Hae Ryong Kwon, Ph.D.

Our skeleton shapes our body, safeguards internal organs and facilitates blood formation. My research focuses on better understanding skeletal development and how it is impacted by signaling from a protein known as PDGFR, or platelet-derived growth factor receptor. Using research models, primary cell culture and bioinformatics, we aim to unravel the ways abnormal PDGFR signaling contributes to dysregulated skeletal growth and bone marrow maintenance.

Recent sequencing has revealed PDGFR beta mutations associated with a disease called Kosaki Overgrowth Syndrome. We can observe similar skeletal overgrowth in models by introducing a PDGFR mutation. Using single-cell RNA sequencing and stem cell culture, we have identified a potential means to reduce these symptoms.

The skeletal system also serves as a dynamic niche for intricate cell-cell interactions involving diverse cell populations including immune cells and cells that form and break down blood and bone tissue. Intriguingly, the mutation we study also affects bone marrow production. I am investigating how PDGFR signaling in skeletal cells changes the microenvironment to regulate the bone marrow niche.

This research sheds light on the complex interactions between PDGFR signaling and the skeletal microenvironment, providing insights into potential therapeutic interventions for conditions associated with abnormal skeletal growth and bone marrow function.

B.S., Chungbuk National University, South Korea, 2003
M.S., Chungbuk National University, South Korea, 2005
M.S., University of Tennessee, 2010
Ph.D., University at Albany, State University of New York, 2016

Joined OMRF Scientific Staff in 2023

Yao L, Jeong S, Kwon HR, and Olson LE (2023) Regulation of adipocyte dedifferentiation at the skin wound edge. bioRxiv doi: 10.1101/2023.11.22.568302 (link) PMID: 38045303

Yao L, Rathnaker BH, Kwon HR, Sakashita H, Kim JH, Rackley A, Tomasek JJ, Berry WL, Olson LE. (2022) Temporal control of PDGFRa regulates the fibroblast-to-myofibroblast transition in wound healing. Cell Reports 40(7):111192 PMID: 35977484

Kwon HR, Kim JH, Woods JP, Olson LE. (2021) Skeletal stem cell defects caused by Pdgfrb activating mutation. Development 148(23):dev199607. PMID: 34738614 Selected as Research Highlight: A growing role for PDGFRs in skeletal stem cells, Development 148(23):e148_e2301 (link).

He C, Medley SC, Kim J, Sun C, Kwon HR, Pincu Y, Yao L, Eppard D, Dai B, Berry WL, Griffin TM, and Olson LE (2017) STAT1 modulates wasting or overgrowth phenotypes downstream of PDGFRb. Genes Dev 31:1666-78. PMID: 28924035

Cardiovascular Biology Research Program, MS 45
Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation
825 N.E. 13th Street
Oklahoma City, OK 73104

Phone: 405-271-7390
E-mail: HaeRyong-Kwon@omrf.org