Research Summary

Young-Wook Jun, PhD, is an Associate Professor and he is the Director of the Nano-Probing Single Biomolecule Dynamics Laboratory in the Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery (OHNS) at the University of California, San Francisco. He received his PhD from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology in Seoul, South Korea, and he completed a postdoctoral from Yonsei University, Seoul, South Korea, followed by a postdoctoral from the University of California, Berkeley.

Dr. Jun's research interests include nanoprobing systems to investigate the single molecule dynamics of biomolecules involved in cellular developments such as gene regulation, cell-to-cell communications, and neuron circuit formation. His research on "Nanocrystal-Molecules as Probes for Monitoring the Dynamics of Biomolecular Machineries at the Single Molecule Level" will contribute to a foundation of a new field by providing a comprehensive understanding of the nanocrystal molecules including the fabrication, surface chemistry, scaling laws of magnetic, plasmonic, and charge coupling, and their behaviors in cells.

Dr. Jun has been invited to speak both national and internationally. He has contributed to over 40 articles, and 5 book chapters.

Research Funding

  • March 1, 2020 - February 28, 2025 - Spatiotemporal interrogation of molecular mechanobiololgy at the cell-cell interface with nanotechnology tools , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R35GM134948
  • April 15, 2021 - March 31, 2023 - Notch1 and APP signaling in cerebral microvascular dysfunction , Co-Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R21AG072232
  • September 15, 2017 - July 31, 2021 - Nanomodules for interrogating chemical, spatial, and mechanical dynamics of cell surface receptors , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01GM126542
  • January 1, 2018 - December 31, 2019 - In situ Investigation of dynamic protein-protein interactions in live cells via Magnetic Co-concentration (MCoC) , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R21CA224364
  • August 1, 2014 - July 31, 2019 - Spatiotemporal Control of Dynamic Notch Signaling with Subcellular Resolution , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01GM112081
  • July 1, 2017 - June 30, 2019 - Interrogation of mechanotransduction ion channels via nanoruler force microscopy and mechanogenetic nanomodules , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: 1R21NS103240-01
  • September 1, 2014 - June 30, 2017 - Spatial Mutation of Membrane Protein Assembly Dynamics Using Nano-Actuators , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R21HL123329
  • March 1, 2014 - February 29, 2016 - Small, modular, and monovalent Quantum Dots for single molecule imaging of Notch , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R21EB018044
  • March 15, 2012 - February 28, 2014 - Single Molecule Imaging of Guided Axonal Development using Plasmon Nanorulers , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R21EB015088

Education

University of California, Berkeley, CA, Postdoc, 06/2010, Nanoscience
Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea, Postdoc, 06/2007, Nanochemistry
Korea Adv. Inst. Sci. & Tech., Daejeon, Korea, Ph.D., 02/2005, Materials Chemistry
Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea, B.A., 02/1999, Chemistry

Honors & Awards

  • 2005
    IUPAC Prize for Young Chemist: The Honorable Mention Award
  • 2010
    The Sandler Foundation New Innovator Research Award
  • 2011
    The Endowed Hemming Fellow
  • 2014
    The World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds
  • 2014
    Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researchers
  • 2014
    BayBRAIN Initiative Award
  • 2016
    The Sandler Foundation New Frontier Research Award

Selected Publications

  1. Piraner DI, Abedi MH, Duran Gonzalez MJ, Chazin-Gray A, Lin A, Zhu I, Ravindran PT, Schlichthaerle T, Huang B, Bearchild TH, Lee D, Wyman S, Jun YW, Baker D, Roybal KT. Engineered receptors for soluble cellular communication and disease sensing. Nature. 2025 Feb; 638(8051):805-813.  View on PubMed
  2. White MJ, Jacobs KA, Singh T, Mayo LN, Lin A, Chen CS, Jun YW, Kutys ML. Notch1 cortical signaling regulates epithelial architecture and cell-cell adhesion. J Cell Biol. 2023 12 04; 222(12).  View on PubMed
  3. Jeong S, Shin W, Park M, Lee JU, Lim Y, Noh K, Lee JH, Jun YW, Kwak M, Cheon J. Hydrogel Magnetomechanical Actuator Nanoparticles for Wireless Remote Control of Mechanosignaling In Vivo. Nano Lett. 2023 06 14; 23(11):5227-5235.  View on PubMed
  4. Kwak M, Southard KM, Kim WR, Lin A, Kim NH, Gopalappa R, Lee HJ, An M, Choi SH, Jung Y, Noh K, Farlow J, Georgakopoulos A, Robakis NK, Kang MK, Kutys ML, Seo D, Kim HH, Kim YH, Cheon J, Gartner ZJ, Jun YW. Adherens junctions organize size-selective proteolytic hotspots critical for Notch signalling. Nat Cell Biol. 2022 12; 24(12):1739-1753.  View on PubMed
  5. Meher N, Seo K, Wang S, Bidkar AP, Fogarty M, Dhrona S, Huang X, Tang R, Blaha C, Evans MJ, Raleigh DR, Jun YW, VanBrocklin HF, Desai TA, Wilson DM, Ozawa T, Flavell RR. Synthesis and Preliminary Biological Assessment of Carborane-Loaded Theranostic Nanoparticles to Target Prostate-Specific Membrane Antigen. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2021 Nov 24; 13(46):54739-54752.  View on PubMed
  6. Kwak M, Gu W, Jeong H, Lee H, Lee JU, An M, Kim YH, Lee JH, Cheon J, Jun YW. Small, Clickable, and Monovalent Magnetofluorescent Nanoparticles Enable Mechanogenetic Regulation of Receptors in a Crowded Live-Cell Microenvironment. Nano Lett. 2019 06 12; 19(6):3761-3769.  View on PubMed
  7. Kim JW, Jeong HK, Southard KM, Jun YW, Cheon J. Magnetic Nanotweezers for Interrogating Biological Processes in Space and Time. Acc Chem Res. 2018 04 17; 51(4):839-849.  View on PubMed
  8. Kim JW, Seo D, Lee JU, Southard KM, Lim Y, Kim D, Gartner ZJ, Jun YW, Cheon J. Single-cell mechanogenetics using monovalent magnetoplasmonic nanoparticles. Nat Protoc. 2017 Sep; 12(9):1871-1889.  View on PubMed
  9. Seo D, Southard KM, Kim JW, Lee HJ, Farlow J, Lee JU, Litt DB, Haas T, Alivisatos AP, Cheon J, Gartner ZJ, Jun YW. A Mechanogenetic Toolkit for Interrogating Cell Signaling in Space and Time. Cell. 2016 Jun 02; 165(6):1507-1518.  View on PubMed
  10. Daeha Seo, Hyunjung Lee, Jung-uk Lee, Thomas Haas, Young-wook Jun. Monovalent plasmonic nanoparticles for biological applications. Proceedings of SPIE--the International Society for Optical Engineering. 2016; 9722:972201.  View on PubMed
  11. Mabray MC, Lillaney P, Sze CH, Losey AD, Yang J, Kondapavulur S, Liu D, Saeed M, Patel A, Cooke D, Jun YW, El-Sayed I, Wilson M, Hetts SW. In Vitro Capture of Small Ferrous Particles with a Magnetic Filtration Device Designed for Intravascular Use with Intraarterial Chemotherapy: Proof-of-Concept Study. J Vasc Interv Radiol. 2016 Mar; 27(3):426-32.e1.  View on PubMed
  12. Seo D, Farlow J, Southard K, Jun YW, Gartner ZJ. Production and targeting of monovalent quantum dots. J Vis Exp. 2014 Oct 23; (92):e52198.  View on PubMed
  13. Tajon CA, Seo D, Asmussen J, Shah N, Jun YW, Craik CS. Sensitive and selective plasmon ruler nanosensors for monitoring the apoptotic drug response in leukemia. ACS Nano. 2014 Sep 23; 8(9):9199-208.  View on PubMed
  14. Tajon C, Jun YW, Craik CS. Single-molecule sensing of caspase activation in live cells via plasmon coupling nanotechnology. Methods Enzymol. 2014; 544:271-97.  View on PubMed
  15. Asmussen J, Lasater EA, Tajon C, Oses-Prieto J, Jun YW, Taylor BS, Burlingame A, Craik CS, Shah NP. MEK-dependent negative feedback underlies BCR-ABL-mediated oncogene addiction. Cancer Discov. 2014 Feb; 4(2):200-15.  View on PubMed
  16. Farlow J, Seo D, Broaders KE, Taylor MJ, Gartner ZJ, Jun YW. Formation of targeted monovalent quantum dots by steric exclusion. Nat Methods. 2013 Dec; 10(12):1203-5.  View on PubMed
  17. Sheikholeslami S, Jun YW, Jain PK, Alivisatos AP. Coupling of optical resonances in a compositionally asymmetric plasmonic nanoparticle dimer. Nano Lett. 2010 Jul 14; 10(7):2655-60.  View on PubMed
  18. Park J, Zheng H, Jun YW, Alivisatos AP. Hetero-epitaxial anion exchange yields single-crystalline hollow nanoparticles. J Am Chem Soc. 2009 Oct 07; 131(39):13943-5.  View on PubMed
  19. Jun YW, Sheikholeslami S, Hostetter DR, Tajon C, Craik CS, Alivisatos AP. Continuous imaging of plasmon rulers in live cells reveals early-stage caspase-3 activation at the single-molecule level. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009 Oct 20; 106(42):17735-40.  View on PubMed
  20. Zheng H, Smith RK, Jun YW, Kisielowski C, Dahmen U, Alivisatos AP. Observation of single colloidal platinum nanocrystal growth trajectories. Science. 2009 Jun 05; 324(5932):1309-12.  View on PubMed

Go to UCSF Profiles, powered by CTSI