| | Principal Investigators
| Zheng Li, Ph.D. |
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Dr. Zheng Li received a Ph.D. degree from State University of New York at Stony Brook. Her graduate studies were carried out with Hollis Cline at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory on the role of Rho GTPases in dendrite morphogenesis. She obtained postdoctoral training with Morgan Sheng at Massachusetts Institute of Technology on synapse development and plasticity. Dr. Li joined NIMH as an Investigator in 2006. |
| Research Interests |
| The research interest of Dr. Zheng Li is the molecular and cellular mechanisms of synapse development and plasticity in normal and schizophrenic brains. Dr. Zheng Li’s group employs a combination of optical imaging (two-photon and confocal), electrophysiology, behavioral and genomic approaches to identify molecules and signaling pathways that control the function, structure and plasticity of synapses. Currently Dr. Zheng Li’s research is focusing on two areas: (1) the induction mechanism of long-term depression of synaptic transmission (LTD, a form a synaptic plasticity that leads to the weakening of synaptic response and synapse loss). LTD is important for brain development and cognition; (2) the function of schizophrenia risk genes in regulating synapse development and plasticity. Dr. Zheng Li’s group mainly conducts experiments with hippocampal neurons. The hippocampus is a brain structure essential for cognitive functions (e.g. learning & memory) and has been implicated in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Dr. Zheng Li’s group has recently uncovered a novel mechanism for LTD induction in hippocampal neurons, which is mediated by casapses. Caspases have well-known functions in apoptosis. However, the findings from Dr. Zheng Li’s lab suggest that in normal hippocampal neurons, caspases activate the key cellular process that is responsible for reducing synaptic strength without causing cell death. In addition to normal synaptic plasticity, the work from Dr. Zheng Li’s group indicates that some schizophrenia risk genes are important regulators of the structural and functional maturation of synapses, which provides insights to the neuronal basis of reduced mental performance associated with schizophrenia. |
| Representative Selected Recent Publications: |
- Li Z, Okamoto K, Hayashi Y, and Sheng M:
The importance of dendritic mitochondria for the morphogenesis and plasticity of spines and synapses.
Cell, 119(6), 873-87, 2004.
- Li Z and Sheng M :
Some Assembly Required: the development of neuronal synapses
Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol, 4(11), 833-41, 2003.
- Li Z, Aizeman CD and Cline HT:
Diversity and specificity of actions of Slit2 proteolytic fragments in axon guidance.
Neuron 33(5), 741-50, 2002.
- Haas K, Sin WC, Javaherian A, Li Z, and Cline HT:
Single-cell electroporation for gene transfer in vivo
Neuron 29(3), 583-91, 2001.
- Li Z, Van Aelst L, and Cline HT:
Rho GTPases regulate distinct aspects of dendritic arbor growth in Xenopus central neurons in vivo.
Nat Neurosci, 3(3), 217-25, 2000.
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Address:
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Dr. Zheng Li
National Institute of Mental Health
35 Convent Drive,
RM 2C1010, MSC 3732
Bethesda, MD 20892-3732 |
| Phone: |
(301) 594-2269
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| Email Dr. Li |
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| Fax: |
(301) 480-2561 |
| Lab Web Site: |
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