Neuroscience Graduate Program
Neuroscience Graduate Program

Lulu Jiang

Lulu Jiang
Assistant professor, Neuroscience

Research Disciplines: Neuroscience, Pharmacology

Research Interests: The Pathophysiology of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease (PD) and other dementia-related disorders.

Research Description: Our research focuses on several key areas that drive our scientific interests and contribute to the understanding and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. These areas include:

1. Investigation of RNA modifications and epitranscriptomic mechanisms in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related dementias. By studying how RNA modifications impact disease progression, we aim to uncover novel therapeutic targets and diagnostic markers.

2. Exploration of neuron-glia interactions and neuroimmunological mechanisms underlying the progression of AD and Parkinson's disease (PD). Understanding the complex interplay between neurons and glial cells will provide crucial insights into the underlying mechanisms and potential avenues for therapeutic intervention.

3. Utilization of iPSC-induced 3D human brain organoid models to study neurodegenerative diseases and enable precision medicine approaches. These advanced models allow us to recapitulate the complexity of the human brain, facilitating the identification of disease mechanisms and the development of personalized treatment strategies.

4. Elucidation of the molecular mechanisms driving prion-like propagation in the Braak stages of AD. Investigating the spread of pathological proteins in the brain will contribute to our understanding of disease progression and may lead to the development of interventions that disrupt this process.

5. Development of innovative genetic and small molecule therapeutics for neurodegenerative diseases. Our research aims to identify and optimize potential therapeutic targets, including genetic approaches and small molecules, with the goal of ultimately translating these findings into effective treatments for patients.

These research directions represent our current focus and ongoing projects, which collectively contribute to the advancement of knowledge and the development of new strategies for the management and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.

Selected Publications

  1. Lulu Jiang, Rebecca Roberts, Melissa Wong, Lushuang Zhang, Chelsea Joy Webber, Alper Kilci, Matthew Jenkins, Sherif Rashad, Jingjing Sun, Peter Dedon, Sarah Anne Daley, Weiming Xia, Alejandro Rondon Ortiz, Luke Dorrian, Takaomi C. Sado, Takashi Saido, Benjamin Wolozin. Accumulation of m6A exhibits stronger correlation with MAPT than beta-amyloid pathology in an APPNL-G-F /MAPTP301S mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. bioRxiv 2023.03.28.534515; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.03.28.534515
  2. Zhao J, Jiang L, Matlock A, Xu Y, Zhu J, Zhu H, Tian L, Wolozin B, Cheng JX. Mid-infrared chemical imaging of intracellular tau fibrils using fluorescence-guided computational photothermal microscopy. Light: Science & Applications. 2023 Jun 15;12(1):147. doi: 10.1038/s41377-023-01191-6. PMID: 37322011; PMCID: PMC10272128.
  3. Jiang L#, Chakraborty P#, Zhang L, Wong M, Hill SE, Webber CJ, Libera J, Blair LJ, Wolozin B, Zweckstetter M. Chaperoning of specific tau structure by immunophilin FKBP12 regulates the neuronal resilience to extracellular stress. Science Advances, 2023 Feb 3;9(5):eadd9789. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.add9789. Epub 2023 Feb 1. PMID: 36724228. (#Co- first authors)

          This paper was reported and commented by Alzforum News: https://www.alzforum.org/news/research-news/chaperone-fkbp12-shields-tau-aggregation

  1. Rickner HD#, Jiang L#, Hong R, O'Neill NK, Mojica CA, Snyder BJ, Zhang L, Shaw D, Medalla M, Wolozin B, Cheng CS. Single cell transcriptomic profiling of a neuron-astrocyte assembloid tauopathy model. Nat Commun. 2022 Oct 21;13(1):6275. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-34005-1. PMID: 36271092; PMCID: PMC9587045. (#Co- first authors)
  2. Jiang L, Lin W, Zhang C, Ash PEA, Verma M, Kwan J, van Vliet E, Yang Z, Cruz AL, Boudeau S, Maziuk BF, Lei S, Song J, Alvarez VE, Hovde S, Abisambra JF, Kuo MH, Kanaan N, Murray ME, Crary JF, Zhao J, Cheng JX, Petrucelli L, Li H, Emili A, Wolozin B. Interaction of tau with HNRNPA2B1 and N6-methyladenosine RNA mediates the progression of tauopathy. Mol Cell. 2021 Aug 20:S1097-2765(21)00622-5. doi: 10.1016/j.molcel.2021.07.038. PMID: 34453888.

         Research Highlight by Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology. Corresponding Commentary article by Editor-in-chief Dr. Baumann, K.: Tau oligomers are linked to m6A-RNA. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol. 2021 Oct;22(10):650. doi: 10.1038/s41580-021-00419-w. PMID: 34480148.

          This paper was reported and commented by Alzforum News: https://www.alzforum.org/news/research-news/methylated-rna-new-player-tau-toxicity

  1. Jiang L, Wolozin B. Oligomeric tau disrupts nuclear envelope via binding to lamin proteins and lamin B receptor. Alzheimer's & Dementia. 2021 Dec;17:e054521.
  2. Jiang L, Wolozin B. Regulation of ribosomal function by oligomeric tau: Dysregulation of protein synthesis in neurodegeneration. Alzheimer's & Dementia, 2020/12, 16, e039190
  3. Jiang L, Zhao J, Cheng JX, Wolozin B. Tau Oligomers and Fibrils Exhibit Differential Patterns of Seeding and Association With RNA Binding Proteins. Front Neurol. 2020 Sep 30;11:579434. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2020.579434. PMID: 33101187; PMCID: PMC7554625.
  4. Jiang L, Ash PEA, Maziuk BF, Ballance HI, Boudeau S, Abdullatif AA, Orlando M, Petrucelli L, Ikezu T, Wolozin B. TIA1 regulates the generation and response to toxic tau oligomers. Acta Neuropathol. 2019 Feb;137(2):259-277. doi: 10.1007/s00401-018-1937-5. Epub 2018 Nov 21. PMID: 30465259; PMCID: PMC6377165.
  5. Song S#, Jiang L#, Oyarzabal EA, Wilson B, Li Z, Shih YI, Wang Q, Hong JS. Loss of Brain Norepinephrine Elicits Neuroinflammation-Mediated Oxidative Injury and Selective Caudo-Rostral Neurodegeneration. Mol Neurobiol. 2019 Apr;56(4):2653-2669. doi: 10.1007/s12035-018-1235-1. Epub 2018 Jul 27. PMID: 30051353; PMCID: PMC6348128. (# Co- first authors).
  6. Jiang L, Wu X, Wang S, Chen SH, Zhou H, Wilson B, Jin CY, Lu RB, Xie K, Wang Q, Hong JS. Clozapine metabolites protect dopaminergic neurons through inhibition of microglial NADPH oxidase. J Neuroinflammation. 2016 May 16; 13(1):110. doi: 10.1186/s12974-016-0573-z. PMID: 27184631
  7. Jiang L, Chen SH, Chu CH, Wang SJ, Oyarzabal E, Wilson B, Sanders V, Xie K, Wang Q, Hong JS. A novel role of microglial NADPH oxidase in mediating extra-synaptic function of norepinephrine in regulating brain immune homeostasis. Glia. 2015 Jun;63(6):1057-72. Epub 2015 Mar 4. PMID: 25740080; PMCID: PMC4405498.
  8. Ash PEA, Lei S, Shattuck J, Boudeau S, Carlomagno Y, Medalla M, Mashimo BL, Socorro G, Al-Mohanna LFA, Jiang L, Öztürk MM, Knobel M, Ivanov P, Petrucelli L, Wegmann S, Kanaan NM, Wolozin B. TIA1 potentiates tau phase separation and promotes generation of toxic oligomeric tau. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2021 Mar 2;118(9):e2014188118. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2014188118. PMID: 33619090; PMCID: PMC7936275.
  9. Wang Q, Song S, Jiang L, Hong JS. Interplay among norepinephrine, NOX2, and neuroinflammation: key players in Parkinson’s disease and prime targets for therapies. Ageing Neur Dis 2021;1:6. http://dx.doi.org/10.20517/and.2021.06
  10. Apicco DJ, Zhang C, Maziuk B, Jiang L, Ballance HI, Boudeau S, Ung C, Li H, Wolozin B. Dysregulation of RNA Splicing in Tauopathies. Cell Rep. 2019 Dec 24;29(13):4377-4388.e4. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2019.11.093. PMID: 31875547, PMCID: PMC6941411
  11. Song S, Wang Q, Jiang L, Oyarzabal E, Riddick NV, Wilson B, Moy SS, Shih YI, Hong JS. Noradrenergic dysfunction accelerates LPS-elicited inflammation-related ascending sequential neurodegeneration and deficits in non-motor/motor functions. Brain Behav Immun. 2019 Oct;81:374-387. doi: 10.1016/j.bbi.2019.06.034. Epub 2019 Jun 24. PMID: 31247288
  12. Maziuk BF, Apicco DJ, Cruz AL, Jiang L, Ash PEA, da Rocha EL, Zhang C, Yu WH, Leszyk J, Abisambra JF, Li H, Wolozin B. RNA binding proteins co-localize with small tau inclusions in tauopathy. Acta Neuropathol Commun. 2018 Aug 1;6(1):71. doi: 10.1186/s40478-018-0574-5.