| | Principal Investigators
| De-Maw Chuang, Ph.D. |
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Dr. Chuang is the Chief of the Molecular Neurobiology Section of the Intramural Research Program, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. He received his Ph.D. degree from the Molecular and Cellular Biology Program, State University of New York at Stony Brook. He did his postdoctoral training at the Roche Institute of Molecular Biology in Nutley, New Jersey.
Dr. Chuang’s current research centers on the neurobiology of mood stabilizing drugs, notably lithium, valproic acid and lamotrigine, which are used to treat bipolar mood disorder. His pioneering work demonstrated that treatment with lithium robustly protects cultured CNS neurons from glutamate-induced NMDA-receptor-mediated excitotoxicity, which has been implicated in a variety of neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric diseases. His recent research provided evidence that lithium and valproic acid, by inhibiting glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3)
and histone deacetylases (HDACs), respectively, elicited neuroprotective, neurotrophic, anti-inflammatory and mood stabilizing effects. His laboratory also reported the downstream mechanisms mediating these actions. His past and current work shows that lithium and valproic acid have beneficial effects in multiple animal models of neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disorders. His research goal is to explore the possibility that mood stabilizers have utility in treating neurodegenerative diseases in addition to bipolar disorder.
Dr. Chuang has received many
honors and awards, including the NIH Director’s Award in
1997 in recognition of "his superb leadership and innovative
research which advances the understanding of basic mechanisms involved
in neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disorders". He is
the recipient of the 2002 NARSAD Distinguished Investigator Award.
He was also inducted into the Academia Sinica in Taiwan in 2006.
Dr. Chuang is an Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience
at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in
Bethesda, and a member of many scientific societies including the
ACNP, FASEB and the Society for Neuroscience. He has published
over 230 scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals including
PNAS, Science, Nature Medicine, J Neuroscience, Mol Psychiatry
and J Biol Chem. |
| Research Interests |
| Dr. Chuang is interested in translational research related to the mechanisms and implications of neuronal apoptosis in neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disorders. His research focuses on the neurobiology of mood stabilizing drugs, notably lithium and valproic acid. His laboratory is one of the first to demonstrate the neuroprotective and neurotrophic effects of mood stabilizers. He is expanding his previous work to investigate novel targets and actions of these drugs in several animal models of neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disorders. His goal is to demonstrate that mood stabilizers have additional uses in treating neurodegenerative/neuropsychiatric disorders |
| Representative Selected Recent Publications: |
- Zhifei Wang, Yan Leng, Li-Kai Tsai1, Peter Leeds and De-Maw Chuang: Valproic acid attenuates blood–brain barrier disruption in a rat model of transient focal cerebral ischemia: the roles of HDAC and MMP-9 inhibition. Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow & Metabolism, 31, 52–57, 2011. (View)
- Tsai L-K, Leng Y, Wang Z, Leeds P and Chuang D-M: The mood stabilizers valproic acid and lithium enhance mesenchymal stem cell migration via distinct mechanisms. Neuropsychopharmacol, 35: 2225-2237, 2010. (View)
- Chiu C-T and Chuang D-M: Molecular actions and therapeutic potential of lithium in preclinical and clinical studies of brain disorders. Pharmacol & Therapeut, 128: 281-304, 2010. (View)
- Chuang D-M, Leng Y, Marinova Z, Kim HJ and Chiu C-T: Multiple roles of HDAC inhibition in neurodegenerative conditions. Trends in Neurosci, 32: 591-601, 2009. (View)
- Yasuda S, Liang M-H, Marinova Z, Yahyavi A and Chuang D-M: The mood stabilizers lithium and valproate selectively activate promoter IV of brain-derived neurotrophic factor in neurons. Mol Psychiatry, 14: 51-59, 2009. (View)
- Leng Y, Liang M-H, Ren M, Marinova Z, Leeds P and Chuang D-M: Synergistic neuroprotective effects of lithium and valproic acid or other HDAC inhibitors in neurons: Roles of GSK-3 inhibition. J Neurosci, 28: 2576-2588, 2008. (View)
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