CURRICULUM VITAE

 

Name:

Haijiang Cai

Address:

Department of Physiology & Biophysics

Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute
Keck School
of Medicine

University of Southern California

1501 San Pablo St. ZNI 323
Los Angeles, CA 90089

E-mail:

hcai@usc.edu

 

Tel:

1-323-442-0099 (lab)

 

Fax:

1-323-442-4466 (lab)

 

Web:

http://www-scf.usc.edu/~hcai

 

 

Research Interests

·         Molecular mechanisms of synaptic transmission and its regulation

·         How neural circuits process information and control behavior

 

Education

2001 - 2007

Ph.D., Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Southern California. Los Angeles, USA.

Advisor: Dr. Robert H. Chow

Dissertation: Role of Complexin in Regulated Exocytosis

1996 - 2001

B.S., School of Life Science, University of Science & Technology of China (USTC), Hefei, P. R. China.

Advisor: Dr. Xu Zhang (Institute of Neuroscience, Shanghai)

Dissertation: delta-Opioid Receptor Mediated Neuropeptide Release

 

Research Experiences

2001-Present

Research Assistant of Dr. Robert H. Chow's lab, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA.

2000 - 2001

Undergraduate Research Assistant of Dr. Xu Zhang's Sensory System Laboratory, Institute of Neuroscience, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, P. R. China.

1999 - 2000

Undergraduate Research Assistant of Dr. Zhuan Zhou's Cellular Biophysics Laboratory, USTC, Hefei, P. R. China.

 

Major Achievements in PhD Study

·         Demonstrated that complexin is a positive regulator for Ca2+-triggered exocytosis.

·         Demonstrated that complexin functions at vesicle priming step.

·         Shown that phosphorylation of complexin S93 is required for the priming function of complexin.

·         Developed the caged-calcium photolysis technique, which is the first time in Dr. Robert Chow’s lab.

·         Combined the caged-calcium photolysis system with TIRF system, which we are optimizing now (collaborate with Wenyong Xiong).

·         Developed the mouse adrenal chromaffin cell culture method, which allows us to get sufficient healthy cells from a single mouse.

 

Publications

1.

Bao L, Wang HF, Cai HJ, Tong YG, Jin SX, Lu YJ, Grant G, Hokfelt T, and Zhang X. Peripheral axotomy induces only very limited sprouting of coarse myelinated afferents into inner lamina II of rat spinal cord. Eur J Neurosci 16: 175-185, 2002.

2.

Bao L, Jin SX, Zhang C, Wang LH, Xu ZZ, Zhang FX, Wang LC, Ning FS, Cai HJ, Guan JS, Xiao HS, Xu ZQ, He C, Hokfelt T, Zhou Z, and Zhang X. Activation of delta opioid receptors induces receptor insertion and neuropeptide secretion. Neuron 37: 121-133, 2003.

3.

Michael DJ, Cai H, Xiong W, Ouyang J, and Chow RH. Mechanisms of peptide hormone secretion. Trends Endocrinol Metab 17:408-415, 2006.

4.

Kolski-Andreaco A, Cai H, Currle DS, Chandy KG, and Chow RH. Mouse Adrenal Chromaffin Cell Isolation. Journal of Visualized Experiments 1(2), 2007.

5.

Cai H, Reim K, Varoqueaux F, Tapechum S, Hill K, Brose N, Sorensen J, and Chow RH. Complexin II Enhances Chromaffin Cell Vesicle Priming for Exocytosis. submitted, 2007.

 

Abstracts and Presentations

1.

Role of complexin in regulated exocytosis. USC PHBI Retreat, presentation. 2006

2.

Cai H, Reim K, Brose N, and Chow RH. Role of complexin in synaptic transmission. Neuronal Circuits: From Structure to Function, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, New York, 2006.

3.

Cai H, Reim K, Varoqueaux F, Tapechum S, Brose N, Sorensen J, and Chow RH. Complexin Regulates Vesicle Exocytosis at Priming Steps in Chromaffin Cells. 51st Annual Meeting of Biophysical Society, Baltimore, Maryland. Biophysical Journal, 2007.

4.

Lin M-Y, Xiong W, Cai H, Reim K, Brose N, Ko C-P, and Chow RH. Complexin I is a positive regulator of neuromuscular transmission. The 37th annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, San Diego, California. Society for Neuroscience, 2007.

5.

Cai H, Reim K, Varoqueaux F, Tapechum S, Brose N, Sorensen J, and Chow RH. Complexin II, a positive regulator of exocytosis, facilitates vesicle priming. The 37th annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, San Diego, California. Society for Neuroscience, 2007.

 

Recent Honors and Awards

2006

USC GPSS Spring 2006 Travel Awards

2006

Financial Assistance to the CSHL Neural Circuits Meeting

2001 - 2007

Research Assistantship, University of Southern California

 

Memberships

2007 -

Member of the Society for Neuroscience

2003 -

Member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

2002 - 2003

Member of the National Geographic Society

1997 - 2001

Member of Scientific Investigation and Exploration Association of USTC

 

Other Activities

2006

Assistant to the Audio Visual Department during the Neural Circuits Meeting, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

1997 - 2000

Coeditor of Message of the League, a weekly magazine of USTC

1997 - 1998

Secretary of Propaganda in the Student Association of School of Life Science, USTC

 

References

Available upon request