Chang-Hyuk Kwon, PhD
Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery
Tumor Microenvironment Program
The Dardinger Laboratory for Neuro-Oncology and Neurosciences
Curriculum Vitae

Training

Undergraduate School:	Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea, 1985-1989
Graduate School:	M.S. Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea, 1989-1991
Industry:	Daewoong Pharmaceutical.Co Ltd, Seongnam, Korea, 1991-1998
Graduate School:	Ph.D. University of Tennessee, Memphis, 1998-2003 Suzanne Baker Lab, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
Postdoctorate Fellowship:	University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 2003-2005 Luis Parada Lab, Department of Developmental Biology
Instructor:	University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 2006-2008 Luis Parada lab, Department of Developmental Biology

Research Interests

The major project in my laboratory is high-grade astrocytomas, including glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), the most aggressive and common glioma. This tumor type is resistant to all available current cancer therapies. Thus, patients with GBM have median survival of only one year. Despite vigorous efforts in clinics and laboratories, the prognosis of high-grade astrocytomas has not been greatly changed in decades.

We have generated mouse models of high-grade astrocytomas, by conditionally deleting one or two alleles of tumor suppressor genes (Nf1, p53 and Pten) in mouse neural cells. These tumor suppressor genes belong to top five frequent genetic abnormalities found in human astrocytomas, thus our mouse models are the best known genocopies of the tumor type. Our mouse models are indistinguishable from littermate controls until adult ages when they spontaneously develop high-grade astrocytomas. The mouse tumors recapitulate histopathological findings of human high-grade astrocytomas. To provide therapeutic clues of the devastating disease, my laboratory is studying following subprojects:

1. Searching for origin cell type(s) of high-grade astrocytomas
2. Comparing tumor stem cells and the normal origin cells to narrow down tumor-initiating or tumor-progressing cues
3. Effect of tumor microenvironment on high-grade astrocytomas
4. Underlying molecular mechanism of above mentioned phenomena
5. Performing translational studies for high-grade astrocytomas

Major Publications

CH Kwon, X Zhu, J Zhang, LL Knoop, R Tharp, RJ Smeyne, CG Eberhart, PC Berger, and SJ Baker, Pten regulates neuronal soma size: a mouse model for Lhermitte-Duclos disease, Nature Genetics (article) 29, 404-411 (2001)

CH Kwon, X Zhu, J Zhang, and SJ Baker, mTOR is required for hypertrophy of Pten-deficient neuronal soma in vivo, Proc. Nat, Acad. Sci. 100, 12923-12928 (2003)

CH Kwon, J Zhou, Y Li, KW Kim, LL Hensley, SJ Baker, and LF Parada, A Neuron-specific enolase cre mouse line with cre activity in specific neuronal populations, Genesis (article) 44, 130-135 (2006)

CH Kwon, BW Luikart, CM Powell, J Zhou, SA Matheny, W Zhang, Y Li, SJ Baker, and LF Parada, Pten regulates neuronal arborization and social interaction in mice, Neuron 50, 377-388 (2006)

CH Kwon, D Zhao, J Chen, S Alcantara, Y Li, DK Burns, R Mason, EV-HP Lee, H Wu and LF Parada, Pten haploinsufficiency accelerates formation of high grade astrocytomas, Cancer Research 68, 3286-3294 (2008)

J Chen*, CH Kwon*, Y Li and LF Parada, Inducible site-specific recombination in neural stem cells, under revision by Genesis (* equal contribution)

S Alcantara Llaguno*, J Chen*, CH Kwon*, EL Jackson, Y Li, DK Burns, A Alvarez Buylla, and LF Parada, Malignant astrocytomas originate from stem/progenitor cells in a somatic tumor suppressor mouse model, submitted to Cell

(* equal contribution)

Appointment Year

2008

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