Chair and Harrison Foundation
Professor of Neuroscience
Ph.D., 1979, University of California, Irvine

ksl3h@virginia.edu

Lee Lab Research

Our laboratory is interested in mechanisms of, and treatments for neuronal injury. A multidisciplinary approach has been undertaken to elucidate how neurons are destabilized in these neurological disorders. Knowledge from our basic investigations is then utilized to develop and test specific therapeutic strategies for rescuing damaged neurons. Several lines of investigation are currently underway in the laboratory, including:

1. Mechanisms of stroke-related injury and development of novel therapeutic strategies for limiting injury.
   
   
2. Evaluation of neuroinflammatory mechanisms contributing to persistent cognitive dysfunction after cardiopulmonary bypass surgery.  Testing of anti-neuroinflammatory therapeutics for preventing and/or reversing cognitive decline.
   
   
3. Characterizing of the developmental underpinnings of cortical malformations and identification of physiological mechanisms contributing to seizures.
   
   
4. Evaluation of neuroinflammatory events contributing to glioblastoma multiforme, which is an aggressive brain tumor that is rapidly and invariably lethal. 
   
   

Representative Publications

Fitzgerald MP, Covio M, and Lee KS.  Disturbances in progenitor cell placement, proliferation, and apoptosis modify neocortical development in the tish neurological mutant. Neuroscience 2011 Mar 10;176:455-71. Epub 2010 Dec.

Manabe H, Wang Y, Yoshimura R, Cai Y, Fitzgerald M, Clarke R, and Lee, K.S., Metabolic Reflow as a Therapy for Ischemic Brain Injury, in: Early brain Injury or vasospasm, a crossroad for subarachnoid hemorrhage research and treatment.  Hua Feng, Ying Mao, John H. Zhang  (eds) Acta Neurochir   Suppl. 2010.

Manabe H, Okonkwo DO, Gainer JL, Clarke R, Lee KS. Protection against focal ischemic injury to the brain by trans-sodium crocetinate. Journal of Neurosurgery 113: 802-809, 2010. Epub:12/09 with podcast.

Trotter SA, Fitzgerald MP, Kapur J, Lee KS. The Tish Rat: an animal model of cortical malformation in the study of epilepsy. In P.A. Schwartzkroin (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Basic Epilepsy Research.  pp. 214-219. Oxford: Elsevier (2009).

Trotter, S.A., Kapur, J., Anzivino, M.J., and Lee, K.S., GABAergic synaptic inhibition is reduced before seizure onset in a genetic model of cortical malformation. Journal of Neuroscience  26: 10756-10767, 2006.

Lee, K. , Anzivino, M.J., Machizawa, M.G., Zhang, F., Williams, C., Schottler, F., Tsuchitani, S.,   Drummond, J., Kinard, C.L., Bertram, E., Trotter, S., Kapur, J., and Chen, Z.-F., Structural and functional deficits in a rat model of cortical heterotopia, in: The Extraordinary Brain Series: Developing New Pathways in the Study of the Dyslexic Brain. (2004).

Yunoki, M., Nishio, S., Anzivino, M.J., and Lee, K., Hypothermic preconditioning induces rapid tolerance to focal ischemic injury in the rat. Exp Neurol 181L 291-399 (2003).

Dumont, A.S., Dumont, R.J., Chow, M.M., Lin, C-L., Callaynseller, T. Ley, K.F., Kassell, N.F., and Lee, K., Cerebral vasospasm following subarachnoid hemorrhage: putative role of inflammation.  Neurosurgery 53: 123-135 (2003).

Yunoki, M., Nishio, S., Anzivino, M.A. and Lee, K., Characteristics of hypothermic preconditioning influencing the induction of delayed ischemic tolerance. J. Neurosurgery 97: 650-657 (2002).

Schottler, F., Fabiato, H., Leland, J.M., Chang, L-Y., Lotfi, P. and Lee, K., Normotopic and heterotopic cortical representations of mystacial vibrissae in a rat with subcortical band heterotopia. Neuroscience 108: 217-235 (2001).

Chen, Z-F, Kamiryo, T., Henson, S.L., Yamamoto, H., Bertram, E.H., Schottler, F., Patel, F., Steiner, L., Prasad D., Kassell, N.F., Shareghis, S. and Lee, K., Anticonvulsant effects of gamma surgery in a rat model of chronic spontaneous limbic epilepsy. J. Neurosurgery 94: 270-280 (2001).

Nishio, S., Yunoki, M., Chen, Z-F., Anzivino, M.J. and Lee, K., Ischemic tolerance in the rat neocortex following hypothermic preconditioning. J. Neurosurgery 93: 845-851 (2000).

Chen, Z-F., Schottler, F. Bertram, E., Gall, C.M, Anzivino, M.J. and Lee, K., Distribution and initiation of seizure activity in a rat brain with subcortical band heterotopia. Epilepsia 41: 493-501 (2000).

Lee, K., Collins, J., Anzivino, M., Frankel, E., and Schottler, F., Heterotopic neurogenesis in a rat with cortical heterotopia J. Neuroscience 18: 9365-9375 (1998).

Wang, K.K.W., Yuen, P-W. and Lee, K., Calpain in excitotoxicity, cerebral ischemia and neuronal apoptosis. in Calpain: Pharmacology and Toxicology of a Calcium-dependent Cellular Protease, ed. K.K.W. Wang and P.-W. Wai. Taylor and Francis, Bristol , PA (1999) pp. 179-190.

Polin, R., Bavbak, M., Shaffrey, M., Chadduck, J., Bogaev, C., Kaptain, G., Billups, K., Kassell, N. and Lee, K., Detection of soluble E-selectin, ICAM-1, VCAM-1, and L-selectin in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients after subarachnoid hemorrhage, J. Neurosurgery 89: 559-567 (1998).

Bavbek, M., Kwan, A-L, Polin, R., Kassell, N. and Lee, K., Monoclonal antibodies against ICAM-1 and CD18 attenuate cerebral vasospasm after experimental subarachnoid hemorrhage in rabbits.Stroke 29: 1930-1935 (1998).

Schottler, F., Couture, D., Rao, A, Kahn, H. and Lee, K., Subcortical connections of normotopic and heterotopic neurons in the somatosensory cortex of the tish mutant rat. J Comp Neurol 395: 29-42 (1998).

Lee, K., Schottler, F., Collins, J., Lanzino, G., Couture, D., Rao, A., Hiramatsu, K., Goto, Y., Hong, S-C., Caner, H., Yamamoto, H., Berr, S., Omary, R., Jackson, T., Goble, J., Scrable, H., Bertram, E. and Chen, Z-F., A genetic animal model of human neocortical heterotopia associated with seizures, J. Neuroscience 17: 6236-6242 (1997).

Fergus, A. and Lee, K., GABAergic regulation of cerebral microvascular tone in the rat. J. Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabol 17: 992-1003 (1997).

Wang, K., Nath, R., Posner, A. Raser, K., Buroker-Kilgore, M., Hajimohammadreza, I., Probert, A., Marcoux, F., Ye, Q., Takano, E., Hatanaka, M., Maki, M., Caner, H., Collins, J., Fergus, A., Lee, K., Lunney, E., Hays, S. and Yuen, P., An alpha-mercaptoacrylic acid derivative is a selective non-peptide cell-permeable calpain inhibitor and is neuroprotective. Proc. Nat’l Acad Sci  (USA ) 93: 6687-6692 (1996).

Lee, K. (1996) The role of calcium-activated proteolysis in neuronal injury. In: Novel Therapies for CNS injuries: Rationales and Results. P. Peterson and J.W. Phillis (eds.) CRC Press, Inc., pp. 347-361.

Hong, S., Goto, Y., Lanzino, G., Soleau, S., Kassell, N., and Lee, K. (1994) Neuroprotection with the calpain inhibitor in a model of focal cerebral ischemia. Stroke 25: 663-669.

Lee, K., Frank, S., Vanderklish, P., Aria, A., and Lynch, K. (1991) Inhibition of proteolysis protects hippocampal neurons from ischemia. Proc. Nat'l. Acad. Sci.  (USA ) 88: 7233-7237.