Jarin Hongpaisan, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute
Email: Hongpaij@brni-jhu.org
Phone: 304-293-0933
Fax: 304-293-7536
Education:
Ph.D. (Anatomy) University of Uppsala, Uppsala, Sweden
M.Sc. (Anatomy) Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
D.V.M. Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
Research Interests:
Dr. Hongpaisan’s long term goals at BRNI are to understand signaling pathways undergoing neurodegeneration and morphological changes of hippocampal synapses, and their pre- and post-synaptic compartments induced by learning and memory. He hopes to develop therapeutic strategies for memory deficit induced aging and neurological disorders by preventing synaptic loss and activating synaptogenesis. His research will facilitate understanding the pathogenesis of dementia in aging and Alzheimer’s disease, and memory deficit in hypoxia/ischemia and traumatic brain injury and may result in new drugs to prevent and/or improve memory loss in these diseases.
The BRNI team’s on-going research has led them to discover that drugs activating PKC can induce new connection in the brain (synaptogenesis) resulting in an improvement of learning and long-term memory. These drugs can also prevent synaptic loss and neuronal cell degeneration; therefore, protect and improve memory loss. As evidence has accumulated to support the hypothesis that synapses are critical storage sites for memory in the brain, increasing attention has been given to dendritic spines. Aging and several neurological disorders affect learning
Dr. Honpaisan’s research emphasizes the investigation of therapeutic strategies, particularly protein kinase C (PKC) activators, to preserve or promote the generation of dendritic spines (spinogenesis) and synapses (synaptogenesis) in order to treat the defect of learning and memory in rats behaviorally trained using the Morris Water Maze Model.
His research also involves cell signaling, emphasizing how Ca2+-dependent mitochondrial metabolism affects the activity and plasticity of hippocampal neurons. Reactive oxygen species (ROS), including superoxide radicals play a role as signaling molecules in a variety of cell types under non-pathological conditions, but the mitochondrial O2- (one of many) is generally not thought to be involving in cell signaling. However, he has found that activity-induced promotion of mitochondrial O2- enhances Ca2+/Calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) and PKC activities that in turn induce cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB) phosphorylation, a step that is critically important for gene expression and long-term memory.
In addition, Dr. Hongpaisan is responsible for management of the BRNI shared facility, including confocal microscope (Zeiss 710) and energy filtered transmission electron microscope (EFTEM; Zeiss Libra 120 plus).
Areas of Expertise:
Neurobiology, hippocampus, immunohistochemistry, fluorescent staining, confocal microscopy, and electron microscopy
Recent Publications:
Sun M.-K., Hongpaisan J., Alkon D.L. (2009) Postischmic PKC activation rescues retrograde and anterograde long-term memory. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 106:14676-14680. PMID: 19667190
Nelson T.J., Sun M.-K., Hongpaisan J., Alkon D.L. (2008) Insulin, PKC signaling pathways and synaptic remodeling during memory storage and neuronal repair. Eur. J. Pharmacol. 585:76-87. PMID: 18402935
Sun M.-K., Hongpaisan J., Nelson T.J., Alkon D.L. (2008) Post-stroke neuronal rescue and synaptogenesis mediated in vivo by PKC in adult brains. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 105:13620-13625. PMID: 18768786
Hongpaisan J., Alkon D.L. (2007) A structure basic for enhancement of long-term associative memory in single dendritic spines regulated by PKC. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 104:19571-19576. PMID: 18073185
Hongpaisan J., Winters C.A., Andrews S.B. (2004) Strong calcium entry activates mitochondrial superoxide generation, up-regulating kinase activity in hippocampal neurons. J. Neurosci. 24:19878-10887.
Hongpaisan J. Winters C.A., and Andrews S.B. (2003) Calcium-dependent mitochondrial superoxide up-regulates nuclear CREB phosphorylation in rat hippocampal neurons. Mol. Cell. Neurosci. 24:1103-1115.
Pivovarova N.B., Pozzo-Miller L.D., Hongpaisan J. and Andrews S.B. (2002) Correlated calcium uptake and release by mitochondria and ER of CA3 hippocampal dendrites following afferent synaptic stimulation. J. Neurosci. 22:10653-10661.
Hongpaisan J., Pivovarova N.B., Leapman R.D., Friel D.D. and Andrews S.B. (2001) Multiple modes of calcium-induced release in sympathetic neurons II: A [Ca2+]i- and location-dependent transition from endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ accumulation to net Ca release. J. Gen. Physiol. 118: 101-112.
Albrecht M.A., Colegrove S.L., Hongpaisan J., Pivovarova N.B., Andrews S.B. and Friel D.D. (2001) Multiple modes of calcium-induced release in sympathetic neurons I: Attenuation of endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ accumulation at low [Ca2+]i during weak depolarization. J. Gen. Physiol. 118: 83-100.