Christian Hong , PhD

Dr. Hong studied mathematical modeling of circadian rhythms as a graduate student, and learned how to apply genetic and molecular biological approaches to problems of cellular regulation, using Neurospora crassa, a tractable experimental system for circadian biology. As a young investigator who has crossed disciplines from mathematical biology to genetics and molecular biology, Dr. Hong believes that such interdisciplinary approaches will lead to the innovative therapies of the future. He joined the Department of Molecular & Cellular Physiology in April, 2010. 

PhD: Virginia Tech 2003 (Mathematical Modeling)

BS: Virginia Tech 1997 (Biology)

MS: Virginia Tech 1999 (Mathematical Modeling)

Our lab is interested in the molecular mechanism of circadian rhythms and its functional role in cell cycle controls. Circadian rhythms are periodic physiological events that recur about every 24 hours. The importance of circadian rhythms is well recognized in many different organisms’ survival as well as in human physiology.

Misregulation in circadian rhythms may lead to different conditions such as depression, familial advanced sleep phase syndrome (FASPS), delayed sleep phase syndrome (DSPS), and/or insomnia, which largely impact our society. Recent studies indicate higher incidents of cancer in clock defective mice and chronic jet-lag is associated with higher mortality rate in aged mice. The cell cycle control is intertwined with circadian network via molecular coupling factors such as WEE1, a kinase that is involved in G2 to M transition. Therefore, maintaining robust circadian rhythms is vital for the health of an organism.

Circadian rhythms are dictated by cellular regulations of transcriptional and translational feedback loops. There are positive and negative elements that create a time-delayed negative feedback loop to generate a rhythm of about 24 hours. Several core clock components oscillate in terms of their quality and abundance, and determine the period and the phase of the circadian clock. We use mathematical models and tools in genetics and molecular biology to investigate molecular components and dynamical properties of circadian rhythms and cell cycle in a model organism, Neurospora crassa. Neurospora is a filamentous fungus that provides excellent tools for circadian rhythms research. We follow molecular rhythms in real-time with bioluminescence assay utilizing luciferase derived from firefly luciferase. We can track gene regulations or protein abundances as a function of time with bioluminescence assay. This provides a good handle for us to study dynamical properties of circadian rhythms and cell cycle in various genetic backgrounds. Hypotheses are derived from mathematical simulations and predictions are experimentally validated. This interdisciplinary approach creates a synergy to efficiently understand nuts and bolts of circadian rhythms and its roles in cell cycle control.

Investigators:Hong, C I 01-2011 -12-2013 Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation Functional Roles of Circadian Rhythms in Cell Cycle and DNA Damage Controls Role:PI 450,000.00 Pending Type:Grant Level:National

Investigators:Hong, C I 06-2011 -05-2014 Searle Scholars Program Study of Functional Roles of Circadian Rhythms in Cell Cycle Progression Role:PI 300,000.00 Planned/In Preparation Type:Grant

Grant: #D12AP00005 Investigators:Ahn, Chong; Hong, Christian; Lim, Sookkyung; Song, Seongho 01-01-2012 -12-31-2015 Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Uncovering General Principles of Network Dynamics of Circadian Rhythms, Cell Cycle, DNA Damage Response and Metabolism as Interconnected Modules. Role:PI $1,810,960.00 Active Level:Federal

Grant: #U19 AI116491 Investigators:Hong, Christian; Moore, Sean; Weiss, Alison; Wells, James; Zavros, Yana 03-01-2015 -02-29-2020 National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Organoids as a Model System for Studying Gastrointestinal Disease Role:Collaborator $931,304.00 Awarded Level:Federal

Grant: #1R21CA227379 Investigators:Hong, Christian; Zhang, Tongli 07-01-2018 -06-30-2020 National Cancer Institute (PQ6) Roles of circadian rhythms in tumor development Role:PI $208,800.00 Awarded Level:Federal

Grant: #R01DK117005 Investigators:Hong, Christian 09-15-2018 -05-31-2023 National Inst of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease Roles of circadian rhythms in gastrointestinal systems Role:PI $379,997.00 Active Level:Federal

Investigators:Hong, Christian 04-14-2021 -10-13-2021 Procter & Gamble Company Assessment of circadian phase shifts in Caco2 cells and HIEs by materials of interest Role:PI 61639.92 Active Level:Industry

Grant: #S10OD030402 Investigators:Closson, Chet; Fan, Guochang; Hong, Christian; Luo, Yu; Sadayappan, Sakthivel; Wang, Hongsheng; Weiss, Alison; Zhang, Yuhang 09-01-2021 -08-31-2022 Office of the Director, National Institutes of Health Leica Stellaris 8 Confocal Microscope Role:PI 598148.00 Awarded Level:Federal

09-01-2024 -08-31-2029 National Institute of General Medical Sciences Fundamental properties of circadian rhythms Role:PI 0.00 Hold Level:Federal

09-01-2024 -08-31-2029 National Institute of General Medical Sciences Fundamental properties of circadian rhythms Role:PI 0.00 Hold Level:Federal

Peer Reviewed Publications

Hong, Christian I; Zámborszky, Judit; Baek, Mokryun; Labiscsak, Laszlo; Ju, Kyungsu; Lee, Hyeyeong; Larrondo, Luis F; Goity, Alejandra; Chong, Hin Siong; Belden, William J; Csikász-Nagy, Attila (2014. ) Circadian rhythms synchronize mitosis in Neurospora crassa.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, , 111 (4 ) ,1397-402 More Information

Lee, Kang Kug; Ahn, Chong H; Hong, Christian I (2013. ) Circadian rhythms in Neurospora crassa on a polydimethylsiloxane microfluidic device for real-time gas perturbations.Biomicrofluidics, , 7 (4 ) ,44129 More Information

Hong, Christian I; Zámborszky, Judit; Csikász-Nagy, Attila (2009. ) Minimum criteria for DNA damage-induced phase advances in circadian rhythms.PLoS computational biology, , 5 (5 ) ,e1000384 More Information

Hong, Christian I; Jolma, Ingunn W; Loros, Jennifer J; Dunlap, Jay C; Ruoff, Peter (2008. ) Simulating dark expressions and interactions of frq and wc-1 in the Neurospora circadian clock.Biophysical journal, , 94 (4 ) ,1221-32 More Information

Zámborszky, Judit; Hong, Christian I; Csikász Nagy, Attila (2007. ) Computational analysis of mammalian cell division gated by a circadian clock: quantized cell cycles and cell size control.Journal of biological rhythms, , 22 (6 ) ,542-53 More Information

Hong, Christian I; Conrad, Emery D; Tyson, John J (2007. ) A proposal for robust temperature compensation of circadian rhythms.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, , 104 (4 ) ,1195-200 More Information

Dunlap, J C; Loros, J J; Colot, H V; Mehra, A; Belden, W J; Shi, M; Hong, C I; Larrondo, L F; Baker, C L; Chen, C-H; Schwerdtfeger, C; Collopy, P D; Gamsby, J J; Lambreghts, R (2007. ) A circadian clock in Neurospora: how genes and proteins cooperate to produce a sustained, entrainable, and compensated biological oscillator with a period of about a day.Cold Spring Harbor symposia on quantitative biology, , 72 ,57-68 More Information

Loros, J J; Dunlap, J C; Larrondo, L F; Shi, M; Belden, W J; Gooch, V D; Chen, C-H; Baker, C L; Mehra, A; Colot, H V; Schwerdtfeger, C; Lambreghts, R; Collopy, P D; Gamsby, J J; Hong, C I (2007. ) Circadian output, input, and intracellular oscillators: insights into the circadian systems of single cells.Cold Spring Harbor symposia on quantitative biology, , 72 ,201-14 More Information

Mehra, Arun; Hong, Christian I; Shi, Mi; Loros, Jennifer J; Dunlap, Jay C; Ruoff, Peter (2006. ) Circadian rhythmicity by autocatalysis.PLoS computational biology, , 2 (7 ) ,e96 More Information

Tyson, J J; Hong, C I; Thron, C D; Novak, B (1999. ) A simple model of circadian rhythms based on dimerization and proteolysis of PER and TIM.Biophysical journal, , 77 (5 ) ,2411-7 More Information

Dovzhenok, Andrey A; Baek, Mokryun; Lim, Sookkyung; Hong, Christian I (2015. ) Mathematical modeling and validation of glucose compensation of the neurospora circadian clock.Biophysical journal, , 108 (7 ) ,1830-9 More Information

Zámborszky, Judit; Csikász-Nagy, Attila; Hong, Christian I (2014. ) Neurospora crassa as a model organism to explore the interconnected network of the cell cycle and the circadian clock.Fungal genetics and biology : FG & B, , 71 ,52-7 More Information

Moore, Sean R; Pruszka, Jill; Vallance, Jefferson; Aihara, Eitaro; Matsuura, Toru; Montrose, Marshall H; Shroyer, Noah F; Hong, Christian I (2014. ) Robust circadian rhythms in organoid cultures from PERIOD2::LUCIFERASE mouse small intestine.Disease models & mechanisms, , 7 (9 ) ,1123-30 More Information

Chen, Shuang; Brunskill, Eric W; Potter, S Steven; Dexheimer, Phillip J; Salomonis, Nathan; Aronow, Bruce J; Hong, Christian I; Zhang, Tongli; Kopan, Raphael (2015. ) Intrinsic Age-Dependent Changes and Cell-Cell Contacts Regulate Nephron Progenitor Lifespan.Developmental cell, , 35 (1 ) ,49-62 More Information

Caicedo-Casso, Angélica; Kang, Hye-Won; Lim, Sookkyung; Hong, Christian I (2015. ) Robustness and period sensitivity analysis of minimal models for biochemical oscillators.Scientific reports, , 5 ,13161 More Information

Cockrell, Allison L; Pirlo, Russell K; Babson, David M; Cusick, Kathleen D; Soto, Carissa M; Petersen, Emily R; Davis, Miah J; Hong, Christian I; Lee, Kwangwon; Fitzgerald, Lisa A; Biffinger, Justin C (2015. ) Suppressing the Neurospora crassa circadian clock while maintaining light responsiveness in continuous stirred tank reactors.Scientific reports, , 5 ,10691 More Information

Rosselot, Andrew E; Park, Miri; Kim, Mari; Matsu-Ura, Toru; Wu, Gang; Flores, Danilo E; Subramanian, Krithika R; Lee, Suengwon; Sundaram, Nambirajan; Broda, Taylor R; McCauley, Heather A; Hawkins, Jennifer A; Chetal, Kashish; Salomonis, Nathan; Shroyer, Noah F; Helmrath, Michael A; Wells, James M; Hogenesch, John B; Moore, Sean R; Hong, Christian I (2022. ) Ontogeny and function of the circadian clock in intestinal organoids.The EMBO journal, , 41 (2 ) ,e106973 More Information

Fawad, Jibraan A; Luzader, Deborah H; Hanson, Gabriel F; Moutinho, Thomas J; McKinney, Craig A; Mitchell, Paul G; Brown-Steinke, Kathleen; Kumar, Ajay; Park, Miri; Lee, Suengwon; Bolick, David T; Medlock, Greg L; Zhao, Jesse Y; Rosselot, Andrew E; Chou, C James; Eshleman, Emily; Alenghat, Theresa; Hong, Christian I; Papin, Jason A; Moore, Sean R (2022. ) Histone deacetylase inhibition by gut microbe-generated short chain fatty acids entrains intestinal epithelial circadian rhythms.Gastroenterology, , More Information

Lee, Suengwon; Hong, Christian I (2022. ) Organoids as Model Systems to Investigate Circadian Clock-Related Diseases and Treatments.Frontiers in genetics, , 13 ,874288 More Information

Park, Miri; Cao, Yuhui; Hong, Christian I (2022. ) Methods for Assessing Circadian Rhythms and Cell Cycle in Intestinal Enteroids.Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.), , 2482 ,105-124 More Information

Lee, Kang Kug Paul; Matsu-Ura, Toru; Rosselot, Andrew E; Broda, Taylor R; Wells, James M; Hong, Christian I (2021. ) An integrated microfluidic bubble pocket for long-term perfused three-dimensional intestine-on-a-chip model.Biomicrofluidics, , 15 (1 ) ,014110 More Information

Weng, Jun-Cheng; Hong, Chi Ieong; Tasi, Jeng-Dau; Shen, Chao-Yu; Su, Pen-Hua; Wang, Shu-Li (2020. ) The association between prenatal endocrine-disrupting chemical exposure and altered resting-state brain fMRI in teenagers.Brain structure & function, , 225 (5 ) ,1669-1684 More Information

Liu, Xiao; Chen, Ahai; Caicedo-Casso, Angélica; Cui, Guofei; Du, Mingjian; He, Qun; Lim, Sookkyung; Kim, Hang J; Hong, Christian I; Liu, Yi (2020. ) Author Correction: FRQ-CK1 interaction determines the period of circadian rhythms in Neurospora.Nature communications, , 11 (1 ) ,346 More Information

Liu, Xiao; Chen, Ahai; Caicedo-Casso, Angélica; Cui, Guofei; Du, Mingjian; He, Qun; Lim, Sookkyung; Kim, Hang J; Hong, Christian I; Liu, Yi (2019. ) FRQ-CK1 interaction determines the period of circadian rhythms in Neurospora.Nature communications, , 10 (1 ) ,4352 More Information

Baek, Mokryun; Virgilio, Stela; Lamb, Teresa M; Ibarra, Oneida; Andrade, Juvana Moreira; Gonçalves, Rodrigo Duarte; Dovzhenok, Andrey; Lim, Sookkyung; Bell-Pedersen, Deborah; Bertolini, Maria Celia; Hong, Christian I (2019. ) Circadian clock regulation of the glycogen synthase (gsn) gene by WCC is critical for rhythmic glycogen metabolism in Neurospora crassa.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, , 116 (21 ) ,10435-10440 More Information

Ballweg, Richard; Lee, Suengwon; Han, Xiaonan; Maini, Philip K; Byrne, Helen; Hong, Christian I; Zhang, Tongli (2018. ) Unraveling the Control of Cell Cycle Periods during Intestinal Stem Cell Differentiation.Biophysical journal, , 115 (11 ) ,2250-2258 More Information

Lee, Kang Kug; McCauley, Heather A; Broda, Taylor R; Kofron, Matthew J; Wells, James M; Hong, Christian I (2018. ) Human stomach-on-a-chip with luminal flow and peristaltic-like motility.Lab on a chip, , 18 (20 ) ,3079-3085 More Information

Bellman, Jacob; Kim, Jae Kyoung; Lim, Sookkyung; Hong, Christian I (2018. ) Modeling Reveals a Key Mechanism for Light-Dependent Phase Shifts of Neurospora Circadian Rhythms.Biophysical journal, , 115 (6 ) ,1093-1102 More Information

Matsu-Ura, Toru; Dovzhenok, Andrey A; Coradetti, Samuel T; Subramanian, Krithika R; Meyer, Daniel R; Kwon, Jaesang J; Kim, Caleb; Salomonis, Nathan; Glass, N Louise; Lim, Sookkyung; Hong, Christian I (2018. ) Synthetic Gene Network with Positive Feedback Loop Amplifies Cellulase Gene Expression in Neurospora crassa.ACS synthetic biology, , 7 (5 ) ,1395-1405 More Information

Matsu-Ura, Toru; Moore, Sean R; Hong, Christian I (2018. ) WNT Takes Two to Tango: Molecular Links between the Circadian Clock and the Cell Cycle in Adult Stem Cells.Journal of biological rhythms, , 33 (1 ) ,5-14 More Information

Liu, Xiao; Dang, Yunkun; Matsu-Ura, Toru; He, Yubo; He, Qun; Hong, Christian I; Liu, Yi (2017. ) DNA Replication Is Required for Circadian Clock Function by Regulating Rhythmic Nucleosome Composition.Molecular cell, , 67 (2 ) ,203-213.e4 More Information

Matsu-Ura, Toru; Dovzhenok, Andrey; Aihara, Eitaro; Rood, Jill; Le, Hung; Ren, Yan; Rosselot, Andrew E; Zhang, Tongli; Lee, Choogon; Obrietan, Karl; Montrose, Marshall H; Lim, Sookkyung; Moore, Sean R; Hong, Christian I (2016. ) Intercellular Coupling of the Cell Cycle and Circadian Clock in Adult Stem Cell Culture.Molecular cell, , 64 (5 ) ,900-912 More Information

Lee, Kang Kug; Labiscsak, Laszlo; Ahn, Chong H; Hong, Christian I (2016. ) Spiral-based microfluidic device for long-term time course imaging of Neurospora crassa with single nucleus resolution.Fungal genetics and biology : FG & B, , 94 ,11-4 More Information

Caicedo-Casso, Angélica; Kang, Hye-Won; Lim, Sookkyung; Hong, Christian I (2016. ) Corrigendum: Robustness and period sensitivity analysis of minimal models for biochemical oscillators.Scientific reports, , 6 ,18504 More Information

Ren, Yan; Hong, Christian I; Lim, Sookkyung; Song, Seongho (2016. ) Finding Clocks in Genes: A Bayesian Approach to Estimate Periodicity.BioMed research international, , 2016 ,3017475 More Information

Rosselot, Andrew E; Hong, Christian I; Moore, Sean R (2016. ) Rhythm and bugs: circadian clocks, gut microbiota, and enteric infections.Current opinion in gastroenterology, , 32 (1 ) ,7-11 More Information

Aihara, Eitaro; Mahe, Maxime M; Schumacher, Michael A; Matthis, Andrea L; Feng, Rui; Ren, Wenwen; Noah, Taeko K; Matsu-ura, Toru; Moore, Sean R; Hong, Christian I; Zavros, Yana; Herness, Scott; Shroyer, Noah F; Iwatsuki, Ken; Jiang, Peihua; Helmrath, Michael A; Montrose, Marshall H (2015. ) Characterization of stem/progenitor cell cycle using murine circumvallate papilla taste bud organoid.Scientific reports, , 5 ,17185 More Information

Chakravarty, Suchana; Hong, Christian I; Csikász-Nagy, Attila (2023. ) Systematic analysis of negative and positive feedback loops for robustness and temperature compensation in circadian rhythms.NPJ systems biology and applications, , 9 (1 ) ,5 More Information

Encyclopedia Article

Hong, C I (2010. ) Encyclopedia of Systems Biology .Springer (Author)

Invited Presentations

(06-2008. ) Harvard Medica School, Boston, MA.

(04-2008. ) The Microsoft Research - University of Trento, Center for Computational and Systems Biology, Trento, IT.

(03-2008. ) Computational Cell Biology, Cold Spring Harbor & Wellcome Trust, Hinxton, UK.

(05-2007. ) Postdoctoral seminar series at Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, NH.

(01-2005. ) Young Generation Technical Leadership Conference, San Francisco, CA.

(06-2004. ) Society for Research on Biological Rhythms Conference, Whistler, BC.

(03-2003. ) The Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics on Biological Networks Workshop at UCSB, Santa Barbara, CA.

(05-2002. ) Society,

(05-2002. ) Society for Research on Biological Rhythms Conference, Amelia Island, FL.

(03-1999. ) Molecular Cell Biology and Bitechnology Seminar, Blacksburg, VA.

Poster Presentations

Hong, C I (05-2010. ) (In Press. ) Mechanistic Analysis of Frequency Demultiplication .The Society for Research on Biological Rhythms, San Destin, FL, USA. . Conference. . Level:International

-06-2008 The 2008 Kronauer Award in Excellence in Biomathematical Modeling Status:Recipient

-03-2008 Computation Cell Biology, Cold Spring Harbor & Wellcome Trust Travel Award; Hinxton, UK Status:Recipient

07-2007 -08-2007 Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics workshop on Biologica Switches and Clocks Invited Fellow Status:Recipient Type:Fellowship

05-2004 -04-2006 National Academies Keck Futures Initiative Signaling Grant Status:Recipient Type:Grant

08-2005 -10-2005 The University of Stavanger, Norway, Norwegian Research Council: Leiv Eirikson mobility grant Visiting Fellow Status:Recipient Type:Grant

-07-2005 The European Conference on Mathematical and Theoretical Biology, Dresden, Germany Travel Award Status:Recipient

02-2003 -07-2003 The Collegium Budapest, Institute for Advanced Study in Budapest Hungary Junior Fellow Status:Recipient Type:Fellowship

06-2000 Gordon Research Conference in Theoretical Biology, Tilton, NH Travel Award Status:Recipient

06-2000 -To Present: Society for Mathematical Biology Member

09-2002 -To Present: Korean-American Scientists and Engineers Association Member

05-2010: Member The Society for Research on Biological Rhythms

Academic - Medical Sciences Building
Room 4201
Cincinnati  Ohio, 45267-0576
Phone: 513-558-5093
Fax: 513-558-5738
christian.hong@uc.edu