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Xian JIANG: Exploring molecular universe of memory in the endless frontier

2022.07.28

Only courage and love can last a long time. In the never-ending exploration of scientific research, there are more obstacles and thorns than flowers and applauses. “Taking difficulties as road signs, facing them head on, fighting against them bravely, keeping persevering and indomitable” is Dr. Xian Jiang’s firm belief. Together with her team members, she will challenge the unknown in the process of discovering and overcoming problems, and will make unremitting efforts to mine the underlying molecular mechanisms of neurological diseases.

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Xian Jiang

SZBL Institute of Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders

Junior Principal Investigator

The lab investigates 1)the molecular mechanisms of memory storage, including the function of neurons and glia cells; 2) the intracellular signaling pathways of synapse formation, using techniques such as single cell RNA sequencing, genetic tools, imaging, electrophysiology, cell and molecular biology and animal behavior, etc.


01 Keep forging ahead on the road of scientific research 

Scientific researchers experience failure almost every day, which is probably normal. Constantly learning from failures, improving methods or adjusting ideas is my way of coping. And whenever I encounter difficulties and want to back down, the love for scientific research and curiosity about scientific exploration that comes from my heart will guide me to move on. As Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg writes at the end of her best-selling book “Lean In”, “I hope they both end up where they want to be. And when they found where their true passions lie, i hope they both lean in - all the way.”

There is no royal road to scientific research. Courage and perseverance are the most important qualities on this path of exploration. Fortunately, along the way, I have met several distinguished supervisors, who are my supervisors and friends, my guides in my scientific career, and my role models that I hope to keep learning and working hard to get close to.

In my high school, I had studied in the Experimental Class of Olympic Competition and joined the chemistry interest group. In my spare time, under the guidance of my teacher, I had studied the university’s chemistry course with other students, and did various chemical experiments. I was always happy to do them. My interest in science probably sprung from then on. During my undergraduate study, I came to the newly-established National Institute of Biological Sciences(NIBS), Beijing by chance and joined the laboratory of Du Lilin and Luo Minmin for summer internship and graduation design project. The two teachers have different styles but have their own strengths: Du is gentle, patient and rigorous; Luo is quick-minded and distinctive in thoughts. Studying in their laboratory gave me the opportunity to contact high-level scientific research, which laid a solid foundation for my future scientific research career. I also successfully completed my graduation project with their help and guidance. 

At that time, NIBS was famous and mysterious to many researchers. An inconspicuous four-storied building, far away from the bustling city, has gathered a group of top researchers in the field of life sciences. At my doctoral stage, I was very honored to come to this experimental field of scientific and technological innovation and join Mr. Wang Xiaodong’s laboratory. Professor Wang, an internationally renowned outstanding biologist, has always set high standards and strict requirements for scientific research. Moreover, he advocates equality and encourages free exploration. He has given me a lot of precious advice in scientific research and philosophy of life. During the five years of studying for my doctoral degree, thanks to Professor Wang’s inculcation, I have mastered solid experimental techniques such as molecular biochemistry and cell, cultivated the scientific spirit of being objective, rigorous and excelsior, and also learned the ways of research and behavior from the scientists.

After my graduation of doctor, I went to Stanford University and entered the laboratory of Nobel Laureate Professor Thomas Südhof for my postdoctoral training. Professor Südhof was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2013. When I entered his laboratory, he was already over 60 years old, but his enthusiasm for scientific research and his diligent and rigorous working attitude remained unchanged. He still persists in the field of scientific research, setting a good example for our new generation of young scientists, and I have benefited a lot from his guidance.


02 Solve the problem of dysmnesia  

At present, my main research direction is the molecular mechanisms of memory storage and major neurological diseases related to memory disorders, such as the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease, etc. I hope to find potential drug targets on this basis, and then develop new small molecule drugs through high-throughput compound screening.

As we know, memory is one of the most amazing and important functions of the brain, which plays a vital role in our daily lives. Language formation, character formation, and relationship development are all inseparable from the memory. The memory mainly includes three stages: encoding, storage and extraction. According to the duration, the memory is divided into short-term memory and long-term memory. The short-term memory usually lasts for a few hours or days, while the long-term memory lasts for weeks, years or a lifetime.

In order to probe the molecular mechanism of memory, we can research the brain from multiple dimensions, including neural network level, cellular level, neural synapse level and molecular level. At the neural network level, the memory depends on the formation of specific neural circuits. At the cellular level, the memory is manifested as changes in connections or functions of new nerve cells, that is, synaptic plasticity. At the molecular level, the memory depends on specific signaling molecules and pathways, such as transcription factor CREB and cAMP signaling pathways, etc.

However, the existing researches on the molecular and cellular mechanism of memory mostly focus on encoding and short-term memory, and the molecular mechanism of the long-term memory still remains unclear. Our research group will systematically and deeply analyze the molecular and cellular mechanisms of long-term memory and memory disorder by using various techniques, including single cell RNA sequencing, imaging, electrophysiology, cell and molecular biology and animal behavior, etc., and probe their applications in related neurological diseases.

I hope that our researches can be applied to the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, amnesia, post-traumatic stress and other diseases related to dysmnesia in the future. Dysmnesia is the main clinical symptom of many major psychiatric diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, but its molecular mechanism still remains unknown. By researching the important molecules and signaling pathways that regulate memory under normal and pathological conditions, we have mined new potential drug targets for the treatment of the above diseases, and developed small-molecule drugs for the drug targets, which will bring new hope for the treatment of major mental diseases related to dysmnesia.


03 Stand on a new starting line 

It has been some time since I came to Shenzhen Bay Laboratory. What attracts me most here is its free, open, diverse and inclusive scientific research system and academic atmosphere, as well as the overall layout of multi-disciplines. From chemistry, physics, life sciences to engineering applications, from basic scientific research to clinical application and translation, Shenzhen Bay Laboratory has both the depth and breadth of scientific research. It encourages free exploration and supports collaborative research, creating an efficient scientific research ecomodel. All in all, Shenzhen Bay Laboratory is very suitable for my current research work, which can provide an ideal platform and environment for young researchers like me.

In the next one or two years, I will establish a stable scientific research team to carry out research subjects as planned, and train several graduate students and doctoral students. My long-term goal is to solve important scientific problems in this field, transform scientific research results if feasible, and cultivate some excellent students to inherit our scientific research. I hope I can drive more people to invest in the scientific research, and really develop things that are beneficial to human beings.


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Brief introduction to the Principal Investigator

Dr. Jiang obtained her bachelor’s degree in Beijing Normal University and was mentored by Dr. Xiaodong Wang at National Institute of Biological Sciences, Beijing during her PhD training, studying the molecular mechanisms of mitochondrial apoptosis. During her PhD training, Dr. Jiang identified the key steps which control the mitochondrial release of cytochrome c and developed small molecule inhibitors for mitochondrial apoptosis, which offered new insight for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. Dr. Jiang performed her postdoctoral studies in Dr. Thomas Sudhof lab at Stanford University, HHMI, investigating the molecular and cellular mechanisms of memory storage and the intracellular mechanisms of synapse formation with the aid of single cell RNA sequencing, imaging, animal behavior, and cultured neuron system and techniques. Her research revealed the persistent gene expression changes associated with remote memory in both neurons and glia cells in mPFC, and identified the important signaling pathways, including JNK, PKA, and PI3K, that control synapse formation. Additionally, Dr. Jiang elucidated the molecular mechanisms of synapse formation mediated by the synaptic adhesion molecules such as Teneurin, Latrophilin.

Dr. Jiang has published research articles in world top journals such as Nature, Cell, Science, Mol Cell, PNAS, etc, including 4 first author papers. Dr. Jiang was also authorized with 1 patent, which is under translation.   

Explore more about Dr. Jiang and her research: http://jianglab.szbl.ac.cn/