Molecular Cell & Developmental Biology
225 Sinsheimer Laboratories
Phone: 831.459.4986
Fax: 831.459.3139
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YI ZUO Assistant Professor of MCD Biology B.S., Tsinghua University Ph.D., Northwestern University Postdoctorate, New York University, Univeristy of Texas at Austin Lab web page

225 Sinsheimer Laboratories University of California Santa Cruz, CA 95064 phone 831.459.3812 fax 831.459.3139 zuo@biology.ucsc.edu TBA

Glia-synapse interaction and synaptic plasticity in vivo
The nervous system is made up of two classes of cells: neurons and glia. Despite the fact that glia constitute the majority of cells in the nervous system, their roles in the organization and plasticity of neural circuitry have only begun to be understood. Our lab aims to understand the role of glia in structural plasticity of synapses. To visualize glial and neuronal structures in the living brain, we have generated transgenic mice expressing different fluorescent proteins. These fluorescent structures can be imaged through a thin-skull window using multi-photon microscopy, allowing us to investigate in vivo the dynamic interactions between different cell types. By selectively manipulating glial signals using pharmacological and genetic approach and studying the changes in synaptic structures, we will explore the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying glia-synapse interactions. This work will provide insight into glial function in formation, consolidation, and activity-dependent modification of synapses. Such information will profoundly influence the way we understand learning and memory and shed lights on cures for neurological diseases.

Selected Publications
Zuo Y, Yang G, Kwon E and Gan WB (2005) Long-term sensory deprivation prevents dendritic spine loss in primary somatosensory cortex. Nature 436(7048):261-265

Davalos D, Grutzendler J, Yang G, Kim JV, Zuo Y, Jung S, Littman DR, Dustin ML, Gan WB (2005) ATP mediates rapid microglial response to local brain injury in vivo. Nature Neurosci. 8(6):752-758

Zuo Y, Lin A, Chang P and Gan WB (2005) Development of long-term dendritic spine stability in diverse regions of cerebral cortex. Neuron 46(2):181-189

Zuo Y, Lubischer JL, Kang H, Tian L, Mikesh M, Marks A, Scofield VL, Maika S, Newman C, Krieg P and Thompson WJ (2005) Fluorescent proteins expressed in mouse transgenic lines mark subsets of glia, neurons, macrophages, and dendritic cells for vital examination. J. Neurosci. 24(49):10999-11009