1.The overall research goal of Li’s lab is to determine how prion-like proteins, such as TIA1/TIAL, TDP-43, APP, and FUS, involve in various brain disorders and neurodegenerative diseases and help drug discovery based on their function and structure information. Prions are proteins that exist in two conformations: soluble and aggregated. The aggregated form is self-perpetuating. Initially discovered by Dr. Stanley Prusiner in the context of infectious diseases, prion-like conformation changes have also been found in several other neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s, ALS, Huntington’s, Parkinson’s and Multiple sclerosis. Many of these prion-like proteins are related to RNA/DNA regulation and affect synaptic plasticity and brain circuitry. The lab is particularly interested in: 1) How these functional prion-like proteins are modulated by post-translational modification and chaperons; 2) How these proteins response to various stimuli (such as synaptic input, ROS, stress) and change synapse and circuitry through regulating downstream targets (mRNAs and genome). The lab is addressing these questions using a combination of molecular, genetic, electrophysiological, imaging, mouse behavior and structure biological methods

1.Molecular Mechanisms Underlying Aging and Neurodegenerative Disorders (AD, PD, ALS): Diagnostic and Therapeutic Advances

2.Body-Brain Crosstalk: Metabolic Regulation and Quantitative Physiological Dynamics

3.Innovative Method Development: Noninvasive In Vivo Systems Probing

2021-now, Professor,Principal Investigator, SUAT

2016-2021, Principal Investigator, SIAT, CAS

2008-2016, Postdoc Fellow/Associate Research Scientist, HHMI/Columbia University

2007, Ph.D., Case Western Reserve University

2002, M.S., Zhejiang University

1999, B.S., Zhejiang University

1. Zhengjiang Qian, Hongchao Li, Haiyang Yang, Qin Yang, Zhonghua Lu, Liping Wang, Ying Chen,Xiang Li* Osteocalcin attenuates oligodendrocyte differentiation and myelination via GPR37 signaling in the mouse brain Science advances 2021 7 (43)

2. Zhengjiang Qian, Chunhua Liu, Hongchao Li, Haiyang Yang, Jianhao Wu, Jing Liu, Yanjiao Li, Xuhui Chen, Jianyang Xu, andXiang Li* Osteocalcin Alleviates Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Acute Inflammation via Activation of GPR37 in Macrophages. Biomedicines, 2022 10(5), 1006.

3. Liang Yang, Junfeng Shen, Chunhua Liu, Zhonghua Kuang, Yong Tang, Zhengjiang Qian, Min Guan, Yongfeng Yang, Yang Zhan, Nan Li,Xiang Li*Nicotine rebalances NAD+ homeostasis and improves aging-related symptoms in male mice by enhancing NAMPT activity Nat Commun 14, 900 (2023)

4. Yefei Chen, Zexuan Hong, Jingyi Wang, Kunlin Liu, Jing Liu, Jianbang Lin, Shijing Feng, Tianhui Zhang, Liang Shan, Taian Liu, Pinyue Guo, Yunping Lin, Tian Li, Qian Chen, Xiaodan Jiang, Anan Li,Xiang Li,Yuantao Li, Jonathan J Wilde, Jin Bao, Ji Dai, Zhonghua Lu Circuit-specific gene therapy reverses core symptoms in a primate Parkinson’s disease model Cell 186, 5394–5410 2023

5.Danilo Correa Pinto Junior, Isabella Canal Delgado, Haiyang Yang, Alisson Clemenceau, André Corvelo, Giuseppe Narzisi, Rajeeva Musunuri, Julian Meyer Berger, Lauren E Hendricks, Kazuya Tokumura, Na Luo, Hongchao Li, Franck Oury, Patricia Ducy*, Vijay K Yadav*,Xiang Li*,Gerard Karsenty* Osteocalcin of maternal and embryonic origins synergize to establish homeostasis in offspring EMBO Rep (2024) 25: 593 - 615

6.Ru Song, Chunhua Liu, Minqi Peng, Zhengjiang Qian, Mingyu Wei, Fangmei Yu, Mingchen Yao,Xiang Li*, Bo Feng* CX3CL1-CX3CR1 pathway mediates hyperthermia-induced microglial processes retraction Brain, Behavior, and Immunity Volume 127, Pages 205-216, July 2025