Dr. Sungjae Yoo conducted his Ph.D. research on acute and chronic pain, focusing on thermosensing and mechanosensing ion channels in peripheral neurons. His work involved behavioral pain studies, in vitro calcium imaging, and electrophysiology using cultured cells.
After completing his Ph.D., he aimed to explore pain mechanisms from a broader, macroscopic perspective within neural circuits. Although transitioning from cultured cells to spinal cord slice preparations was a significant challenge, he began his postdoctoral training in Dr. Moqrich’s team at CNRS to pursue this direction.
During his postdoc, he studied chronic pain mechanisms in the spinal cord, with a particular focus on neural circuits. He found that A-type potassium currents (IA) and H-currents (Ih) are differentially expressed in excitatory and inhibitory neurons, and that both currents are modulated under spared nerve injury-induced neuropathic pain conditions.
To compare IA and Ih accurately, he emphasized the importance of high-quality patch clamp recordings with low access resistance and fresh tissue slices, as precise voltage control is critical for studying voltage-gated channels. Despite the technical difficulties—especially considering the vulnerability of adult spinal cord tissue to oxidative stress—he eventually succeeded in obtaining reliable recordings through extensive troubleshooting.
Currently, Dr. Yoo works as a Patch Clamp Engineer in the NSA-Slice team, where he leads projects related to pain research and spinal cord slice electrophysiology.
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