Taekyung Kim, PhD

Assistant Professor
Endowed Title: Distinguished Scholar in Neuroscience 2010-2014
Neuroscience
Graduate Program: Genetics and Development
Neuroscience

Contact Information

UT Southwestern Medical Center
5323 Harry Hines Boulevard
Dallas, Texas 75390

Office Phone: 214-648-1800
Office Fax: 214-648-1801

taekyung.kim@utsouthwestern.edu

Biography

Dr. Kim graduated from Korea University in South Korea with a bachelor degree in biology. During graduate study at the University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey (formerly Rutgers University Medical School at Piscataway, NJ), he studied the molecular mechanisms and regulation of eukaryotic gene expression under the supervision of Dr. Danny Reinberg (HHMI, currently at NYU).

After obtaining a PhD degree in Biochemistry, he continued his research career in the laboratory of Dr. Michael Greenberg (Harvard Medical School) as a postdoctoral fellow, studying how neuronal activity controls gene expression in neurons to mediate synapse remodeling and plasticity.

Dr. Kim joined the faculty in the Department of Neuroscience at UT Southwestern in 2010.

Education

Graduate SchoolUniversity of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Biomedical Studies (2000)
UndergraduateKorea University, Biology (1993)

Research Interests

Characterization of neuronal enhancers that control temporal and spatial-specific gene expression in brain
Global analysis of activity-regulated gene expression and epigenetic program in brain
Understanding the function of a novel class of noncoding RNAs that are expressed in brain

Publications

Featured
Widespread transcription at neuronal activity-regulated enhancers

Tae-Kyung Kim, Hemberg M, Gray JM, Costa AM, Bear DM, Wu J, Harmin DA, Laptewicz M, Barbara-Haley K, Kuersten S, Markenscoff-Papadimitriou E, Kuhl D, Bito H, Worley PF, Kreiman G, Greenberg ME , Nature (Article); **News and Views in Nature. 2010 May 13;465(7295):173-4. , May 2010; (465):182-7

Featured
Genome-wide analysis of the target genes of MEF2, a transcription factor that coordinates synapse development

Flavell SW*, Tae-Kyung Kim*, Gray JD, Harmin D, Bear D, Markenscoff-Papadimitriou E, Hu LS, Greenberg ME (*equal contribution) , Neuron , 2008; (60(6)):1022-1038

Featured
Mechanism of ATP-Dependent Promoter Melting by Transcription Factor IIH

Tae-Kyung Kim, Richard H. Ebright, and Danny Reinberg , Science , 2000; (288):1418-1421

Featured
Trajectory of DNA in the RNA Polymerase II Transcription Preinitiation Complex

Tae-Kyung Kim, Thierry Lagrange, Yuh-Hwa Wang, Jack D. Griffith, Danny Reinberg, and Richard Ebright , Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. , 1997; (94):12268-12273

Widespread transcription at neuronal activity-regulated enhancers

Tae-Kyung Kim, Hemberg M, Gray JM, Costa AM, Bear DM, Wu J, Harmin DA, Laptewicz M, Barbara-Haley K, Kuersten S, Markenscoff-Papadimitriou E, Kuhl D, Bito H, Worley PF, Kreiman G, Greenberg ME , Nature (Article); **News and Views in Nature. 2010 May 13;465(7295):173-4. , May 2010; (465):182-7

The Angelman Syndrome Protein Ube3A Regulates Synapse Development by Ubiquitinating Arc

Greer PL, Hanayama R, Bloodgood BL, Mardinly AR, Lipton DM, Flavell SW, Tae-Kyung Kim, Griffith EC, Waldon Z, Maehr R, Ploegh HL, Chowdhury S, Worley PF, Steen J, Greenberg ME , Cell , 2010; (140(5)):704-716

A retrograde neuronal survival response: target-derived neurotrophins regulate MEF2D and bcl-w

Pazyra-Murphy MF, Hans A, Karch C, Courchesne S, Heerssen HM, Watson FL, Tae-Kyung Kim, Greenberg ME, Segal RA , J. Neurosci. , 2009; (29(20)):6700-6709

Mef2-mediated transcription of the miR379-410 cluster regulates activity-dependent dendritogenesis by fine-tuning Pumilio2 protein levels

Fiore R, Khudayberdiev S, Christensen M, Siegel G, Flavell SW, Tae-Kyung Kim, Greenberg ME, Schratt G. , EMBO J. , 2009; (28(6)):697-710

Genome-wide analysis of the target genes of MEF2, a transcription factor that coordinates synapse development

Flavell SW*, Tae-Kyung Kim*, Gray JD, Harmin D, Bear D, Markenscoff-Papadimitriou E, Hu LS, Greenberg ME. (* Equal contribution) , Neuron , 2008; (60(6)):1022-1038

Honors/Awards

The Klingenstein Fellowship Award

(2012)

The Welch Foundation

(2012)

Whitehall foundation

(2011)

Regent’s Research Scholar Award, UT Southwestern

(2010)

Jane Coffin Childs Memorial Fund for Medical Research

(2003)

Lefler Fellowship, Harvard Medical School

(2002)

Deans Award for Excellence in Studies, Korea University

(1993)