From left: Oh Ji-hoon, professor of life sciences at Keimyung University; Jung Da-som, research professor at Yonsei University College of Medicine; and Clara Yuri Kim, doctoral researcher at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine. [Keimyung University]
From left: Oh Ji-hoon, professor of life sciences at Keimyung University; Jung Da-som, research professor at Yonsei University College of Medicine; and Clara Yuri Kim, doctoral researcher at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine. [Keimyung University]

Keimyung University announced Monday that Oh Ji-hoon, a professor in its department of life sciences, has identified a new gene regulation mechanism involved in the progression of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), one of the most difficult forms of the disease to treat. The research was conducted in collaboration with scientists at Yonsei University and the University of Pennsylvania.

The study, led by Oh, found that restoring the expression of the HOXD1 and HOXD8 genes reduced cancer cell migration and invasion, and suppressed tumor progression in mouse tumor models.

The findings are expected to serve as foundational data for understanding how TNBC progresses and for identifying new treatment targets.

The research was published in the international journal Experimental & Molecular Medicine, published by Springer Nature. The journal carries an impact factor of 17.5 — placing it in the top 1.8 percent — based on the 2025 Journal Citation Reports. The paper is titled "CTCF-associated chromatin changes between HOXD1 and HOXD8 contribute to TNBC progression."

Oh served as both first author and corresponding author. Jung Da-som, a research professor at Yonsei University College of Medicine, and Clara Yuri Kim, a doctoral researcher at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine, participated as co-authors.

"This research shows that DNA methylation, CTCF binding and three-dimensional chromatin structure can be linked to the regulation of gene expression in triple-negative breast cancer," Oh said. "We hope it will serve as foundational data for identifying new treatment targets based on epigenetic regulation."


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