Prof. Chunsik Lee received his bachelor degree in Chemical Engineering (Korea), master degree from University of Texas (USA), and PhD degree from Uppsala University (Sweden) under the mentorship of Dr. Lena Claesson-Welsh. Dr. Lee completed his post-doctoral training at Dartmouth Medical School, NEI/NIH, and University of Maryland Medical School. In 2013, Dr. Lee joined the faculty of the State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology as a professor and principal investigator. Dr. Lee has published numerous papers in journals including J Exp Med, Cancer Res, OncoTarget, PNAS, J Biol Chem, and Trends in Molecular Medicine. Dr. Lee’s current research mainly focuses on the functions and regulations of PDGF-C and VEGF-B in ocular and neurovascular diseases.

Publications

1. He C, Zhao C, Kumar A, Lee C, Chen M, Huang L, Wang J, Ren X, Jiang Y, Chen W, Wang B, Gao Z, Zhong Z, Huang Z, Zhang F, Huang B, Ding H, Ju R, Tang Z, Liu Y, Cao Y, Li X, Liu X. Vasoprotective effect of PDGF-CC mediated by HMOX1 rescues retinal degeneration. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2014;111(41):14806-11

2. Lee C, Liu A, Miranda-Ribera A, Hyun SW, Lillehoj EP, Cross AS, Passaniti A, Grimm PR, Kim BY, Welling PA, Madri JA, DeLisser HM, Goldblum SE. NEU1 sialidase regulates the sialylation state of CD31 and disrupts CD31-driven capillary-like tube formation in human lung microvascular endothelia. J Biol Chem. 2014;289(13):9121-35

3. Lee C, Zhang F, Tang Z, Liu Y, Li X. PDGF-C: a new performer in the neurovascular interplay. Trends Mol Med. 2013;19(8):474-86

4. Zhang F, Li Y, Tang Z, Kumar A, Lee C, Zhang L, Zhu C, Klotzsche-von Ameln A, Wang B, Gao Z, Zhang S, Langer HF, Hou X, Jensen L, Ma W, Wong W, Chavakis T, Liu Y, Cao Y, Li X. Proliferative and survival effects of PUMA promote angiogenesis. Cell Rep. 2012;2(5):1272-85

5. Li X, Kumar A, Zhang F, Lee C, Tang Z. Complicated life, complicated VEGF-B. Trends Mol Med. 2012;18(2):119-27

6. Tang Z, Zhang F, Li Y, Arjunan P, Kumar A, Lee C, Li X. A mouse model of the cornea pocket assay for angiogenesis study. J Vis Exp. 2011;(54). pii:3077

7. Tang Z, Zhang S, Lee C, Kumar A, Arjunan P, Li Y, Zhang F, Li X. An optic nerve crush injury murine model to study retinal ganglion cell survival. J Vis Exp. 2011;(50). pii: 2685

8. Li X, Kumar A, Lee C, Tang Z, Li Y, Arjunan P, Hou X, Zhang F. Can VEGF-B be used to treat neurodegenerative diseases? Neurodegenerative Diseases Book vol.1 (In Tech-Open Access Publisher, book chapter, 2011)

9. Li X, Kumar A, Zhang F, Lee C, Li Y, Tang Z, Arjuna P. VEGF-independent angiogenic pathways induced by PDGF-C. Oncotarget. 2010;1(4):309-314

10. Hou X, Kumar A, Lee C, Wang B, Arjunan P, Dong L, Maminishkis A, Tang Z, Li Y, Zhang F, Zhang SZ, Wardega P, Chakrabarty S, Liu B, Wu Z, Colosi P, Fariss RN, Lennartsson J, Nussenblatt R, Gutkind JS, Cao Y, Li X. PDGF-CC blockade inhibits pathological angiogenesis by acting on multiple cellular and molecular targets. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2010;107(27):12216-21

11. Kumar A, Hou X, Lee C, Li Y, Maminishkis A, Tang Z, Zhang F, Langer HF, Arjunan P, Dong L, Wu Z, Zhu LY, Wang L, Min W, Colosi P, Chavakis T, Li X. Platelet-derived growth factor-DD targeting arrests pathological angiogenesis by modulating glycogen synthase kinase-3beta phosphorylation. J Biol Chem. 2010;285(20):15500-10

12. Tang Z, Arjunan P, Lee C, Li Y, Kumar A, Hou X, Wang B, Wardega P, Zhang F, Dong L, Zhang Y, Zhang SZ, Ding H, Fariss RN, Becker KG, Lennartsson J, Nagai N, Cao Y, Li X. Survival effect of PDGF-CC rescues neurons from apoptosis in both brain and retina by regulating GSK3beta phosphorylation. J Exp Med. 2010;207(4):867-80

13. Li X, Lee C, Tang Z, Zhang F, Arjunan P, Li Y, Hou X, Kumar A, Dong L. VEGF-B: a survival, or an angiogenic factor? Cell Adh Migr. 2009;3(4):322-7

14. Zhang F, Tang Z, Hou X, Lennartsson J, Li Y, Koch AW, Scotney P, Lee C, Arjunan P, Dong L, Kumar A, Rissanen TT, Wang B, Nagai N, Fons P, Fariss R, Zhang Y, Wawrousek E, Tansey G, Raber J, Fong GH, Ding H, Greenberg DA, Becker KG, Herbert JM, Nash A, Yla-Herttuala S, Cao Y, Watts RJ, Li X. VEGF-B is dispensable for blood vessel growth but critical for their survival, and VEGF-B targeting inhibits pathological angiogenesis. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2009;106(15):6152-7

15. Lee C, Bongcam-Rudloff E, Sollner C, Jahnen-Dechent W, Claesson-Welsh L. Type 3 cystatins; fetuins, kininogen and histidine-rich glycoprotein. Front Biosci (Landmark Ed). 2009;14:2911-22. Review

16. Lee C, Dixelius J, Thulin A, Kawamura H, Claesson-Welsh L, Olsson AK. Signal transduction in endothelial cells by the angiogenesis inhibitor histidine-rich glycoprotein targets focal adhesions. Exp Cell Res. 2006;312(13):2547-56

17. Dixelius J, Olsson AK, Thulin A, Lee C, Johansson I, Claesson-Welsh L. Minimal active domain and mechanism of action of the angiogenesis inhibitor histidine-rich glycoprotein. Cancer Res. 2006 Feb 15;66(4):2089-97

18. Govindarajan B, Brat DJ, Csete M, Martin WD, Murad E, Litani K, Cohen C, Cerimele F, Nunnelley M, Lefkove B, Yamamoto T, Lee C, Arbiser JL. Transgenic expression of dominant negative tuberin through a strong constitutive promoter results in a tissue-specific tuberous sclerosis phenotype in the skin and brain. J Biol Chem. 2005;280(7):5870-4

19. Olsson AK, Larsson H, Dixelius J, Johansson I, Lee C, Oellig C, Björk I, Claesson-Welsh L. A fragment of histidine-rich glycoprotein is a potent inhibitor of tumor vascularization. Cancer Res. 2004;64(2):599-605