancer – Dr. Kim's optogenetics approaches will provide further capabilities to such cells.
Xie C, Ren Y, Weeks J, Rainbolt J, Mark Kenney H, Xue T, Allen F, Shu Y, Tay AJH, Lekkala S, Yeh SA, Muthukrishnan G, Gill AL, Gill SR, Kim M, Kates SL, Schwarz EM
Journal of orthopaedic research : official publication of the Orthopaedic Research Society.. 2024 March 42 (3):531-538. Epub 10/17/2023.
Hong Y, Walling BL, Kim HR, Serratelli WS, Lozada JR, Sailer CJ, Amitrano AM, Lim K, Mongre RK, Kim KD, Capece T, Lomakina EB, Reilly NS, Vo K, Gerber SA, Fan TC, Yu AL, Oakes PW, Waugh RE, Jun CD, Reagan PM, Kim M
Nature immunology.. 2023 June 24 (6):1007-1019. Epub 04/17/2023.
Gaylo-Moynihan A, Prizant H, Popovic M, Fernandes NRJ, Anderson CS, Chiou KK, Bell H, Schrock DC, Schumacher J, Capece T, Walling BL, Topham DJ, Miller J, Smrcka AV, Kim M, Hughson A, Fowell DJ
Immunity.. 2019 August 2051 (2):298-309.e6. Epub 08/06/2019.
Arandjelovic S, Perry JSA, Lucas CD, Penberthy KK, Kim TH, Zhou M, Rosen DA, Chuang TY, Bettina AM, Shankman LS, Cohen AH, Gaultier A, Conrads TP, Kim M, Elliott MR, Ravichandran KS
Nature immunology.. 2019 February 20 (2):141-151. Epub 01/14/2019.
Overstreet MG, Gaylo A, Angermann BR, Hughson A, Hyun YM, Lambert K, Acharya M, Billroth-Maclurg AC, Rosenberg AF, Topham DJ, Yagita H, Kim M, Lacy-Hulbert A, Meier-Schellersheim M, Fowell DJ
Nature immunology.. 2013 September 14 (9):949-58. Epub 08/11/2013.