by Jennifer Kowalewski
Yang Li, Ph.D.,
assistant professor of neuroscience, wants to understand cell
communication, particularly the “talk” between the neurons in the
brain.
For the past two years, this has led him to investigate the role of
zinc in brain function.
“We have been working
on the brain, primarily how the cells communicate with one another
in different circumstances,” Li says. “My research focuses on zinc
ions. Specifically, we use zinc as a research model to help us
understand how the brain modifies its function through experiences.”
Li’s laboratory works
on several projects, which look at the impact of zinc as an
intracellular messenger interacting with proteins and as a
trans-membrane messenger from neuron to neuron.
“There are large
numbers of free zinc (ions) in the hippocampus,” Li says, adding
this area of the brain is involved in memory formation, learning and
emotion. “We are asking why the zinc is compacted in the
hippocampus. What role does it play?”
His research will
likely have far reaching implications, most notably for patients
suffering from epilepsy or ischemic stroke. In 2004, the American
Epilepsy Foundation gave Li a $40,000 research grant investigating
zinc and epilepsy. In 2005, the American Heart Association followed
up with a $120,000 research grant investigating zinc and stroke.
Researchers have
shown epilepsy affects the hippocampus, and most curative surgery
involves the removal of hippocampus to reduce seizure frequency and
severity.
“There is a puzzling
relationship between zinc and epilepsy. A certain type of epilepsy
is focused in hippocampus. In animal model, after an epileptic
seizure, the hippocampus generates new fibers. Interestingly, these
fibers contain a huge amount of zinc. By studying the relationship
of Zn2+ and epilepsy, I hope that we would be one step
closer to understanding this brain dysfunction,” he says.
Another project,
which Li called “pretty dramatic,” looked at the phenomenon of
ischemic strokes. Following a stroke, if the brain was deprived of
oxygen because of a blood clot, tissues or neurons accumulate a
large amount of calcium.
“Calcium overload, or
too much of calcium, triggers the death of cells,” he says.
But calcium wasn’t
the only substance rising in the brain after a stroke. Li found zinc
would do the same.
“What is the role of
zinc here?” he says. “There are few drugs available for the
treatment of acute stroke. Treatment or clinical trials targeted to
calcium ions have not been very successful. We have shown the zinc
overload in our models; more than that, zinc ‘cross talks’ with
other proteins in neurons in ischemic condition.”
The bottom line for
the researchers in his laboratory is to improve human health and
quality of living, Li says. His research will remain focused on this
and will hopefully unlock the mysteries of zinc and brain function
as a whole, to develop better therapies for patients living with
these disorders.
“I am grateful for
the types of support I have received, intramural and extramural,
since I came to OU-COM,” he says. “We have developed an exciting
research model, which is paving the way to understanding brain
function and beyond.”
Li, who came to the
college two and half years ago from Uniformed Services University in
Maryland, says without the grant money he has received, his research
would not have been able to move forward. He notes the tight budgets
of recent years in federal funding for biomedical research.
