Jae-Hoon Ji, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor/Research

Currently seeking M.S. & Ph.D. students

Dr. Ji completed his Ph.D. in molecular biology from Dankook University in South Korea, where he worked on the upstream regulators and downstream targets of Polo-like kinase 1 (PLK1) during mitosis. After training as a post-doctoral fellow at UT Health San Antonio in 2009, where he focused on the DNA damage response (DDR) pathways, especially micro-homology-mediated end-joining (MMEJ), and also centromere core factors involved in DDR, he took a faculty position at Ajou University School of Medicine in South Korea in 2012, where he investigated the novel E3 ubiquitin ligases and their function in DDR. He also discovered the cross-talk between histone epigenetic modification by chromatin remodelers and transcription-coupled homologous recombination (TC-HR) repair. He returned to UT Health San Antonio in 2019 as an assistant professor.

The Ji’s lab focuses on maintaining of genomic integrity, especially the DNA damage signaling and repair pathway:

Transcription-coupled R-loop formation and resolution.
DNA 3’ adducts resolution by endogenous and/or exogenous nucleases.
Chromatin remodeling complex and epigenetic codes in DDR.
E3 ubiquitin ligases and functions in DDR.
Maintenance of alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT) in cancer cells.

Professional Background
Education
- 2009 - PhD - Molecular Biology - Dankook University, South Korea
Training
- 2012 - Post-doctoral fellow - UT Health San Antonio
Appointments
- 2019 - Assistant Professor - Ajou University School of Medicine, South Korea
Publications

1. J-H Ji*, S Min, S Chae, G-H Ha, Y Kim, Y-J Park, C-W L, and H Cho*. De novo phosphorylation of H2AX by WSTF regulates transcription-coupled homologous recombination repair. Nucleic Acids Res. 2019 May;DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkz309. (First & *Corresponding author)

2. G-H Ha*, J-H Ji*,**, S Chae, J Park, S Kim,J-K Lee, Y Kim, S Min, J-M Park, T-H Kang, H Lee, H Cho**, and C-W Lee**. Pellino1 regulates reversible ATM activation via NBS1 ubiquitination at DNA double strand breaks. Nat Commun. 2019 Apr 5;19(1):1577. (*First & **Corresponding author)

3. K Lee, J-H Ji, K Yoon, J Che, J-H Seol, SE Lee, and EY Shim. Microhomology selection for microhomology-mediated end joining in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Genes 2019;10(4):284.

4. Min S, Choi YW, Yun H, Jo S, Ji JH, Cho H. Post-translational regulation of the RSF1 chromatin remodeler under DNA damage. Mol Cells 2018 Feb 28;41(2):127-133.

5. Lee NS*, Chang HR*, Kim S*, Ji JH*, Lee J, Lee HJ, Seo Y, Kang M, Han JS, Myung K, Kim Y, Kim H. Ring finger protein 126 (RNF126) suppresses ionizing radiation-induced p53-binding protein 1 (53BP1) foci formation. J Biol Chem. 2018 Jan 12;292(2):588-598. (*First author)

6. Kim SH, Son KM, Kim KY, Yu SN, Park SG, Kim YW, Nam HW, Suh JT, Ji JH*, Ahn SC*. Deoxypodophyllotoxin induces cytoprotective autophagy against apoptosis via inhibition of PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway in osteosarcoma U2OS cells. Pharmacol Rep. 2017 Oct 13;69(5):878-884. (*Corresponding author)

7. Koo GB*, Ji JH*, Cho H, Morgan MJ, Kim YS. Nuclear TRADD prevents DNA damage-mediated death by facilitating non-homologus end-joining repair. Sci Rep. 2017 Jun 13;7(1):3332. (*First author)

8. Yu SN, Kim SH, Kim KY, Ji JH, Seo YK, Yu HS, Ahn SC. Salinomycin induces endoplasmic reticulum stress-mediated autophagy and apoptosis through generation of reactive oxygen species in human glioma U87MG cells. Oncol Rep. 2017 Jun;37(6):3321-3328.

9. Kim KY, Kim SH, Yu SN, Park SG, Kim YW, Nam HW, An HH, Yu HS, Kim YW, Ji JH, Seo YK, Ahn SC. Lasalocid induces cytotoxic apoptosis and cytoprotective autophagy through reactive oxygen species in human prostate cancer PC-3 cells. Biomed Pharmacother. 2017 Apr;88:1016-1024.

10. Kim SS, Nam JS, Cho HJ, Won JH, Kim JW, Ji JH, Yang MJ, Park JH, Noh CK, Shin SJ, Lee KM, Cho SW, Cheong JY. Plasma microRNA-122 as a predictive marker for treatment response following transarterial chemoembolization in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2017 Jan;32(1):199-207.

11. Soo Lee N, Jin Chung H, Kim HJ, Yun Lee S, Ji JH, Seo Y, Hun Han S, Choi M, Yun M, Lee SG, Myung K, Kim Y, Chul Kang H, Kim H. TRAIP/RNF206 is required for recruitment of RAP80 to sites of DNA damage. Nat Commun. 2016 Jan 19;7:10463.

12. Kim S, Lee HS, Ji JH, Cho MY, Yoo YS, Park YY, Cha HJ, Lee Y, Kim Y, Cho H. Hepatitis B virus X protein activates the ATM-Chk2 pathway and delays the cell cycle progression. J Gen Virol. 2015 Aug;12(2):2242-51.

13. Kim SK, Kim WJ, Yoon JH, Ji JH, Morgan MJ, Cho H, Kim YC, Kim YS. Upregulated RIP3 expression potentiates MLKL phosphorylation-mediated programmed necrosis in toxic epidermal necrolysis. J Invest Dermatol. 2015 Aug;135(8):2021-30.

14. Kim SH, Kim KY, Yu SN, Park SK, Choi HD, Ji JH, Ahn SC. Autophagy inhibition enhances silibinin-induced apoptosis by regulating reactive oxygen species production in human prostate cancer PC-3 cells. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2015 Dec 4-11;468(1-2):151-6.

15. Kim KY, Kim SH, Yu SN, Park SK, Choi HD, Yu HS, Ji JH, Seo YK, Ahn SC. Salinomycin enhances doxorubicin-induced cytotoxicity in multidrug resistant MCF-7/MDR human breast cancer cells via decreased efflux of doxorubicin. Mol Med Rep. 2015 Aug;12(2):1898-904.

16. Min S, Jo S, Lee HS, Chae S, Lee JS, Ji JH*, Cho H*. ATM-dependent chromatin remodeler Rsf-1 facilitates DNA damage checkpoints and homologous recombination repair. Cell Cycle 2014 Feb;13(4):666-77. (*Corresponding author).

17. Chae S, Ji JH, Kwon SH, Lee HS, Lim JM, Kang D, Lee CW, Cho H. HBxAPα/Rsf-1-mediated HBx-hBubR1 interactions regulate the mitotic spindle checkpoint and chromosome instability. Carcinogenesis 2013;34(7):1680-1688.

18. W Lee, K-Y Kim, S-N Yu, S-H Kim, S-S Chun, J-H Ji, H-S Yu, S-C Ahn. Pipernonaline from Piper longum Linn. induces ROS-mediated apoptosis in human prostate cancer PC-3 cells. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2013;430:406–412.

19. HI Hwang*, J-H Ji*, and Y-J Jang. Phosphorylation of RanBP1 by Plk1 is required for interaction with Ran and early mitotic progression. J Biol Chem. 2011;286(38):33012-33020. (*First author)

20. J-H Oum, C Seong, Y Kwon, J-H Ji, A Sid, S Ramakrishnan, G Ira, A Malkova, P Sung, SE Lee, and EY Shim. RSC Facilitates Rad59-Dependent Homologous Recombination Between Sister Chromatids by Promoting Cohesin Loading at DNA Double-Strand Breaks. Mol Cell Biol. 2011;31(19):3924-3937.

21. Ji, J-H, Hwang HI, Lee HJ, Hyun SY, Kang HJ, Jang YJ. Purification and proteomic identification of putative upstream regulators of polo-like kinase-1 from mitotic cell extracts. FEBS Lett. 2010;584(20):4299-4305.

22. J-H Ji and Y-J Jang. Genotoxic stress and gene silencing of the checkpoint kinases in human oral cells. J Oral Pathology & Medicine 2009;38(7):591-596.

23. J-H Ji and Y-J Jang. Functional independency between catalytic activity and subcellular targeting of Polo-like kinase-1. Cell Cycle 2008;7(11):1597-1603.

24. K-S Chung, Y-J Jang, N-S Kim, S-Y Park, S-J Choi, J-Y Kim, J-H Ahn, H-J Lee, J-H Lim, J-H Song, J-H Ji, J-H Oh, K-B Song, H-S Yoo, and M Won. Rapid screen of human genes for relevance to cancer using fission yeast. J Biomol Screen. 2007;12(4):568-577.

25. Y-J Jang, J-H Ji, Y-C Choi, C-J Ryu, and S-Y Ko. Regulation of Polo-like kinase 1 by DNA damage in mitosis: Inhibition of mitotic Plk1 by protein phosphotase 2A. J Biol Chem. 2007;282(4):2473-2482.

26. J-H Ji and Y-J Jang. Screening of domain-specific target proteins of Polo-like kinase 1: Construction and application of centrosome/kinetochore-specific targeting peptide. J Biochem & Mol Biol. 2006;39:709-716.

27. Y-J Janga, J-H Ji, J-H Ahn, K-L Hoe, M Won, D-S Im, S-K Chae, S Song, H-S Yoo. Polo-box motif targets a centrosome regulator, RanGTPase. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2004;325:257–264.

Jae-Hoon Ji, Ph.D.

Education

Training

Appointments