Positions

Overview

  • Qin Wang, MD, PhD is an expert in molecular neuropharmacology and signaling research. Her research is interested in receptor neuropharmacology and synaptic signaling of neurotransmitters and hormones under normal and disease conditions. Her laboratory implements a variety of approaches including genetic, cell biological, biochemical, single-cell transcriptomic, proteomic, pharmacological and behavioral approaches, and utilizes mouse models, human postmortem tissues and human iPSC-derived brain cells. She is passionate about translating batch discoveries into bedside treatments.

    • Selected Publications

    Academic Article

    Year Title Altmetric
    2020 Author Correction: The in vivo specificity of synaptic Gβ and Gγ subunits to the α2a adrenergic receptor at CNS synapses (Scientific Reports, (2019), 9, 1, (1718), 10.1038/s41598-018-37222-1).  Scientific Reports.  10. 2020
    2020 CHD7 regulates cardiovascular development through ATP-dependent and -independent activities 2020
    2020 Reductive stress promotes protein aggregation and impairs neurogenesis.  Redox Biology.  37. 2020
    2020 Spinophilin-deficient mice are protected from diet-induced obesity and insulin resistance 2020
    2020 β-amyloid redirects norepinephrine signaling to activate the pathogenic GSK3β/tau cascade.  Science Translational Medicine.  12. 2020
    2019 The in vivo specificity of synaptic Gβ and Gγ subunits to the α2a adrenergic receptor at CNS synapses.  Scientific Reports.  9. 2019
    2019 Complex noradrenergic dysfunction in Alzheimer's disease: Low norepinephrine input is not always to blame.  Brain Research.  1702:12-16. 2019
    2017 Effective attenuation of adenosine a1r signaling by neurabin requires oligomerization of neurabin.  Molecular Pharmacology.  92:630-639. 2017
    2017 The amyloid precursor protein modulates α2A-adrenergic receptor endocytosis and signaling through disrupting arrestin 3 recruitment.  The FASEB Journal.  31:4434-4446. 2017
    2017 Strength of cholinergic tone dictates the polarity of dopamine D2 receptor modulation of striatal cholinergic interneuron excitability in DYT1 dystonia.  Experimental Neurology.  295:162-175. 2017
    2017 Age-dependent differential regulation of anxiety- and depression-related behaviors by neurabin and spinophilin.  PLoS ONE.  12. 2017
    2017 Cortical adrenoceptor expression, function and adaptation under conditions of cannabinoid receptor deletion.  Experimental Neurology.  292:179-192. 2017
    2017 Diverse arrestin-recruiting and endocytic profiles of tricyclic antipsychotics acting as direct α2A adrenergic receptor ligands.  Neuropharmacology.  116:38-49. 2017
    2016 Sema6D acts downstream of bone morphogenetic protein signalling to promote atrioventricular cushion development in mice.  Cardiovascular Research.  112:532-542. 2016
    2016 Sema6D acts downstream of bone morphogenetic protein signalling to promote atrioventricular cushion development in mice..  Cardiovascular Research.  112:532-542. 2016
    2015 Spinophilin is indispensable for the α2B adrenergic receptor-elicited hypertensive response.  PLoS ONE.  10. 2015
    2015 Noradrenergic dysfunction in Alzheimer's disease.  Frontiers in Neuroscience.  9. 2015
    2015 Tau-dependent Kv4.2 depletion and dendritic hyperexcitability in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease 2015
    2014 α2A adrenergic receptor promotes amyloidogenesis through disrupting APP-SorLA interaction 2014
    2014 Cannabinoid modulation of alpha2 adrenergic receptor function in rodent medial prefrontal cortex.  European Journal of Neuroscience.  40:3202-3214. 2014
    2014 Tricyclic antidepressants exhibit variable pharmacological profiles at the α2A adrenergic receptor.  Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications.  451:461-466. 2014
    2014 Critical roles of miRNA-mediated regulation of TGFβ signalling during mouse cardiogenesis.  Cardiovascular Research.  103:258-267. 2014
    2014 CHD7 interacts with BMP R-SMADs to epigenetically regulate cardiogenesis in mice.  Human Molecular Genetics.  23:2145-2156. 2014
    2014 The α2B-adrenergic receptor is mutant in cortical myoclonus and epilepsy.  Annals of Neurology.  75:77-87. 2014
    2014 α2A-adrenergic receptors filter parabrachial inputs to the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis 2014
    2013 Cross-talk from β-adrenergic receptors modulates α2A -adrenergic receptor endocytosis in sympathetic neurons via protein kinase A and spinophilin.  Journal of Biological Chemistry.  288:29193-29205. 2013
    2012 α2 adrenergic receptor dysregulation in depressive disorders: implications for the neurobiology of depression and antidepressant therapy..  Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews.  36:2214-2225. 2012
    2012 Noradrenergic antidepressant responses to desipramine in vivo are reciprocally regulated by arrestin3 and spinophilin.  Neuropharmacology.  62:2353-2361. 2012
    2012 Desipramine selectively potentiates norepinephrine-elicited ERK1/2 activation through the α 2A adrenergic receptor.  Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications.  420:161-165. 2012
    2012 Neurabin scaffolding of adenosine receptor and RGS4 regulates anti-seizure effect of endogenous adenosine 2012
    2012 Noradrenergic antidepressant responses to desipramine in vivo are reciprocally regulated by arrestin3 and spinophilin.  Neuropharmacology.  62:2354-2362. 2012
    2012 α2 adrenergic receptor dysregulation in depressive disorders: Implications for the neurobiology of depression and antidepressant therapy.  Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews.  36:2214-2225. 2012
    2011 Adrenergic receptors. Preface..  Current Topics in Membranes.  67. 2011
    2011 The antidepressant desipramine is an arrestin-biased ligand at the α2A-adrenergic receptor driving receptor down-regulation in vitro and in vivo.  Journal of Biological Chemistry.  286:36063-36075. 2011
    2011 Characterization of the novel interaction between muskelin and TBX20, a critical cardiogenic transcription factor.  Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications.  409:338-343. 2011
    2011 Inactivation of Bmp4 from the Tbx1 expression domain causes abnormal pharyngeal arch artery and cardiac outflow tract remodeling 2011
    2011 Dicer activity in neural crest cells is essential for craniofacial organogenesis and pharyngeal arch artery morphogenesis.  Mechanisms of Development.  128:200-207. 2011
    2011 Cell autonomous requirement of endocardial Smad4 during atrioventricular cushion development in mouse embryos.  Developmental Dynamics.  240:211-220. 2011
    2011 Study of GPCR-protein interactions using gel overlay assays and glutathione-S-transferase-fusion protein pull-downs.  Methods in Molecular Biology.  746:347-355. 2011
    2010 Enhanced hypotensive, bradycardic, and hypnotic responses to α2-adrenergic agonists in spinophilin-null mice are accompanied by increased G protein coupling to the α2A-adrenergic receptor.  Molecular Pharmacology.  78:279-286. 2010
    2009 α2A-adrenergic receptors heterosynaptically regulate glutamatergic transmission in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis.  Neuroscience.  163:339-351. 2009
    2009 Epitope-tagged receptor knock-in mice reveal that differential desensitization of α2-adrenergic responses is because of ligand-selective internalization.  Journal of Biological Chemistry.  284:13233-13243. 2009
    2009 Knockout of spinophilin, an endogenous antagonist of arrestin-dependent α2-adrenoceptor functions, enhances receptor-mediated antinociception yet does not eliminate sex-related differences.  Behavioural Brain Research.  197:457-461. 2009
    2008 Protein kinase A phosphorylation of spinophilin modulates its interaction with the α2A-adrenergic receptor (AR) and alters temporal properties of α2AAR internalization.  Journal of Biological Chemistry.  283:14516-14523. 2008
    2008 Disruption of Smad4 in neural crest cells leads to mid-gestation death with pharyngeal arch, craniofacial and cardiac defects.  Developmental Biology.  316:417-430. 2008
    2007 Myocardial Smad4 is essential for cardiogenesis in mouse embryos.  Circulation Research.  101:277-285. 2007
    2007 Regulation of α2AR trafficking and signaling by interacting proteins.  Biochemical Pharmacology.  73:1135-1145. 2007
    2007 Characterization of cis-regulatory elements and transcription factor binding: Gel mobility shift assay.  Methods in Molecular Biology.  366:183-201. 2007
    2006 Arrestin serves as a molecular switch, linking endogenous α2-adrenergic receptor to SRC-dependent, but not SRC-independent, ERK activation.  Journal of Biological Chemistry.  281:25948-25955. 2006
    2005 α2-adrenergic agonist enrichment of spinophilin at the cell surface involves βγ subunits of Gi proteins and is preferentially induced by the α2A-subtype.  Molecular Pharmacology.  67:1690-1696. 2005
    2004 Spinophilin blocks arrestin actions in vitro and in vivo at G protein-coupled receptors.  Science.  304:1940-1944. 2004
    2004 Study of G-protein-coupled receptor-protein interactions using gel overlay assays and glutathione-S-transferase-fusion protein pull-downs..  Methods in Molecular Biology.  259:371-378. 2004
    2003 Spinophilin stabilizes cell surface expression of α 2B-adrenergic receptors.  Journal of Biological Chemistry.  278:32405-32412. 2003
    2002 Regulated interactions of the α2A adrenergic receptor with spinophilin, 14-3-3ζ, and arrestin 3.  Journal of Biological Chemistry.  277:50589-50596. 2002
    2002 A novel TCTG(G/C) direct repeat and an A/T-rich HMG2-binding site control the expression of the rat cardiac troponin T gene.  Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology.  34:1667-1679. 2002
    2001 Agonist-regulated Interaction between α2-Adrenergic Receptors and Spinophilin.  Journal of Biological Chemistry.  276:15003-15008. 2001
    2001 Comparative studies on the expression patterns of three troponin T genes during mouse development..  Anatomical Record.  263:72-84. 2001
    2001 The alpha2 adrenergic receptor subtypes interact with spinophilin via their third intracellular loops..  J Biol Chem.  274:13462-13469. 2001
    2000 Identification of cis elements in the cardiac troponin T gene conferring specific expression in cardiac muscle of transgenic mice.  Circulation Research.  86:478-484. 2000
    1999 Requirement of a novel gene, Xin, in cardiac morphogenesis 1999
    1996 Expression of three lymphokines in recombinant vaccinia viruses and their effects on virulence and immunogenicity 1996

    Book

    Year Title Altmetric
    2011 Genetic Variations of α2-Adrenergic Receptors Illuminate the Diversity of Receptor Functions.  Ed. 67.  2011
    2009 An osteoblast-dependent mechanism contributes to the leptin regulation of insulin secretion.  Ed. 1173.  2009
    2004 Membrane Trafficking of G Protein-Coupled Receptors.  Ed. 44.  2004

    Chapter

    Year Title Altmetric
    2016 Alpha2A-adrenergic receptor 2016
    2015 α2 adrenergic receptor trafficking as a therapeutic target in antidepressant drug action.  207-225. 2015
    2012 α2-Adrenergic Receptors.  55-58. 2012
    2012 Alpha2-adrenergic receptors 2012
    2007 Characterization of cis-Regulatory Elements and Transcription Factor Binding.  183-201. 2007
    2004 Characterization of cis-regulatory elements and transcription factor binding: gel mobility shift assay 2004
    2003 Study of GPCR interactions using GST-fusion pull-down and gel overlay assays. 2003
    2000 Differentially expressed genes and cardiac morphogenesis. 2000

    Research Overview

  • The lab has a general interest in neurosynaptic signaling in neurological and psychiatric disorders. Our goal is to translate our lab research to development of new therapeutic interventions for disease treatment. Current research directions include: 1) Molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying Alzheimer’s disease pathogenesis; 2)Cognition and complex behaviors; 3) Selective targeting of GPCRs.
    Keywords - synaptic receptors, signaling, protein trafficking, ligand regulation, neurodegeneration, neuroprotection, Alzheimer's disease, cognition, mood disorders, drug discovery

    • Principal Investigator On

    Investigator On

    Full Name

  • Qin Wang