생화학분자생물학회

	Yong Kim ( yk539@rwjms.rutgers.edu )
	2020 – Present	Associate Professor, Department of Neurosurgery, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers State University of New Jersey, USA
	2018 – 2020	Senior Staff Scientist, Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience, The Rockefeller University, USA
	2011 – 2018	Research Assistant Professor, Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience, The Rockefeller University, USA
	2006 – 2011	Senior Research Associate, Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience, The Rockefeller University, USA
	2003 – 2006	Research Associate, Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience, The Rockefeller University, USA
	2000 – 2003	Postdoctoral Associate, Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY
	1999 – 2000	Postdoctoral Fellow, Dept. of Life Science, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Korea
	1994 – 1999	PhD, Dept. of Life Science, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Korea
	1992 – 1994	MS, Dept. of Life Science, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Korea
	1988 – 1992	BS, College of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmacy, Chung Ang University, Korea

The WAVE complex in developmental and adulthood brain disorders

Actin polymerization and depolymerization are fundamental cellular processes required not only for the embryonic and postnatal development of the brain but also for the maintenance of neuronal plasticity and survival in the adult and aging brain. The orchestrated organization of actin filaments is controlled by various actin regulatory proteins. Wiskott‒Aldrich syndrome protein-family verprolin-homologous protein (WAVE) members are key activators of ARP2/3 complex-mediated actin polymerization. WAVE proteins exist as heteropentameric complexes together with regulatory proteins, including CYFIP, NCKAP, ABI and BRK1. The activity of the WAVE complex is tightly regulated by extracellular cues and intracellular signaling to execute its roles in specific intracellular events in brain cells. Notably, dysregulation of the WAVE complex and WAVE complex-mediated cellular processes confers vulnerability to a variety of brain disorders. De novo mutations in WAVE genes and other components of the WAVE complex have been identified in patients with developmental disorders such as intellectual disability, epileptic seizures, schizophrenia, and/or autism spectrum disorder. In addition, alterations in the WAVE complex are implicated in the pathophysiology of Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, as well as in behavioral adaptations to psychostimulants or maladaptive feeding.

Exp Mol Med. 2025 Feb;57(1):13-29. doi: 10.1038/s12276-024-01386-w.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39774290/