V. Narry Kim

Last updated
V. Narry Kim
Narry Kim.jpg
V. Narry Kim
Born
Vic Narry Kim

1969 (age 54–55)
Yeonggwang, South Jeolla, South Korea
Nationality South Korean
Alma mater Seoul National University
University of Oxford
Known for MicroRNA
Awards Asan Award in Medicine (2019)
Scientist of the Year Award (2016)
S-Oil Leading Scientist of the Year (2013)
Top Scientist and Technologist Award of Korea (2013)
Amore Pacific the Grand Prize (2010)
Ho-Am Prize in Medicine (2009)
L'Oreal-UNESCO Women in Science Award (2008)
Woman Scientist/Engineer of the Year Award (2007)
Thomson Scientific Citation Laureate Award (2007)
Scientific career
Fields Biochemistry, molecular biology
Institutions Institute for Basic Science, Seoul National University
Doctoral advisor Alan J. Kingsman
Korean name
Hangul
김빛내리
Revised Romanization Gim Binnaeri
McCune–Reischauer Kim Pinnaeri

V. Narry Kim is a South Korean biochemist and microbiologist, best known for her work on microRNA biogenesis. Her pioneering studies have laid the groundwork for the biology of microRNA and contributed to the improvement of RNA interference technologies.

Contents

Background

Kim was born in South Korea in 1969. Kim first became interested in science as a high school student. When asked why she chose science as a lifelong career, she said, “I was charmed by the simplicity of the principles underlying the complexity of life.” [1]

Education

Kim went on to pursue a BA degree in microbiology, then followed by a MS degree in microbiology in 1992 and 1994, respectively, both from Seoul National University (SNU). After completing her masters under adviser Kang Sa-Ouk, Kim went to the United Kingdom to further her studies at the University of Oxford, studying the functions of retroviral proteins under Alan J. Kingsman. [2] [3] She graduated with a PhD in biochemistry in 1998.

Career

Her academic journey then took her to the United States, where she took a position at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia as a research assistant. After completing her postdoctoral research on mRNA surveillance in the laboratory of Gideon Dreyfuss, [4] Kim finished her postdoctoral studies and returned to Korea in 2001. She then started working at Seoul National University as a research assistant professor. By the age of 35, Kim already had twenty-two of her papers published in well known and prestigious scientific publications, such as Science and Nature . In addition, Kim “holds four patents based on her research activities, including one on a novel HIV-based gene delivery vector.” [1]

In 2008, she became an associate professor, then a SNU Distinguished Fellow in 2010, and a full professor in 2013. Located in Seoul National University, she began working with the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) in 2012 as the founding director of the Center for RNA Research. her lab focuses on RNA-mediated gene regulation research, specifically investigating post-transcriptional gene regulation mediated by microRNAs (miRNAs). [5] The lab employs biochemistry, molecular biology, genetic, biophysical, and computational approaches. Research is focused on miRNAs, which are small non-coding RNAs involved in practically all working aspects of eukaryotic cells. Tight control of miRNA is vital to normal functioning cells. If dysregulated, miRNAs can often be linked to human diseases such as cancer. By focusing on the miRNA biogenesis, Dr. Kim's lab has made major contributions to the understanding of miRNAs are created and processed in animal cells. These studies can potentially open the doors to new forms of cancer treatment and stem cell engineering. [6]

In 2013, Kim, along with Professor Jin-Soo KIM of the SNU Department of Chemistry developed a new technology to eliminate specific microRNAs. This new technology has the promise of being potentially used to cure cancer and other illnesses in the future. In the research, TALENs (enzymes) were used to separate certain microRNA from a cell. TALENs had been used to create protein before, but this was the first time they have been used to separate microRNA. The team developed 540 different TALENs for this specific purpose. When this was applied to cancer cells, the proliferation rate of cancer cells dropped to one third of what it was. [7] This discovery was published in the November 11, 2013 edition of Nature Structural and Molecular Biology . [8]

Kim's first paper as PI was published in 2002 in the EMBO Journal . [9] In this highly cited work, she defined two separate processing steps (primary microRNA (pri-miRNA) processing in the nucleus and pre-miRNA processing in the cytoplasm), and proposed a model of the microRNA biogenesis pathway for the first time. Based on this model, her research group discovered that most microRNA genes are transcribed by RNA polymerase II and that pri-miRNA processing is carried out by Drosha-DGCR8 complexes in the nucleus.

Her research group further identified uridylation-meditated pre-miRNA degradation pathway by LIN28 [10] and TUT4, [11] contributing to a better understanding of how microRNA-mediated gene expression regulation is involved in embryonic stem cell maintenance and cancer cell development. She also discovered the molecular basis for pri-miRNA recognition and cleavage by the Drosha-DGCR8 complexes, [12] and pre-miRNA processing by Dicer. [13] These findings suggested several critical points to be considered for designing more efficient short hairpin RNA (shRNA) vectors and also contributed to the improvement of RNA interference technologies.

The research team led by Narry Kim and Chang Hyeshik confirmed the predicted subgenomic RNAs of SARS-CoV-2 along with new RNA and dozens of unknown subgenomic RNAs. [14] [15] The interdisciplinary team was composed of virologists, microbiologists and computational scientists. [16]

Kim received L'Oreal-UNESCO Award for Women in Science (2008), [17] Ho-Am Prize in Medicine (2009) [18] and Top Scientist and Technologist Award of Korea (2013). She is an active member of the RNA Society and the International Society of Stem Cell Research (ISSCR). In addition she has been recognized as one of the top Asian scientists to watch by Asian Scientist [19] and among the "science stars of East Asia" by Nature . [20] She was a Clarivate Analytics Highly Cited Researcher in the field of molecular biology and genetics in 2014. [21] [22] [23]

Work summary

Professional experience:

Professional service:

Awards

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bonnie Bassler</span> American molecular biologist

Bonnie Lynn Bassler is an American molecular biologist; the Squibb Professor in Molecular Biology and chair of the Department of Molecular Biology at Princeton University; and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator. She has researched cell-to-cell chemical communication in bacteria and discovered key insights into the mechanism by which bacteria communicate, known as quorum sensing. She has contributed to the idea that disruption of chemical signaling can be used as an antimicrobial therapy.

microRNA Small non-coding ribonucleic acid molecule

MicroRNA (miRNA) are small, single-stranded, non-coding RNA molecules containing 21 to 23 nucleotides. Found in plants, animals and some viruses, miRNAs are involved in RNA silencing and post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression. miRNAs base-pair to complementary sequences in mRNA molecules, then silence said mRNA molecules by one or more of the following processes:

  1. Cleavage of the mRNA strand into two pieces,
  2. Destabilization of the mRNA by shortening its poly(A) tail, or
  3. Reducing translation of the mRNA into proteins.
<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drosha</span> Ribonuclease III enzyme

Drosha is a Class 2 ribonuclease III enzyme that in humans is encoded by the DROSHA gene. It is the primary nuclease that executes the initiation step of miRNA processing in the nucleus. It works closely with DGCR8 and in correlation with Dicer. It has been found significant in clinical knowledge for cancer prognosis and HIV-1 replication.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Microprocessor complex subunit DGCR8</span> Protein-coding gene in the species Homo sapiens

The microprocessor complex subunit DGCR8(DiGeorge syndrome critical region 8) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the DGCR8 gene. In other animals, particularly the common model organisms Drosophila melanogaster and Caenorhabditis elegans, the protein is known as Pasha. It is a required component of the RNA interference pathway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joan A. Steitz</span> American biochemist

Joan Elaine Argetsinger Steitz is Sterling Professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry at Yale University and Investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. She is known for her discoveries involving RNA, including ground-breaking insights into how ribosomes interact with messenger RNA by complementary base pairing and that introns are spliced by small nuclear ribonucleic proteins (snRNPs), which occur in eukaryotes. In September 2018, Steitz won the Lasker-Koshland Award for Special Achievement in Medical Science. The Lasker award is often referred to as the 'American Nobel' because 87 of the former recipients have gone on to win Nobel prizes.

The Let-7 microRNA precursor was identified from a study of developmental timing in C. elegans, and was later shown to be part of a much larger class of non-coding RNAs termed microRNAs. miR-98 microRNA precursor from human is a let-7 family member. Let-7 miRNAs have now been predicted or experimentally confirmed in a wide range of species (MIPF0000002). miRNAs are initially transcribed in long transcripts called primary miRNAs (pri-miRNAs), which are processed in the nucleus by Drosha and Pasha to hairpin structures of about 70 nucleotide. These precursors (pre-miRNAs) are exported to the cytoplasm by exportin5, where they are subsequently processed by the enzyme Dicer to a ~22 nucleotide mature miRNA. The involvement of Dicer in miRNA processing demonstrates a relationship with the phenomenon of RNA interference.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ZCCHC6</span> Protein-coding gene in the species Homo sapiens

Terminal uridylyltransferase 7 (TUT7), also known as "zinc finger, CCHC domain containing 6", is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the ZCCHC6 gene located on chromosome 9. The ZCCHC6 protein mediates the terminal uridylation of RNA transcripts with short poly-A tails and is involved in mRNA and microRNA degradation

Joshua T. Mendell is an American molecular biologist who is a professor of molecular biology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, where he is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator. Before moving to UT Southwestern, Mendell was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute early career scientist at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. His molecular biology research examines microRNA (miRNA) regulation and function, with particular emphasis on miRNAs and cancer.

The NAS Award in Molecular Biology is awarded by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences "for recent notable discovery in molecular biology by a young scientist who is a citizen of the United States." It has been awarded annually since its inception in 1962.

In molecular biology mir-390 microRNA is a short RNA molecule. MicroRNAs function to regulate the expression levels of other genes by several mechanisms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kaang Bong-kiun</span> Southu Korean neuroscietnist (born 1961)

Kaang Bong-Kiun was born in Jeju-do, South Korea, on November 21, 1961. He is a professor of neuroscience in the Department of Biological Sciences of Seoul National University. He is a Fellow of the Korean Academy of Science and Technology and co-director of the IBS Center for Cognition and Sociality with Changjoon Justin Lee.

Dr. Kim Sunghoon is a South Korean biologist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Microprocessor complex</span>

The microprocessor complex is a protein complex involved in the early stages of processing microRNA (miRNA) and RNA interference (RNAi) in animal cells. The complex is minimally composed of the ribonuclease enzyme Drosha and the dimeric RNA-binding protein DGCR8, and cleaves primary miRNA substrates to pre-miRNA in the cell nucleus. Microprocessor is also the smaller of the two multi-protein complexes that contain human Drosha.

Suvendra Nath Bhattacharyya is an Indian molecular biologist, epigeneticist and the principal scientist at the Indian Institute of Chemical Biology of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. He is a recipient of the Swarnajayanthi Fellowship of the Department of Science and Technology and the National Bioscience Award of the Department of Biotechnology. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, one of the highest Indian science awards, in 2016, for his contributions to biological sciences.

Yun Chae-ok (Korean: 윤채옥) is a Korean-born scientist and professor of Bioengineering at Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kim Jin-soo (biologist)</span> Korean scientist

Kim Jin-Soo is a chemist, biologist, and entrepreneur. He was CEO and CSO, ToolGen, Inc., is a professor in the Department of Chemistry of Seoul National University and director of the Center for Genome Engineering. His research team has developed and improved several types of programmable nucleases, specifically zinc finger nucleases (ZFNs), TAL effector nucleases (TALENs), and RNA-guided engineered nucleases (RGENs). In 2018, he was a Clarivate Analytics Highly Cited Researcher in the cross-field category and in the biology and biochemistry category in 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roe Jung-hye</span> South Korean biologist (born 1957)

Roe Jung-hye is a South Korean professor of Molecular biology at Seoul National University served as the 6th President of National Research Foundation of Korea - the first woman to lead the Foundation or its preceding foundations from 2018 to 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inhee Mook-Jung</span> South Korean scientist

Inhee Mook-Jung (묵인희) is a South Korean scientist who works at the Seoul National University School of Medicine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Susan J. Baserga</span> American physician and academic

Susan J. Baserga is an American physician who is the William H. Fleming Professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry at Yale University. Her research considers the molecular basis of ribosomes, and the mechanistic basis of inherited human disease.

References

  1. 1 2 "Interview" (PDF). www.narrykim.org.
  2. ↑ "V. Narry Kim: Embracing the Challenge of Science" (PDF). Quest. Thermo Fisher Scientific. March 2005. p. 31. Retrieved 24 January 2019. I have long been interested in noncoding RNAs since my graduate days in Alan Kingsman's lab at Oxford University, even though my doctoral thesis was on retroviruses.
  3. 1 2 3 "Conference Speakers - Cell Symposium_ Regulatory RNAs". Cell Symposia. 12–14 May 2019. Retrieved 24 January 2019.
  4. 1 2 3 "V Narry Kim - iBiology". iBiology. Retrieved 24 January 2019.
  5. ↑ "Center for RNA Research - Life Sciences - Research Centers". Institute for Basic Science . Retrieved 24 January 2019. Our research center is currently conducting research on microRNAs and other ncRNAs using cancer and stem cells as model systems. In addition, our center is running a long-term project to systematically identify novel ncRNAs and proteins that bind to them. These studies will advance our understanding of cellular regulatory mechanisms and provide a conceptual basis for the development of new therapies and diagnostic techniques.
  6. ↑ "RNA Biology: Narry Kim Lab". www.narrykim.org.
  7. ↑ UNIVERSITY, SEOUL NATIONAL. "Professor V. Narry KIM Develops Selective RNA Elimination - Media Coverage - SNU Media - News & Forum - SNU". en.snu.ac.kr.
  8. ↑ Kim, Young-Kook; Wee, Gabbine; Park, Joha; Kim, Jongkyu; Baek, Daehyun; Kim, Jin-Soo; Kim, V Narry (10 November 2013). "TALEN-based knockout library for human microRNAs". Nature Structural & Molecular Biology. 20 (12): 1458–1464. doi:10.1038/nsmb.2701. PMID   24213537. S2CID   10448024 . Retrieved 24 January 2019.
  9. ↑ Lee Y, Jeon K, Lee JT, Kim S, Kim VN (September 2002). "MicroRNA maturation: stepwise processing and subcellular localization". EMBO J. 21 (17): 4663–4670. doi:10.1093/emboj/cdf476. PMC   126204 . PMID   12198168.
  10. ↑ Heo I, Joo C, Cho J, Ha M, Han J, Kim VN (October 2008). "Lin28 mediates the terminal uridylation of let-7 precursor MicroRNA". Mol. Cell. 32 (2): 276–284. doi: 10.1016/j.molcel.2008.09.014 . PMID   18951094.
  11. ↑ Heo I, Joo C, Kim YK, Ha M, Yoon MJ, Cho J, Yeom KH, Han J, Kim VN (August 2009). "TUT4 in concert with Lin28 suppresses microRNA biogenesis through pre-microRNA uridylation". Cell. 138 (4): 696–708. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2009.08.002 . PMID   19703396. S2CID   15469064.
  12. ↑ Han J, Lee Y, Yeom KH, Nam JW, Heo I, Rhee JK, Sohn SY, Cho Y, Zhang BT, Kim VN (June 2006). "Molecular basis for the recognition of primary microRNAs by the Drosha-DGCR8 complex". Cell. 125 (5): 887–901. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2006.03.043 . PMID   16751099. S2CID   453021.
  13. ↑ Park JE, Heo I, Tian Y, Simanshu DK, Chang H, Jee D, Patel DJ, Kim VN (July 2011). "Dicer recognizes the 5' end of RNA for efficient and accurate processing". Nature. 475 (7355): 201–205. doi:10.1038/nature10198. PMC   4693635 . PMID   21753850.
  14. ↑ Kim, Dongwan; Lee, Joo-Yeon; Yang, Jeong-Sun; Kim, Jun Won; Kim, Kim V. Narry; Chang, Hyeshik (14 May 2020). "The Architecture of SARS-CoV-2 Transcriptome". Cell. 181 (4): 914–921.e10. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2020.04.011. PMC   7179501 . PMID   32330414.
  15. ↑ "New Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) Mapped Out: A high resolution gene map reveals many viral RNAs with unknown functions and modifications". Institute for Basic Science . Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  16. ↑ Mark Zastrow (27 May 2020). "South Korea's Institute for Basic Science faces review: Decisions about the country's research flagship will signpost national priorities". Nature Research . 581 (7809): S53. doi:10.1038/d41586-020-01465-8. S2CID   218898089 . Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  17. ↑ "Tenth anniversary of the L'ORÉAL-UNESCO Awards For Women in Science". UNESCO. Retrieved 2012-01-14.
  18. ↑ "The Ho-Am Prize Laureates". Ho-Am Foundation. Retrieved 2012-01-14.
  19. ↑ Chan, Juliana (15 May 2011). "The Ultimate List Of 15 Asian Scientists To Watch – V Narry Kim". Asian Scientist. Retrieved 24 January 2019.
  20. ↑ Cyranoski, David; Law, Yao-Hua; Ong, Sandy; Phillips, Nicky; Zastrow, Mark (27 June 2018). "Science stars of East Asia: From artificial intelligence to infectious diseases, top researchers in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan are making big impacts on the global stage". Nature . 558 (7711): 502–510. doi: 10.1038/d41586-018-05506-1 . PMID   29950631.
  21. ↑ "IBS Places First Among Korean Institutions by Featuring 9 Scientists in List of Highly Cited Researchers". Institute for Basic Science . 4 December 2018. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  22. ↑ 강, 민구 (22 November 2018). "[김종승 교수] 노벨상 후보 도전할 만한 韓 연구자는 '40여명' - 2018.05.14". Department of Chemistry (in Korean). Korea University . Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  23. ↑ 안, 희정 (15 October 2015). "세계적으로 영향력이 큰 국내 과학자는 누구? 제7회 지식창조대상에서 최장욱 카이스트 교수 등 10명 선정". ZDNet Korea (in Korean). Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  24. ↑ "Introduction - About Center". Center for RNA Research. Institute for Basic Science . Retrieved 24 January 2019.
  25. ↑ 길애경 (27 December 2020). "연구자 1325명이 선정한 올해 바이오 성과 TOP5". 헬로디디 (in Korean). Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  26. ↑ "2020 국내 바이오분야 연구성과 및 뉴스 TOP5". POSTECH Biological Research Information Center (BRIC) (in Korean). 22 December 2020. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  27. ↑ "역대 수상자". 아산사회복지재단 (in Korean). 서울아산병원. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  28. ↑ 박, 선재 (31 January 2019). "아산의학상 김빛내리 석좌교수, 김종성 교수 수상" (in Korean). Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  29. ↑ "[제12회 아산의학상 기초의학부문] 마이크로 RNA로 생명현상의 비밀을 찾다_아산사회복지재단". YouTube (in Korean). AsanMedicalCenter. 21 March 2019. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  30. ↑ "과학언론상: 과학자상". Korea Science Journalists Association (in Korean). Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  31. ↑ "The 2nd Korea-Canada Bilateral Symposium: CV V. Narry Kim" (PDF). stem.kast.or.kr. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2018-03-27.
  32. ↑ "2013년 '대한민국 최고 과학기술인상' 2명 선정". Biotech Information Portal (in Korean). 24 June 2013. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
  33. ↑ "10년 뒤 한국을 빛낼 100인". The Dong-a Ilbo (in Korean). 2011. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  34. ↑ "과학계 신인상 받은 '젊은과학자상 수상자들'…20년 만에 주역으로 우뚝". Korean Academy of Science and Technology (in Korean). 10 August 2016. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.