MinHee K. Ko, PhD

Ocular translational research

Study of innate and adaptive immune response during pathogenesis of ocular and neurodegenerative diseases and its application of immune-mediated therapeutics

Study on the mechanism for tissue remodeling and contractility during disease pathogenesis and its application for biomarkers of disease and real-time monitoring with in vivo tissue imaging.

Immune-mediated therapeutics in ocular and neurodegenerative diseases
CD73+ Dendritic cells in cascading Th17 responses of experimental autoimmune uveitis (EAU)-induced mice Frontiers in Immunology 2020

The role of TLR4 Activation in Photoreceptor Mitochondrial Oxidative Stress, Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2011, July 29;52(8):5824-35.

Attenuation of AD-like neuropathology by harnessing peripheral immune cells: local elevation of IL-10 and MMP-9. J. Neurochem, 2009,111(6);1409-1424

Tissue remodeling and its role in the pathogenesis of disease
Regulatory role of FGF-2 on type I collagen expression during endothelial mesenchymal transformation. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2005, 46; 4495-4503.

Dose- and time-dependent effects of actomyosin inhibition on live mouse outflow resistance and aqueous drainage tissues. Sci Rep. 2016 Feb 17;6:21492. doi: 10.1038/srep21492. PMID:26884319.

Deep tissue analysis of distal aqueous drainage structures and contractile features, Sci Rep. 2017;7:17071.

Fibrillin-1 mutant mouse mimics aqueous humor abnormality and phenotype of human primary open angle glaucoma, Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology Annual Meeting 2019

2009 Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology National Eye Institute/NIH Travel Grant: “Toll-Like Receptor 4 in the Retinal Microglia Leads to Photoreceptor Oxidative Stress”
2009 Basic Science Award, Doheny Eye Institute/University of Southern California, Los Angeles: “Toll-Like Receptor 4 in the Retinal Microglia Leads to Photoreceptor Oxidative Stress”
2012-2014 Annual Mentor. Students and Postdoctoral Scientists of the Korean-American Woman Scientists and Engineers Association