Professor No Seong-hoon of Seoul National University Wins Korea Science and Technology Award for Unveiling the Principle of Hsp Regulators

Professor No Seong-hoon of Seoul National University's Department of Life Sciences has been selected as the July recipient of the Korea Science and Technology Award for elucidating the mechanism by which cellular scaffolding structures are regenerated through heat shock protein regulators. The Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Research Foundation announced the selection of Professor No, whose research revealed the operational principles of Hsp regulators that manage tubulin, a key protein in the cell skeleton. By utilizing cryo-electron microscopy, Professor No analyzed the atomic-level interactions between tubulin and Hsp proteins, demonstrating how damaged or misassembled tubulin is degraded and recycled. This discovery highlights a bidirectional quality control system maintaining cellular scaffolding, expanding the scope of cell skeleton research from structural formation to regeneration mechanisms and offering potential applications in treating neurodegenerative diseases and cancer.