新闻动态

In this talk, she will introduce two studies aligning with this STP-based theory.

在人类社会中，社会压力尤其是创伤性社会经历会导致抑郁症、社交焦虑及创伤后应激障碍等多种精神疾病。在抑郁症研究领域，有研究表明社会创伤会损害大脑负责奖赏的脑区功能，使社交活动变得不再有奖赏性，从而导致严重的社交回避行为。尽管对社会创伤及其对社会行为产生的影响已有较多的临床证据，但我们对社交回避所涉及的神经环路知之甚少。科学家利用啮齿类动物抑郁症模型，如慢性社交创伤模型 (chronic social defeat stress, CSDS)，在分子，细胞，环路及动物行为等水平上更好地研究和理解控制情绪行为的神经环路机制。CSDS 模型中的抑郁症表型小鼠表现为探索行为降低和对蔗糖等自然奖励的缺失（快感缺失），并伴有严重的社交回避行为。然而该抑郁症模型中的社交回避是否来源于社交奖赏受损是该领域一直悬而未解的问题之一。在本研究中，我们证明了CSDS 抑郁症模型中的社交回避来源于社交奖赏功能受损，并在环路水平上揭示了社交压力阻断社交奖赏的神经机制。

环境污染与人体健康密切相关，特别是空气污染，目前研究表明大气细颗粒物和臭氧污染与神经退行性疾病等存在潜在的关联，但其科学证据仍不充分，影响机制也仍有待阐明。我们在大气污染与脑健康方面进行了一些初步的探索，并结合稳定同位素分析、质谱成像等手段，尝试在大气污染与脑健康方面获得一些新的认识。

3D-EM connectomics is the most suitable approach for studying neural circuit wiring diagrams at synaptic resolution, which is at the core of understanding behavior and cognition. As a result of the still fast-developing imaging and computational reconstruction techniques, connectomics has moved from the limits of only small-scale circuits (e.g., ~100 µm scale retinal circuits) to the one-order larger mouse cortical column (~1 mm)...

In the coming 30 years, the proportion of the world's population over 60 years old will nearly double. One of the most impactful social and economic consequences of aging is the decline of cognitive functions and associated neurodegenerative diseases. In most of the neurodegenerative diseases, aberrant accumulation of protein aggregates occurs and is closely related with disease progression...

Multi-modal omics is an approach gaining popularity in modern neuroscience research. With the great advances in high-throughput technologies, large-scale omics data begin to lay foundations for a comprehensive understanding of the brain...

The canonical model of striatal function predicts that animal locomotion is associated with the opposing regulation of protein kinase A (PKA) in direct and indirect pathway striatal spiny projection neurons (SPNs) by dopamine. However, the precise dynamics of PKA in dorsolateral SPNs during locomotion remain to be determined. It is also unclear whether other neuromodulators are involved...

This talk addresses flexible materials and device engineering toward skin-integrated electronics and implantable neural interfaces. We first introduce ultraflexible organic optoelectronics functioning as sensing components and energy harvesters as wearables. We then demonstrate a highly conductive tattoo electrode that can be placed on the skin or injected into the epidermis layer for real-time and precise electrophysiological signal recordings...

Cytokines are signalling molecules between cells in immune system with important implications in diseases diagnosis and management. Cytokine storm in COVID-19 results from a sudden acute increase in circulating levels of different pro-inflammatory cytokines and can cause several disease and major-organ injury. Thus, there is urgent need to develop rapid, sensitive, and specific methods for monitoring of cytokines in biology and medicine...

自2012年斯坦福大学Brian Kobilka 教授获得诺贝尔化学奖以来，G蛋白偶联受体的结构生物学领域进入了蓬勃发展的黄金年代。一系列作为重要药物靶点相关受体的高分辨率结构得到解析，并且近年来冷冻电镜技术更是推动了此领域的快速发展。同时，基于结构的药物设计也展示出巨大的价值推动相关的开发转化工作。杜教授将从个人的研究方向简要介绍下近来取得的研究进展，以及这些基础或转化研究对药物发现的启示。