Harald Junge, Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Neurosciences

E-MAIL: [email protected]

Research Interests:

Neurovascular communication is critical for the function of the retina and brain. The major goals of my laboratory are to understand neurovascular signaling in the eye and visual system using the mouse as a model system. Areas of focus are regulation of retinal angiogenesis and the blood-retina barrier by neural signals, mechanisms of signaling, how the pathways under study are regulated, and the application of novel transgenic mouse models to study human disease. We use integrated approaches including mouse genetics, cell-based assays, molecular manipulations (e.g., CRISPR/Cas9), RNA-Seq, and proteomics to understand processes at cellular, developmental, and disease levels.


Selected Publications:

  • Chidiac R, Abedin M, Macleod G, Yang A, Thibeault PE, Blazer LL, Adams JJ, Zhang L, Roehrich H, Jo HN, Seshagiri S, Sidhu SS, Junge HJ, Angers S. A Norrin/Wnt surrogate antibody stimulates endothelial cell barrier function and rescues retinopathy. EMBO Mol Med. 2021 Jul 7;13(7):e13977.
  • Park H, Yamamoto H, Mohn L, Ambühl L, Kanai K, Schmidt I, Kim KP, Fraccaroli A, Feil S, Junge HJ, Montanez E, Berger W, Adams RH. Integrin-linked kinase controls retinal angiogenesis and is linked to Wnt signaling and exudative vitreoretinopathy. Nat Commun. 2019 Nov 20;10(1):5243.
  • Johnson V, Junge HJ, Chen Z. Generation of ROBO1/2 receptor variants provides temporal control of midline repulsion during commissural axon guidance. eLIFE. 2019;8:e46042 DOI: 10.7554/eLife.46042.
  • Wang Y, Cho C, Williams J, Zhang C, Junge HJ, Nathans J.Interplay of the Norrin and Wnt7a/Wnt7b signaling systems in blood-brain barrier and  blood-retina barrier development and maintenance. Proc Natl Acad Sci. 2018;115(50):E11827-E11836.
  • Zhang C, Lai MB, Pedler M, Johnson V, Adams RH, Petrash JM, Chen Z, Junge HJ.Endothelial cell-specific inactivation of TSPAN12 reveals pathological consequences of blood-retina barrier defects in an otherwise intact vasculature. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2018;38:2691- 2705.
  • Junge HJ. Ligand-selective Wnt Receptor Complexes in CNS Blood Vessels: RECK and GPR124. Plugged in. Neuron. 2017 Aug 30;95(5):983-985.
  • Zhang C, Lai MB, Khandan L, Lee LA, Chen Z, Junge HJ. Norrin-induced Frizzled4 endocytosis and endo-lysosomal trafficking control retinal angiogenesis and barrier function. Nat Commun. 2017 Jul 4;8:16050.
  • Lai MB, Zhang C, Shi J, Johnson V, Khandan L, McVey J, Klymkowsky MW, Chen Z, Junge HJ. TSPAN12 is a norrin co-receptor that amplifies frizzled4 ligand selectivity and signaling. Cell Rep. 2017;19(13):2809-2822.
  • Junge HJ, Yung AR, Goodrich LV, Chen Z. Netrin1/DCC signaling promotes neuronal migration in the dorsal spinal cord. Neural Dev. 2016 Oct 26;11(1):19.
  • Saito Y, Miranda-Rottmann S, Ruggiu M, Park CY, Fak JJ, Zhong R, Duncan JS, Fabella BA,
  • Junge HJ, Chen Z, Araya R, Fritzsch B, Hudspeth AJ, Darnell RB. NOVA2-mediated RNA regulation is required for axonal pathfinding during development. eLIFE. 2016 May 25;5. pii: e14371.
  • Leggere JC, Saito Y, Darnell RB, Tessier-Lavigne M, Junge HJ*, Chen Z*. NOVA regulates Dcc alternative splicing during neuronal migration and axon guidance in the spinal cord. eLIFE. 2016 May 25;5. pii: e14264.
  • Johnson V, Xiang M, Chen Z, Junge HJ. Neurite mistargeting and inverse order of intraretinal vascular plexus formation precede subretinal vascularization in vldlr mutant mice. PLoS One. 2015 Jul 15;10(7):e0132013.
Picture of Harald Junge