Chang Chung
Last active: 5/29/2014


The goal of our laboratory is to understand signaling pathways regulating cell polarity and motility during chemotaxis. Chemotaxis, directed movement towards a chemoattractant agent, is essential for many biological processes such as immune responses, wound healing, axon guidance, and the development of Dictyostelium. Inflammation is a key component of pathophysiology of both acute injuries and chronic neurological diseases including Parkinson¿¿¿s and Alzheimer¿¿¿s. Inflammation in neuronal injuries and neurodegeneration involves important roles for resident inflammatory cells known as microglia. Microglia chemotaxis is prerequisite for microglia function whether it is neuroprotective or inflammatory. Therefore, understanding microglial chemotaxis is essential for designing rational approaches for therapeutic modulation of this response, and better understanding of the regulation of microglia proliferation and chemotaxis has important therapeutic implications. However, it is not fully understood how the activation and chemotaxis of resident microglia in the brain is controlled at early stage of neuroinflammation. Chemoattractant (extracelluar ATP or ADP) released from damaged neurons and astrocytes induces microglia activation and chemotaxis through multiple receptors including G¿¿i/o-coupled P2Y12 receptor (P2Y12R). The intracellular signaling pathway downstream of P2Y12R during microglia chemotaxis is poorly understood. Recently, we have undertaken the responsibility of unraveling complex networks of signaling pathways downstream of P2Y12R during microglia chemotaxis.

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    Cell Biology Cell Migration Cell Motility Cell Polarity Chemotaxis Cytoskeleton Development Dictyostelium Fluorescence Imaging Gene Knockout GPCR Molecular Genetics Signaling Pathways Signal Transduction