At the frontier of neuroimmunology, this lab investigates how immune cells shape brain health and disease. We focus on uncovering the roles of diverse immune populations – including microglia, border-associated macrophages, and antigen-presenting cells – in maintaining central nervous system (CNS) integrity and driving neurodegenerative pathologies. Using innovative mouse models and integrative, cutting-edge approaches, our goal is to redefine the immune landscape of the brain and brain border.

우리 연구실은 신경면역 분야의 선두주자로서 다양한 면역세포들이 중추신경에서 어떤 역할을 하는지 이해하기 위한 연구를 수행하고 있습니다. 특히 중추신경에서 존재하는 미세아교세포, 경계 연관 대식세포, 그리고 항원제시세포 등의 면역세포들이 중추신경의 항상성 유지와 퇴행성 뇌질환의 발병에 어떤 역할을 하고 있는지를 규명하기 위해 노력하고 있습니다. 새로운 마우스 모델과 최신의 연구 방법을 이용하여 뇌와 뇌 주변부의 면역적 특징들을 확인하는 것이 우리 연구실의 목표 입니다. 

2016 - 2021  Ph.D., Dept. of Immunology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel 

2013 - 2016 M.Sc., Dept. of Immunology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel 

2006 - 2013 B.S., Life Science, Handong Global University, Korea 

2025 - present  Assistant Professor, Dept. of Biological Science, UNIST, Korea 

2022 - 2025  Research Associate, Dept. of Regenerative Biology and Immunology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel 

2021-2022  Post-Doctoral Fellow, Dept. of Immunology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel 

As an immune-privilege site, the central nervous system (CNS) was long considered a tissue largely devoid of immune cell populations except microglia. However, recent studies have revealed that the CNS host diverse immune cells, particularly at its borders. These discoveries have reshaped our understanding of CNS immunity and raised new questions about how immune cells supress or induce immune reactions with the CNS in both homeostatic and pathological conditions.

Our lab focuses on the immunological features of the CNS with a focus on myeloid cell populations. We investigate the molecular and cellular mechanisms that govern immune cell entry into the brain, the roles of macrophages in blood-brain barrier (BBB) development and maintenance, and the function of antigen-presenting cells within the CNS.

1. Immune cell infiltration into the CNS
We study the mechanisms that allow peripheral immune cells – particularly monocytes and lymphocytes – to infiltrate the CNS. We aim to understand the physiological conditions and the molecular signals that drive their entry during aging, neuroinflammation, and progression of autoimmune disease.

Using advanced genetic tools, we study border-associated macrophages (BAMs) and their critical functions during CNS vascular development and barrier maintenance. By dissecting their interaction with endothelial and stromal cells, we aim to uncover how these macrophages regulate the integrity of the BBB throughout life.

We investigate the poorly understood population of MHC class II-expressing cells located in the CNS border, particularly the leptomeninges. Our research focuses on how these antigen-presenting cells shape adaptive immune responses in the steady state, and may influence CNS autoimmunity and neuroinflammation under pathologic conditions.

Jung-Seok Kim, Sébastien Trezebanski, Sun-Hye Shin, Lior Schori, Gal Ronit Frumer-Friedman, Noa Chapal-Ilani, Aditee Kadam, Rocio Vicario, Oliver Aust, Polina Bugaeva, Sylwia Piatek, Laura Kate-Ismajli, Christian Johannes-Hoffmann, Marina Scheller, Sigalit Boura-Halfon, Nathali Kaushansky, Ofra Golani, Aryeh Solomon, Zhaoyuan Liu, Lukas Amann, Philipp Böhm-Sturm, Stefan Paul-Koch, Nikolaus Wenger, Netherlands Brain Bank, Florent Ginhoux, Marco Prinz, Roi Avraham, Christoph Harms, Frederic Geissmann, Carsten Müller-Tidow, Stefan Uderhardt, Ivan Milenkovic, Liran Shlush, and Steffen Jung. Cell Reports. https://www.cell.com/cell-reports/fulltext/S2211-1247(25)00380-8

Sébastien Trezebanski, Jung-Seok Kim, Niss Larossi, Ayala Raana, Daliya Kancheva, Jonathan Bastos, Montaser Haddad, Aryeh Solomon, Ehud Sivan, Dan Aizik, Jamila Sekeresova Kralova, Mor Gross-Vered, Sigalit Boura-Halfon, Tsvee Lapidot, Ronen Alon, Kiavash Movahedi, and Steffen Jung. Immunity. https://www.cell.com/immunity/fulltext/S1074-7613(24)00224-3

Gal Ronit Frumer, Sun-Hye Shin, Steffen Jung, and Jung-Seok Kim. Glia. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/glia.24445

Sebastiaan De Schepper, Judy Ge, Gerard Crowley, Laís S. S. Ferreira, Dylan Garceau, Christina Toomey, Dimitra Sokolova, Javier Rueda-Carrasco, Sun-Hye Shin, Jung-Seok Kim, Thomas Childs, Tammaryn Lashley, Jemima Burden, Michael Sasner, Carlo Sala Frigerio, Steffen Jung, and Soyon Hong. Nature Neuroscience.https://www.nature.com/articles/s41593-023-01257-z

Zhana Haimon, Gal Ronit Frumer, Jung-Seok Kim, Sebastien Trzébanski, Rebecca Haffner-Krausz, Shifra Ben-Dor, Ziv Porat, Louise Chappell-Maor, Sigalit Boura-Halfon, Thomas Korn and Steffen Jung. Nature Immunology. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41590-022-01360-6

Jung-Seok Kim, Masha Kolesnikov, Shany Peled-Hajaj, Isabelle Scheyltjens, Yuan Xia, Sebastien Trzebanski, Zhana Haimon, Anat Shemer, Alisa Lubart, Hannah Van Hove, Louise Chappell-Maor, Sigalit Boura-Halfon, Kiavash Movahedi, Pablo Blinder, and Steffen Jung. Immunity. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1074761320304945

PI : 김정석 교수 

Intern researcher : 권진우, 정은지, 이바다 

Homepage :  https://nueroimmunol.unist.ac.kr/

Contact : js.kim@unist.ac.kr 

UNIST 생명과학과 ‘신경면역 연구실 (Lab. of Neuroimmunology)’은 지난 5월부터 시작한  신생 연구실입니다. 

기초과학연구는 사람이라면 누구나 근본적으로 가지고 있는 지적 호기심을 충족해 주는 동시에, 사람들에게 반드시 도움을 줄 수 있는 연구 입니다. 

중추신경에 존재하는 다양한 면역세포의 기능을 이해하는데 그 목표를 두고 있는 저희 연구실의 연구는 인류의 수명이 늘수록 더욱더 많은 고통을 줄 수 있는 다양한 퇴행성 뇌질환과, 여전히 난치병인 다발성 경화증과 같은 자가면역 질환의 예방 및 치료에 궁극적으로 도움이 될 것이라 믿습니다. 

이런 연구에 관심 있으신 학생 및 연구원분들을 환영합니다.