Area of research
Nutrition and Dietetics · Cancer Research
Research interest
Research topics from publications: Zinc in the central nervous system: From molecules to behavior; Zinc deficiency induces apoptosis via mitochondrial p53- and caspase-dependent pathways in human neuronal precursor cells; Zinc deficiency regulates hippocampal gene expression and impairs neuronal differentiation; Effect of zinc supplementation on neuronal precursor proliferation in the rat hippocampus after traumatic brain injury; Zinc deficiency regulates TGF‐beta signaling, nuclear receptor activity, and neuronal differentiation in human neuronal precursor cells. Representative work: The trace metal zinc is a biofactor that plays essential roles in the central nervous system across the lifespan from early neonatal brain development through the maintenance of brain function in adults. At the molecular level, zinc regulates gene expression through transcription factor activity and is responsible for the activity of dozens of key enzymes in neuronal metabolism. At the cellular level, zinc is a modulator of synaptic activity and neuronal plasticity in both development and adulthood. Given these key roles, it is not surprising that alterations in brain zinc status have been implicated in a wide array of neurological disorders including impaired brain development, neurodegener OBJECTIVES: Proliferating adult stem cells in the subgranular zone of the dentate gyrus have the capacity not only to divide, but also to differentiate into neurons and integrate into the hippocampal circuitry. The present study identifies several hippocampal genes putatively regulated by zinc and tests the hypothesis that zinc deficiency impairs neuronal stem cell differentiation. METHODS: Genes that regulate neurogenic processes were identified using microarray analysis of hippocampal mRNA isolated from adult rats fed zinc-adequate or zinc-deficient (ZD) diets. We directly tested our hypothesis with cultured human neuronal precursor cells (NT2), stimulated to differentiate into post-mitoti
Effect of zinc supplementation on neuronal precursor proliferation in the rat hippocampus after traumatic brain injury
Zinc deficiency induces apoptosis via mitochondrial p53- and caspase-dependent pathways in human neuronal precursor cells
Zinc deficiency regulates hippocampal gene expression and impairs neuronal differentiation
Zinc in the central nervous system: From molecules to behavior
Zinc deficiency regulates TGF‐beta signaling, nuclear receptor activity, and neuronal differentiation in human neuronal precursor cells