Jong-Hee Lee, Ph.D.

Jong-Hee Lee, Ph.D.
Email: jlee254@jhmi.edu

My research field is characterization of gene regulation and expression in M. tuberculosis. Gene expression is initiated by RNA polymerase binding to the promoter of target genes. Bacterial RNA polymerase is composed of a core enzyme and one of several different sigma factors. The sigma factor determines promoter specificity by recognizing and binding to the -10 sequence of the promoter. Thus, the investigation of sigma factor expression in Mycobacterium tuberculosis is important for understanding gene expression during infection. The adaptation of pathogenic bacteria to different environments is an essential feature of survival and pathogenicity. Bacteria are exposed to stresses such as nutrient limitation and antimicrobial products of the immune system during infection of the host. Mycobacteria can survive in macrophages, which represent a stringent and nutrient-deficient environment. To understand the changes in patterns of gene expression in response to environmental signals (nutrition, temperature, pH) in M. tuberculosis, the gene expression of sigma factors must be thoroughly investigated.

Publications
To read some of these publications online, click here. Please note that to read the full text of some of these articles requires that you have an online subscription to the journal.

1. Williams E.P., Lee, J.H., Bishai, W.R., Colantuoni, C, Karakousis P.C.  Mycobacterium tuberculosis SigF regulates genes encoding cell wall-associated proteins and directly regulates the transcriptional regulatory gene phoY1. J Bacteriol. 2007 Jun;189(11):4234-42.
2.  Kim, S.H., Ahn, S.H., Lee, J.H., Lee, E.M., Kim, N.H., Park, K.J. Kong, I.S. (2003) Genetic analysis of phosphomannomutase/phosphoglucomutase from Vibrio furnissii and characterization of its role in virulence. Arch. Microbiol. 180. 240-250.
3. Lee, J.H., Ahn, S.H., Lee, E.M., Kim, Y.O., Lee, S.J., Kong, I.S. (2003) Characterization of the enzyme activity of an extracellular metalloprotese (VMC) from Vibrio mimicus and its C-terminal deletion. FEMS Microbiol. Lett.. 223. 293-300.
4. Lee, J.H., Ahn, S.H., Kim, S.H., Choi, Y.H., Park, K.J., Kong, I.S. (2002).    Characterization of Vibrio mimicus phospholipase A (PhlA) and cytotoxicity on fish cell. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun.298. 269-276.
5. Han, J.H., Lee, J.H., Choi, Y.H., Park, J.H., Choi, T.J., Kong, I.S. (2002) Purification, characterization and molecular cloning of Vibrio fluvialis hemolysin. Biochim. Biophys. Acta. 1599. 106-114.
6. Lee, J.H., Kim G.T., Lee, J.Y., Jun, H.K., Yu, J.h., Kong, I.S. (1998) Isolation and Sequence Analysis of Metalloprotease Gene from Vibrio mimicus. Biochim. Biophys. Acta. 1384. 1- 6.
7. Kang, J.H., Lee, J.H., Park, J.H., Huh, S.H., Kong, I.S. (1998) Cloning and identification of a Phospholipase Gene from Vibrio mimicus. Biochim. Biophys. Acta. 1394. 85-89. 
8. Yoon, S.C., Lee, J.H., Ahn, S.H., Lee, E.M., Park,K.J., Kong, I.S. (2003). Purification and comparison of properties of the C-terminal truncated agarase of Pseudomonas sp. W7. J. Mol. Biol. 13. 767-772.
9. Lee, J.H., Park, J. H., Kim, S.H., Ahn, S.H., Kong, I.S. (2002)Detection of recombinant motX protein of Vibrio fluvialis in E.coli with Immuno Gold labeling methods. J. Korean Fish Sci. 35. 451-453.
10. Lee, J.H., Ahn, S.H., Kim, S.H., Lee, E.M., Kong, I.S.(2002) Purification and characterization of biochemical properties of hemolysin from Vibrio fluvialis. Korean J. of Life Science 12. 490-495. 
11. Park, J.H., Lee, J.H., Kim, Y.S., Hong, Y.K., Kong, I.S. (2001) Molecular Cloning and Expression of a Sodium-Driven Flagellar Motor Component Gene (motX) from Vibrio fluvialis. J. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 11. 973-978.
12.  Jin, C.H., Park, J.H., Han, J.H., Chio, Y.H., Lee, J.H., Lee, J.K., Kong I.S. (2001) Expression of beta agarase gene and catabolite repression in Escherichia coli by the promoter of alginate lyase gene isolated from marine Pseudomonas sp. Korean J. Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 29. 72-77.
13. Lee, S.J., Lee, J.H., Kang, J.H., Lee, J.H., Min, K.S., Myung, J.I., Kim, Y., Kong, I.S. (2001) Effect of temperature shock on cultured olive flounder (Paralicht-hys olivaceus) and black rockfish (Sebastes schleli) J. Fish. Sci. Tech. 4. 112-119.
14. Park, J.H., Kim, S.H., Ahn, S.H., Lee, J.H., Kim, Y.S., Lee, S.J., Kong, I.S.(2001) The high production of multimeric angiotensin-converting-enzyme-inhibitor in E. coli J. Fish. Sci. Tech. 4. 84-87.
15. Shin, S.Y., Lee, J.H., Huh, S.H., Park, Y.S., Kong, I.S. (2000) Overexpression and Characterization of Vibrio mimicus Metalloprotease. J. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 10. 612- 619.
16. Lee, S.J., Lee, J.H., Jin, H.J., Lee, J.H., Ryu, H.Y., Kim, Y., Kong, I.S., Kim K.W. (2000) A Novel Technique for the Effective Production of Short Peptide Analogs from Concatameric Short Peptide Multimers. Molecules and Cells. (10) 236-240.
17. Lee, J.H., Chio, S.Y., Lee, S.B., Jin, C.H., Huh, S.H., Kong, I.S. (1999) Expression of gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata) growth hormone in E. coli  using alginate lyase gene promoter of Pseudomonas sp. J. Fish. Sci. Tech. 2. 93-97.
18. Lee, J.H., Kang, J.H., Kim, Y.O., Kim, J.M., Kong, I.S. (1998) Nucleotide Sequence analysis and expression of Alginate lyase gene of Pseudomonas sp. W7 in Escherichia coli. J. Microbiol. Biotech. 1998. vol 8  531-535
19. Kang, J.H., Lee, J.H., Kim, H.K., Chio, S.Y., Kong, I.S. (1997) Cloning of the Vibrio mimicus hemolysin (Vm-hemolysin) Gene and Expression in E. coli. J. Korean Fish. Soc. 30. 1056-1057.

Patent:
The method of overexpression of the promoter region of alginate lyase gene from marine bacteria, Pseudomonas sp., in E.coli : Korea patent No.10-1999-0021956