Yongwon Choi
Immunologist who studies TRAF6 and RANKL (TRANCE) signalling at the junction of the immune and skeletal systems; senior author of the study linking TRAF6 and fatty acid oxidation to CD8 T-cell memory
Leonard Jarett Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania · research fellow with John Kappler and Philippa Marrack, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, National Jewish Center for Immunology and Respiratory Medicine, Denver (1988–1992) · PhD in Biochemistry, University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago (1988) · BSc, Seoul National University (1984)
Portrait: Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
Yongwon Choi was the senior author of the Atlas study in which mouse CD8 T cells lacking the adaptor protein TRAF6 mounted a normal effector response but formed almost no memory cells, because they could not switch on AMPK and fatty acid oxidation (PEA2009). Metformin restored memory formation, and rapamycin, used as a second drug that promotes fatty acid oxidation, also increased memory CD8 T cells.
Choi earned his PhD at the University of Illinois College of Medicine and trained with John Kappler and Philippa Marrack in Denver. His lab at the University of Pennsylvania works on osteoimmunology, the cross-talk between bone metabolism and the immune system, including how TRAF6 transmits IL-1, Toll-like receptor and RANKL signals, how dendritic cells and bone-resorbing osteoclasts differentiate, and how T-cell tolerance is maintained.
Milestones in the Atlas
A selection, not a full bibliography: only papers that meet the Atlas inclusion criteria.
| Year | Evidence | Study |
|---|---|---|
| 2009 | A | Enhancing CD8 T-cell memory by modulating fatty acid metabolism PEA2009 Senior author: TRAF6-deficient CD8 T cells failed to form memory, which metformin or rapamycin restored by raising fatty acid oxidation. |
Co-authors in the Atlas
People with a profile here who share at least one study with Yongwon Choi.
- Erika L. Pearce Immunologist who studies how metabolism controls T-cell fate. As a postdoc at Penn she showed in mice that drugs that raise fatty acid oxidation, metformin and rapamycin, increase CD8 memory T cells
- Russell G. Jones Studies how nutrient and energy sensing by AMPK and mTOR shapes cell metabolism, especially in T cells and cancer. As a postdoc with Craig Thompson he showed that AMPK triggers a p53-dependent glucose checkpoint in the cell cycle
Every researcher with a profile →
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