|
|
|
|
Many congratulations to Dr. Jihong Bai for publishing a Cell article in Nov, 2010! Dr. Bai is a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Joshua Kaplan's laboratory at Massachusetts General Hospital since 2005. He received his Bachelor of Science degree from Beijing Agricultural University in 1995; his Master of Science degree from Tsinghua University in 1998. In 2003, he received his Ph.D. from the Biophysics program at the University of
Wisconsin-Madison. His |
 |
research is currently funded by a Pathway to Independence Award (K99) from the National Institutes of Health.
|
The title of his Cell paper is "Endophilin Functions as a Membrane-Bending Molecule and Is Delivered to Endocytic Zones by Exocytosis" (Cell, 2010, 143(3): 430-441). Here is the short description of his work:
Neurotransmitter release at synapses occurs by exocytosis of synaptic vesicles (SVs). To maintain neurotransmission, SVs must be regenerated via endocytosis. In his recent publication, Bai et al found that i) an endocytic protein Endophilin facilitates endocytosis by bending membranes8, ii) that Endophilin functions in the plane of the plasma membrane, iii) that Endophilin is delivered to synapses by associating with SVs, iv) that the soluble pool of Endophilin available to promote endocytosis is provided by unbinding from the adjacent SV pool, and v) that this unbinding rate is regulated by exocytosis. Thus, Endophilin undergoes a cycle of association and disassociation with SVs that parallels the cycle of exo- and endocytosis. This endophilin cycle may provide a mechanism for functionally coupling endocytosis and exocytosis.
If anyone has interested in his research, you can email him directly at bai@molbio.mgh.harvard.edu.
Cheers
HMS-CSSA
|
|
