Sung-Kook Chun
Biography
Sung-Kook Chun, Ph.D., is an Associate Specialist at the University of California, Irvine, where he works in the laboratory of Selma Masri. He received his Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from Seoul National University in South Korea. His research focuses on the intersection of circadian biology, metabolism, and cancer, with particular emphasis on how environmental perturbations such as circadian disruption and dietary challenges affect intestinal cell fate determination and tumorigenesis.
Chun has developed expertise in multiple experimental systems, including human and mouse intestinal organoids, primary hepatocytes, and metabolic analysis techniques such as stable isotope tracing and indirect calorimetry. His work has examined how disruption of the circadian clock drives loss of heterozygosity in the Apc gene to accelerate colorectal cancer, as well as how circadian disruption affects hepatic gluconeogenesis in cancer-associated cachexia. He has also investigated autophagic responses in liver ischemia-reperfusion injury and the role of sirtuin 1 and mitofusin 2 in age-related liver damage.
Prior to his current position at UC Irvine, Chun completed postdoctoral training at the University of Florida and Saint Louis University, where he studied liver metabolism and injury, and at Seoul National University and the Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology, where he worked on circadian clock mechanisms. He has contributed to the development of cryptochrome inhibitors that modulate the molecular circadian clock, resulting in two patents in South Korea for pharmaceutical compositions targeting circadian clock-related diseases and breast cancer.
Return to topEducation
- Ph.D. in Biological Sciences, Seoul National University, 2014
- M.S. in Biological Sciences, Seoul National University, 2014
- B.S. in Biological Sciences, Seoul National University, 2007
Areas of Expertise
- Circadian Biology and Metabolism
- Hepatic Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury
- Autophagy in Liver Disease
- Cryptochrome Inhibitor Development
- Intestinal Organoid Tumorigenesis
- Cancer-Associated Cachexia Mechanisms
- Gut Microbiome Metabolic Adaptation
Recent Publications
- Jung S, Bae H, Song WS, Chun Y, Le J, Alam Y, Verlande A, Chun SK, Kim J, Kelly ME, Lopez ML, Park SH, Onofre D, Baek J, Jang KH, Rubtsova VI, Anica A, Masri S, Lee G, Jang C, “Dietary fibre-adapted gut microbiome clears dietary fructose and reverses hepatic steatosis” (opens in new tab), Nature Metabolism, vol. 7, no. 9, pp. 1801-1818, 2025.
- Kim JS, Shin JK, Chun SK, Chapman W, Lin Y, “Roles of MITONEET in ischemia/reperfusion injury of diet-induced mouse steatotic livers”, Hepatology: a textbook of liver disease, vol. 80, pp. S1047-1048, 2024.
- Fellows RC, Chun SK, Larson N, Fortin BM, Mahieu AL, Song WA, Seldin MM, Pannunzio NR, Masri S, “Disruption of the intestinal clock drives dysbiosis and impaired barrier function in colorectal cancer” (opens in new tab), Science Advances, vol. 10, pp. eado1458, 2024.
- Fortin BM, Pfeiffer SM, Insua-Rodríguez J, Alshetaiwi H, Moshensky A, Song WA, Mahieu AL, Chun SK, Lewis AN, Hsu A, Adam I, Eng OS, Pannunzio NR, Seldin MM, Marazzi I, Marangoni F, Lawson DA, Kessenbrock K, Masri S, “Circadian control of tumor immunosuppression affects efficacy of immune checkpoint blockade” (opens in new tab), Nature Immunology, vol. 25, pp. 1257-69, 2024.
- Kim SH, Son GH, Seok JY, Chun SK, Yun H, Jang J, Suh YG, Kim K, Jung JW, Chung S, “Identification of a novel class of cortisol biosynthesis inhibitors and its implications in a therapeutic strategy for hypercortisolism” (opens in new tab), Life Sciences, vol. 325, pp. 121744, 2023.
- Stincardini C, Pariano M, D'Onofrio F, Renga G, Orecchini E, Orabona C, Nunzi E, Gargaro M, Fallarino F, Chun SK, Fortin BM, Masri S, Brancorsini S, Romani L, Costantini C, Bellet MM, “The circadian control of tryptophan metabolism regulates the host response to pulmonary fungal infections” (opens in new tab), PNAS Nexus, vol. 2, pp. pgad036, 2023.
- Chun SK, Fortin BM, Fellows RC, Habowski AN, Verlande A, Song WA, Mahieu AL, Lefebvre AEYT, Sterrenberg JN, Velez LM, Digman MA, Edwards RA, Pannunzio NR, Seldin MM, Waterman ML, Masri S, “Disruption of the Circadian Clock drives Apc Loss of Heterozygosity to Accelerate Colorectal Cancer” (opens in new tab), Science Advances, vol. 8, pp. eabo2389, 2022.
- Verlande A, Chun SK, Song WA, Oettler D, Knot HJ, Masri S, “Exogenous detection of 13C-glucose metabolism in tumor and diet-induced obesity models” (opens in new tab), Frontiers in Physiology, vol. 13, pp. 1023614, 2022.
- Chun SK, Masri S, “Circadian Control of Transcriptional and Metabolic Rhythms in Primary Hepatocytes” (opens in new tab), Methods in Molecular Biology, vol. 2482, pp. 169-179, 2022.
- Verlande A, Chun SK, Goodson MO, Fortin BM, Bae H, Jang C, Masri S, “Glucagon regulates the stability of REV-ERBα to modulate hepatic glucose production in a model of lung cancer-associated cachexia” (opens in new tab), Science Advances, vol. 7, pp. eabf3885, 2021.
- Flores-Toro JA, Chun SK, Shin JK, Campbell J, Lichtenberger M, Chapman W, Zendejas I, Behrns K, Leeuwenburgh C, Kim JS, “Critical roles of calpastatin in ischemia/reperfusion injury in aged livers”, Cells, vol. 10, pp. 1863, 2021.
- Greco GM, Koronowski KB, Smith JG, SHi J, Kunderfranco P, Carriero R, Chen S, Samad M, Welz PS, Zinna VM, Mortimer T, Chun SK, Shimaji K, Sato T, Petrus P, Kumar A, Vaca-Dempere M, Deryagian O, Van C, Kuhn JMM, et al., “Integration of Feeding Behaviour by the Liver Circadian Clock Reveals Network Dependency of Metabolic Rhythms” (opens in new tab), Science Advances, vol. 7, pp. eabi7828, 2021.
- Chun SK, Lee S, Flores-Toro JA, U R, Yang MJ, Go KL, Biel TG, Miney CE, Louis SP, Law BK, Law ME, Thomas EM, Behrns KE, Leeuwenburgh C, Kim JS, “Loss of sirtuin 1 and mitofusin 2 contributes to enhanced ischemia/reperfusion injury in aged livers”, Aging cell, pp. e12761, 2018.
- Jang J, Chung S, Choi Y, Lim HY, Son Y, Chun SK, Son GH, Kim K, Suh YG, Jung JW, “The cryptochrome inhibitor KS15 enhances E-box-mediated transcription by disrupting the feedback action of a circadian transcription-repressor complex”, Life Sciences, vol. 200, pp. 49-55, 2018.
- Cho J, Zhang Y, Park SY, Joseph AM, Han C, Park HJ, Kalavalapalli S, Chun SK, Morgan D, Kim JS, Someya S, Mathews CE, Lee YJ, Wohlgemuth SE, Sunny NE, Lee HY, Choi CS, Shiratsuchi T, Oh SP, Terada N, “Mitochondrial ATP transporter depletion protects mice against liver steatosis and insulin resistance”, Nature communications, vol. 8, pp. 14477, 2017.
- Chun SK, Lee S, Yang MJ, Leeuwenburgh C, Kim JS, “Exercise-Induced Autophagy in Fatty Liver Disease”, Exercise and sport sciences reviews, vol. 45, no. 3, pp. 181-186, 2017.
- Chun SK, Go K, Yang MJ, Zendejas I, Behrns KE, Kim JS, “Autophagy in Ischemic Livers: A Critical Role of Sirtuin 1/Mitofusin 2 Axis in Autophagy Induction”, Toxicological research, vol. 32, no. 1, pp. 35-46, 2016.
- Chun SK, Chung S, Kim HD, Lee JH, Jang J, Kim J, Kim D, Son GH, Oh YJ, Suh YG, Lee CS, Kim K, “A synthetic cryptochrome inhibitor induces anti-proliferative effects and increases chemosensitivity in human breast cancer cells”, Biochemical and biophysical research communications, vol. 467, no. 2, pp. 441-6, 2015.
- Choe HK, Chun SK, Kim J, Kim D, Kim HD, Kim K, “Real-time GnRH gene transcription in GnRH promoterdriven luciferase-expressing transgenic mouse: Effect of kisspeptin”, Neuroendocrinology, vol. 102, pp. 194-199, 2015.
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Last updated on 4/9/2026.