Research Focus Teams

COVID-19, Rare Diseases, Cancer, Diabetes

Research Interests

Bone Remodeling, Cancer, Cardiovascular Regeneration, Immunopathology, Neurodegenerative Diseases

Departments

Medical Genetics

Bio

Dr. Josef Penninger is a Canada 150 Chair in Functional Genetics, Allen Distinguished Investigator, and served as the Director of the Life Sciences Institute at the University of British Columbia, December 2018 - 2023. Prior to this, from 2002-2018, he was the Scientific and Founding Director of IMBA, the Institute for Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, in Vienna, Austria. From 1994-2002, he worked as a lead researcher at the Amgen Research Institute in Toronto, affiliated with the University of Toronto and the Ontario Cancer Research Center.

Recent Publications

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Bat organoids reveal antiviral responses at epithelial surfaces

Nicotinamide modulates gut microbial metabolic potential and accelerates recovery in mild-to-moderate COVID-19

Metabolic mapping of the human solute carrier superfamily

Fate and state transitions during human blood vessel organoid development

Identification of a protective antigen reveals the trade-off between iron acquisition and antigen exposure in a global fungal pathogen

RANK drives structured intestinal epithelial expansion during pregnancy

Non-targeted N-glycome profiling reveals multiple layers of organ-specific diversity in mice

Murine neonatal cardiac regeneration depends on Insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor signaling.

Mast cell-derived BH4 and serotonin are critical mediators of postoperative pain.

Engineering next generation vascularized organoids.

Synchronized development of thymic eosinophils and thymocytes

Neuropathological assessment of the olfactory bulb and tract in individuals with COVID-19

Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever virus uses LDLR to bind and enter host cells

Apelin regulates skeletal muscle adaptation to exercise in a high intensity interval training (HIIT) model

Generation of complex bone marrow organoids from human induced pluripotent stem cells

A microfluidic platform integrating functional vascularized organoids-on-chip

Gpcpd1-GPC metabolic pathway is dysfunctional in aging and its deficiency severely perturbs glucose metabolism

RANKL/RANK is required for cytokine-induced beta cell death; osteoprotegerin, a RANKL inhibitor, reverses rodent type 1 diabetes

Identification of CCZ1 as an essential lysosomal trafficking regulator in Marburg and Ebola virus infections

Sequential multi-omics analysis identifies clinical phenotypes and predictive biomarkers for long COVID

The HACE1 E3 ligase mediates RAC1-dependent control of mTOR signaling complexes

Inhalation of ACE2 as a therapeutic target on sex-bias differences in SARS-CoV-2 infection and variant of concern

FAM3C/ILEI protein is elevated in psoriatic lesions and triggers psoriasiform hyperproliferation in mice

Apoptotic cell death in disease-Current understanding of the NCCD 2023

Low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 1 (LRP1) as an auxiliary host factor for RNA viruses

PCYT2-regulated lipid biosynthesis is critical to muscle health and ageing

Blood Vessel Organoids for Development and Disease

A whole-genome scan for Artemisinin cytotoxicity reveals a novel therapy for human brain tumors

Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2-at the heart of the COVID-19 pandemic

Apelin expression is downregulated in T cells in a murine model of chronic colitis

Generation of Human Blood Vessel Organoids from Pluripotent Stem Cells

Cardiac regeneration: Options for repairing the injured heart

Electric field stimulation boosts neuronal differentiation of neural stem cells for spinal cord injury treatment via PI3K/Akt/GSK-3β/β-catenin activation

Force-tuned avidity of spike variant-ACE2 interactions viewed on the single-molecule level

Protocol for SARS-CoV-2 infection of kidney organoids derived from human pluripotent stem cells

RANKL and RANK in Cancer Therapy

Targeting APLN/APJ restores blood-testis barrier and improves spermatogenesis in murine and human diabetic models

The HUSH complex controls brain architecture and protocadherin fidelity

A molecularly engineered, broad-spectrum anti-coronavirus lectin inhibits SARS-CoV-2 and MERS-CoV infection in vivo

The impact of heme biosynthesis regulation on glioma aggressiveness: Correlations with diagnostic molecular markers

Phenotypic drug screen uncovers the metabolic GCH1/BH4 pathway as key regulator of EGFR/KRAS-mediated neuropathic pain and lung cancer

AIF Overexpression Aggravates Oxidative Stress in Neonatal Male Mice After Hypoxia-Ischemia Injury

Pulmonary Surfactant Proteins are Inhibited by IgA Autoantibodies in Severe COVID-19

FIBCD1 is an endocytic GAG receptor associated with a novel neurodevelopmental disorder

ACE2-like enzyme B38-CAP suppresses abdominal sepsis and severe acute lung injury

Targeting Glycans for CAR Therapy: the Advent of Sweet CARs

Development of an aerosol intervention for COVID-19 disease: Tolerability of soluble ACE2 (APN01) administered via nebulizer

Clinical grade ACE2 as a universal agent to block SARS-CoV-2 variants

Neuropeptide Neuromedin B does not alter body weight and glucose homeostasis nor does it act as an insulin-releasing peptide

Contact-dependent signaling triggers tumor-like proliferation of CCM3 knockout endothelial cells in co-culture with wild-type cells

Evidence in favor of the essentiality of human cell membrane-bound ACE2 and against soluble ACE2 for SARS-CoV-2 infectivity

Redirecting Imipramine against Bluetongue Virus Infection: Insights from a Genome-wide Haploid Screening Study

A diabetic milieu increases ACE2 expression and cellular susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infections in human kidney organoids and patient cells

Recalibrating vascular malformations and mechanotransduction by pharmacological intervention

Adult T-cells impair neonatal cardiac regeneration

TSPAN6 is a suppressor of Ras-driven cancer

Transcription factor Mesenchyme Homeobox Protein 2 (MEOX2) modulates nociceptor function

ACE2 is the critical in vivo receptor for SARS-CoV-2 in a novel COVID-19 mouse model with TNF- and IFNγ-driven immunopathology

Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2 (ACE2) in the Pathogenesis of ARDS in COVID-19

Structure-guided glyco-engineering of ACE2 for improved potency as soluble SARS-CoV-2 decoy receptor