Faculty Director: Wenzhen Duan, M.D, Ph.D.
Link to PubMed publications for Duan, Wenzhen
The goals of the laboratory of Translational Neurobiology are: (1) understand the pathogenesis and cell death pathways in neurodegenerative disorders to reveal potential therapeutic targets for pharmaceutical intervention; (2) investigate endogenous survival pathways and try to induce these pathways to restore full function or replace lost neurons; and (3) identify biomarkers to mark disease progression and evaluate therapeutics.

The research projects in the laboratory focus on models of Huntington's disease(HD) and Parkinson's disease (PD). We use a combination of cell biology and transgenic animal models of these diseases. The current research projects are: (1) identifying and validating targets for therapeutic intervention; (2) identifying and stimulating endogenous survival pathway to restore neuronal function; (3) screening and discovering new potent neuroprotective compounds in cell models of HD and PD; (4) preclinical trials of new candidate compounds in transgenic mouse models of HD and PD; and (5) developing and validating biomarkers to mark disease progression and evaluate therapeutics. These projects are supported by NINDS and the High Q foundation.
The laboratory welcomes undergraduates, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows who are interested in our research.

Lab Members
Mali Jiang, M.D., Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow
Yong Cheng, Ph.D. Postdoctoral Fellow
Naoki Masuda, M.D., Postdoctoral Fellow
Lan Xiang, Ph.D. Postdoctoral Fellow
Jiawei Wang, M.D., Ph.D. Postdoctoral Fellow
Qi Peng, Research Specialist
Jinrong Fu, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow
Jing Jin, M.D., Postdoctoral Fellow
Selected Publications
Duan W, Zhang Z, Gash DM, Mattson MP. Participation of Prostate Apoptosis Response-4 in Degeneration of Dopaminergic Neurons in Models of Parkinson's Disease. Ann Neurol, 1999; 46:587-597.
Duan W, Zhu X, Ladenheim B, Yu QS, Guo ZH, Olyer J,Cutler RG, Cadet JL, Greig NH and Mattson MP . Synthetic p53 Inhibitors Preserve Dopaminergic Neurons and Motor Function in Experimental Parkinsonism. Ann Neurol 2002 ; 52:597-606.
Duan W, Guo ZH, Jiang HY, Ware M, Li XJ, Mattson MP. Dietary Restriction Normalizes Glucose Metabolism and BDNF Levels, Slows Disease Progression and Increases Survival in Huntingtin Mutant Mice. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U S A 2003 Mar 4;100(5):2911-6.
Duan W, Guo ZH, Jiang H, Ware M, Mattson MP. Reversal of behavioral and metabolic abnormalities, and insulin resistance syndrome, by dietary restriction in mice deficient in brain-derived neurotrophic factor. Endocrinology 2003, Jun;144(6):2446-53.
Duan W, Guo Z, Jiang H, Ladenheim B, Xu X, Cadet JL, Mattson MP. Paroxetine retards disease onset and progression in Huntingtin mutant mice. Ann Neurol 2004, 55(4):590-4.
Wang W, Duan W, Igarashi S, Morita H, Nakamura M, Ross CA. Compounds blocking mutant huntingtin toxicity identified using a Hunington's disease neuronal cell model. Neurobio of Dis, 2005, 20(2):500-8.
Sredni B, Geffen-Aricha R, Duan W, Albeck M, Shalit F, Lander HM, Kinor N, Sagi O, Albeck A, Yosef S, Brodsky M, Sredni-Kenigsbuch D, Sonino T, Longo DL, Mattson Ddagger 1 MP, Yadid G. Multifunctional tellurium molecule protects and restores dopaminergic neurons in Parkinson's disease models. FASEB J. 2007 21(8):1870-83.
Duan W, Peng Q, Masuda N, Ford E, Tryggestad E, Ladenheim B, Zhao M, Cadet JL, Wong J, Ross CA. Sertraline Slows Disease Progression and Increases Neurogenesis in N171-82Q mouse model of Huntington's Disease. Neurobio Dis, 2008;30: 312-322.
Zhang J, Peng Q, Li Q, Jahanshad N, Hou Z, Jiang M, Masuda N, Langbehn DR, Miller MI, Mori S, Ross CA, Duan W. Longitudinal characterization of brain atrophy of a Huntington's disease mouse model by automated morphological analyses of magnetic resonance images. Neuroimage, 2010, 49(3):2340-51.
Jiang M, Porat-Shliom Y, Pei Z, Cheng Y, Xiang L, Sommers K, Li Q, Gillardon F, Hengerer B, Berlinicke C, Smith WW, Zack D, Poirier MA, Ross CA, Duan W. Baicalein reduces E46K alpha-synuclein aggregation in vitro and protects cells against E46K alpha-synuclein toxicity in cell models of familiar Parkinsonism. J Neurochem, 2010, 114(2):419-29.
Acknowledgements
The projects in the lab are performed in close collaboration with Dr. Christopher A. Ross within Division of Neurobiology, Dr. Susumu Mori and Dr. Jiangyang Zhang in the Department of Radiology at Hopkins, Dr. Mark P. Mattson in National Institute on Aging.