Hye Yoon Park, Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

E-MAIL: [email protected]

Research Interests:

My research aims to create innovative biomedical technologies that enable a comprehensive exploration of RNA regulation within living tissues and organisms. We are particularly interested in examining the ways in which gene expression is managed at the RNA level within neural networks. A central question in neuroscience is how neural activities modulate connectivity. Activity-dependent transcription and localized protein synthesis play crucial roles in the formation and modification of neural circuits. However, it is still unclear how de novo gene expression occurs in response to neural activities in real time at the single-cell, single-molecule level.

In my lab, we investigate the dynamics of transcription and RNA localization in living cells and tissues. My research team has addressed the challenges of high-resolution in vivo brain imaging, linking gene expression to cellular activity patterns and animal behaviors. Our research concentrates on three main areas: 1) Developing cutting-edge imaging technology to study gene expression and RNA-protein interactions within live cells and tissues, 2) Applying high-resolution single-molecule imaging techniques to understand neurodegenerative diseases, and 3) Examining the dynamics of memory traces in live animals. 

Selected Publications:

  • Lee C, Lee BH, Jung H, Lee C, Sung Y, Kim H, Kim J, Shim JY, Kim JI, Choi DI, Park HY. Kaang BK. Hippocampal engram networks for fear memory recruit new synapses and modify pre-existing synapses in vivo. Current Biology. 2023;33:507-516.
  • Cho WH, Noh K, Lee BH, Barcelon E, Jun SB, Park HY, Lee SJ. Hippocampal astrocytes modulate anxiety-like behavior. Nature Communications. 2022 Nov 7;13(1):6536.
  • Lee BH, Bang S, Lee SR, Jeon NL, Park HY. Dynamics of axonal β‐actin mRNA in live hippocampal neurons. Traffic. 2022 Oct;23(10):496-505.
  • Lee BH, Shim JY, Moon HC, Kim DW, Kim J, Yook JS, Kim J, Park HY. Real-time visualization of mRNA synthesis during memory formation in live mice. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 2022 Jul 5;119(27):e2117076119.
  • Park SY, Moon HC, Park HY. Live-cell imaging of single mRNA dynamics using split superfolder green fluorescent proteins with minimal background. RNA. 2020 Jan 1;26(1):101-9.
  • Das S, Moon HC, Singer RH, Park HY. A transgenic mouse for imaging activity-dependent dynamics of endogenous Arc mRNA in live neurons. Science advances. 2018 Jun 20;4(6):eaar3448.
  • Song MS, Moon HC, Jeon JH, Park HY. Neuronal messenger ribonucleoprotein transport follows an aging Lévy walk. Nature communications. 2018 Jan 24;9(1):1-8.
  • Lee BH, Park HY. HybTrack: A hybrid single particle tracking software using manual and automatic detection of dim signals. Scientific reports. 2018 Jan 9;8(1):212.
  • Park HY, Lim H, Yoon YJ, Follenzi A, Nwokafor C, Lopez-Jones M, Meng X, Singer RH. Visualization of dynamics of single endogenous mRNA labeled in live mouse. Science. 2014 Jan 24;343(6169):422-4.
  • Park HY, Kim SA, Korlach J, Rhoades E, Kwok LW, Zipfel WR, Waxham MN, Webb WW, Pollack L. Conformational changes of calmodulin upon Ca2+ binding studied with a microfluidic mixer. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 2008 Jan 15;105(2):542-7. 
     
Picture of Hye Yoon Park