Research
To understand the function and the regulation of dopaminergic synapses
Our Department
Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
External Resource
Link to Rutgers Brain Health Institute
The primary research interest in the Pan lab is to understand the function and the regulation of dopaminergic synapses, as well as the mechanisms of its dysregulation in disease conditions.
What We Are Working On Now
We research Parkinson’s disease and addiction
The role of SYNJ1 in deregulating the basal ganglia function in motor control
SYNJ1, also known as PARK20, is one of the synaptic genes associated with Parkinsonism. Partial loss of SYNJ1 (either via disease-linked missense mutation or heterozygous deletion) leads to age-dependent locomotor decline and loss of dopaminergic synapses. We are particularly interested in understanding how Synj1 deficiency alters the integrity of the dopamine synapse. We use transgenic mouse models, including the previously published haploinsufficient mouse and a new conditional deletion mouse, and perform comprehensive analysis at the molecular, cellular and systems level. We also engineer novel optical tools to investigate molecular trafficking as a key pathological event at the dopamine synapse.
Genetic interaction between SYNJ1 and SNCA in PD pathogenesis
Mounting evidence suggests a synergistic signaling mechanism at the presynaptic terminal, which leads to failure in dopamine signaling and eventually dopamine neuron loss. SYNJ1 encodes for synaptojanin1, which is known for regulating synaptic vesicle endocytosis and clathrin uncoating. SNCA encodes for alpha-synuclein, the major component of Lewy body, which is involved in synaptic vesicle fusion and mobilization in its functional form. We aim to understand how the two genes interact and integrate their signaling pathways to culminate in the dysfunction and vulnerability of the nigral dopamine neurons.
The protective role of nicotine in dopamine signaling
Epidemiological studies show that nicotine intake via tobacco smoking significantly reduces the risk of PD. However, clinical trials targeting brain nicotinic receptors are failing, and the precise mechanism underlying the protective actions of tobacco smoking remains unknown.
Propose your big idea
We encourage students and postdoctoral researchers to be involved in critical thinking and bring interesting ideas to test in the lab!
How molecular trafficking inform cocaine addiction
Substance use disorder is characterized by uncontrollable drug seeking behavior and plastic changes in the mesolimbic dopamine system. One of the most highly abused drugs, Cocaine, acts by preventing the reuptake of dopamine at the synapse by blocking the dopamine transporter (DAT). Importantly, DAT is not static on the plasma membrane but undergo endocytic trafficking and portions are recycled back on the plasma membrane. It remains unclear how membrane availability of DAT informs behavioral outcomes of cocaine addiciton. We are collaborating with Drs. David Barker and Cody Sicilliano to tackle this importat question.
Research Funders
NINDS
Parkinson’s Disease Foundation
Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Lab Start Up Fund
Your Donation
No matter how small it MATTERS!! –Together, we can make a difference! Please contact Dr. Pan for the specific area of research you would like to invest in.
Feldstein Medical Foundation
Our Team
We are searching for talented minds!
Postdoc Positions available, please send your curriculum vitae along with the names of three references to: pingyue.pan@rutgers.edu
To Ph.D. applicants: Please visit the following websites for specific application requirements
http://rwjms.rutgers.edu/education/gsbs/programs/neuroscience/index.html
https://molbiosci.rutgers.edu
To Ph.D. candidates already enrolled: We welcome rotation students to join the lab!
To undergraduate students looking for research experience: We currently do not have the capacity, but stay tuned!
Pingyue Pan, MD, PhD
pingyue.pan@rutgers.edu
Principle Investigator
Elnaz Khezerlou
elnaz.khezerlou@rutgers.edu
Postdoctoral Fellow
Jacqueline Saenz
js2151@gsbs.rutgers.edu
Graduate student
Sanjana Prakash
ss3673@gsbs.rutgers.edu
Research Assistant
Oscar Yao
Oy25@scarletmail.rutgers.edu
Undergraduate Student
Latest News
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12/12/2023: Sanjana has successfully defended her master’s thesis today! She has been an invaluable member of the lab and we wish her the best in the pharmaceutical world!
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11/13/2023: Dr. Pan is presenting at SfN nanosymposium on catecholamines and purines. We have new findings on the molecular ruling of dopamine transporter trafficking that is significant in Parkinson’s disease.
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5/20/2023: It’s the graduation season again – this time we celebrate Sanjana and Oscar! Sanjana has been a dedicated research assistant and a wonderful master student in the Molecular Biosciences program. She has become an expert in molecular engineering and is now pursuing a career in the industry. Oscar has been an outstanding undergraduate researcher in the lab for over 2 years. He wants to be an orthopedic surgeon! Let’s wish them dreams come true!
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5/03/2023: Xinyu has made interesting findings on how Synaptojanin1 can alter the endolysosomal parameters in cultured midbrain neurons. Impairment neuronal degradation machineries has been implicated in Parkinson’s disease pathogenesis. This is the first demonstration that Synaptojanin1 can also regulate the lysosomes! Our work is now online at eNeuro. Please check it out!
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1/20/2023: Xinyu has been a wonderful member since the launch of the lab. He is now accepting an offer from a pharmaceutical company in Shanghai, where he will continue his pursuit in understanding Parkinson’s disease. It’s hard to say good bye, but we wish him the very best wherever he goes!
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12/12/2022: Jackie won the BHI travel award to attend Winter Conference on Brain Research in Colorado this year!
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12/07/2022: Our manuscript titled “Cocaine-regulated trafficking of dopamine transporters in cultured neurons revealed by a pH sensitive reporter” is accepted at iScience! Kudos to Jackie and everyone else involved in developing and testing the sensor!
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11/12/2022: Xinyu is attending SfN at San Diego this year. He will be presenting his poster “Synaptojanin1 regulates lysosomal functions in ventral midbrain neurons”.
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05/18/2022: Research assistant, Jessica Lee joins the lab! Jessica has recently graduated from the Rutgers University with a major in Cell Biology and Neuroscience and a minor in Psychology. She also has a strong interest in computational biology. Welcome to our lab!
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05/16/2022: Postdoc fellow, Elnaz Khezerlou joins the lab! Elnaz received her PhD from Louisiana Tech University with past research experience in astrocyte calcium imaging. Elnaz has big dreams in the academic research field. Welcome to the Pan lab!
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05/06/2022: Meha Aggarwal has successfully defended her Honor’s thesis and received the prestigious Henry Rutgers Scholar Award for her excellence in independent research she conducted as an undergraduate researcher! Congratulations! Meha has received tremendous guidance from the graduate student Jackie – so a big thumbs-up for Jackie as well!
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10/13/2021: Two talented undergraduate students, Hassaam (now a medical student at NJMS) and Meha have written and edited a review article titled “Synaptojanin1 and its Implications in Membrane Trafficking”. It is now accepted at Neuroscience Letters. It has been a great learning experience for both of them and they truly did a fantastic job! doi: 10.1016/j.neulet.2021.136288
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9/3/2021: Rutgers Honor’s College students, Oscar Yao and Meha Aggarwal will be carrying out their undergraduate research in the lab this semester.
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08/17/2021: Welcome our new research assistants: Sanjana and Arianna! Sanjana is a currently a Master student in the Rutgers Biomedical Sciences Program; and Arianna is a recent college graduate from Rutgers University majoring in Biological Science.
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06/30/2021: Our new work on Synj1 and astrocyte autophagy is published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry. We found that the neuronal synapse-enriched protein, Synaptojanin1 is also expressed in astrocytes and it represses basal autophagosome formation. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbc.2021.100873
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05/14/2021: Congratulations to Meha on receiving the Johnson & Johnson Women in STEM2D Life Sciences Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship!
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03/19/2021: Our lab meeting/Journal club is going back to a bi-weekly schedule that happens every other Wednesday at noon. It will remain virtual until further notice.
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03/12/2021: Asma was selected to present our most recent work “Synj1 deficiency upregulates autophagosome formation in astrocytes” at the Virtual Glia Trainee Symposium. Great job!
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09/1/2020: Exciting news-Hassaam has received an early admission to the NJMS! He is one of the few to be accepted into the Joint Bachelor/Medical Degree Program between Rutgers University and New Jersey Medical School. Really proud of you!
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07/01/2020: Welcome our new Research Assistant, Asma Rizvi, joining the lab today!
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07/01/2020: Congratulations to Jackie on passing the qualification exam and for receiving a Diversity Supplement from the NINDS!
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05/25/2020: Welcome new Honor’s College students, Meha Aggarwal and Oscar Yao, join the lab!
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05/01/2020: Dr. Pan’s lab has published a new article titled “Synj1 Haploinsufficiency Causes Dopamine Neuron Vulnerability and alpha-synuclein Accumulation in Mice” on Human Molecular Genetics.
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04/27/2020: Pan lab started a weekly Journal Club discussion on WebEx. Please email: pp710@rwjms.rutgers.edu if you wish to join us!
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03/30/2020: Due to COVID impact, lab meetings are going WebEx at 11 a.m. every Monday morning.
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01/28/2020: Dr. Pan received a new grant from the Brain Health Institute to study genetic predisposition to cocaine tolerance. This is a collaboration with Dr. David Barker’s lab in the Psychiatry department.
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11/8/2019: Dr. Pan has a new publication on multiscale transcriptomic networks analysis for identification of key regulators in Parkinson’s disease.
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11/8/2019: Dr. Pan has received an NIH R01 grant to study the role of SYNJ1 in basal ganglia signaling – Featured in Dean’s weekly view.
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10/9/2019: Bi-weekly Lab meeting is scheduled @ 12 pm on Monday at RT 3rd floor conference room.
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8/5/2019: SURP student Hikari has successfully finished her summer research program and off to a new start!
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7/1/2019: Dr. Pan received the Feldstein Medical Foundation Award to study the protective signaling of nicotine in Parkinson’s disease models.
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5/29/2019: NIH-funded SURP student Hikari Tanaka joins the lab. She will stay till the beginning of August for a small project on astrocytes.
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5/24/2019: Jackie has decided to carry out her thesis work in our lab. We wish her success!
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4/1/2019: We welcome Molecular Bioscience rotation student, Jacqueline Saenz, joins the lab!
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1/28/2019: Welcome postdoc fellow, Xinyu Zhu, joins the lab. Xinyu obtained his PhD degree in biophysics from a joint program of Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences & Huazhong University of Science and Technology. He studied endocytic membrane trafficking using optical tools.
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1/7/2019: Welcome Intern / Research Assistant, Justin Zhu, joins the lab! Justin is a recent graduate from NYU and is taking a gap year in our lab.
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12/3/2018: Welcome our first rotation student from the Molecular Bioscience program, Kyle Nunn, joins the lab!
Alumni
Salma Ismail
Undergraduate student from the Rutgers Honors College. 2019 fall semester
Hikari Tanaka
NIH-sponsored SURP student. Summer of 2019. Now an MD/PhD student at Univ. of Maryland.
Justin Zhu
Research Assistant Jan 2019 ~ July 2020.
Asma Rizvi
Research Assistant July 2020 ~ June 2021. Now a PhD student at NJMS.
Hassaam Choudhry
Undergraduate researcher Sept 2019 ~June 2021. Now a medical student at New Jersey Medical School.
Meha Aggarwal
Undergraduate researcher May 2020 ~ June 2022. Now a medical student at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Arianna Capuano
Research Assistant from July 2021 ~ March 2022.
Jessica Lee
Research Assistant from May 2022 ~ Nov 2022. Now a research associate at Pfizer.
Xinyu Zhu
Postdoc Fellow from Feb 2019~Jan. 2023. Now pursuing a pharmaceutical career in Shanghai.