I got my Ph.D in Molecular Genetics from Freiburg University in Germany where I trained with Karl Fischbach studying the role of irreC-rst in Drosophila eye development. I did postdoc training with Konrad Zinsmaier studying studying the role of cysteine string protein in the Drosphila neuromuscular junction.
I joined Paul Taylor’s lab in 2004 to work on Spinobulbar Muscular Atrophy (SBMA). The goal of my work is to study molecular basis of neurotoxicity of polyglutamine-expanded androgen receptor. I am working on SBMA using Drosophila as a model system. I have developed systems for examining the status of the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) in vivo in Drosophila and I am using this system to evaluate UPS status during neurodegeneration. I am also evaluating the role of defective transport of synaptic proteins in the progression of SBMA.
Selected Publications
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Pandey UB, Nie Z, Batlevi Y, McCray BA, Ritson GP, Nedelsky NB, Schwartz SL, DiProspero NA, Knight MA, Schuldiner O, Padmanabhan R, Hild M, Berry DL, Garza D, Hubbert CC, Yao T-P, Baehrecke EH, Taylor JP. (2007) HDAC6 rescues neurodegeneration and provides an essential link between autophagy and the UPS. Nature 447, 859-863.
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Fischbach, K.-F., Reiter, Ch., and Nie, Z. Targeted misexpression of neural cell adhesion molecules in the CNS of Drosophila: Can we remodel the brain of a fly? Eur. J. Physiol. 429 (Suppl.) R149. 1995.
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Schneider, T., Nie, Z., Reiter, Ch., Lichte, B., Schmansky, T., Bader, B. and Fischbach, K.-F. The IrreC-rst protein functions as a neural recognition molecule in the optic lobe of Drosophila melanogaster. J. Neurogenetics, Vol. 10, 49, 1995.
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Schneider, T., Reiter, Ch., Lichte, B., Eule, E., Bader, B., Nie, Z., Schimansky, T., Ramos, R.G.P. and Fischbach, K.-F. Restricted expression of the IrreC-rst protein is required for normal axonal projections of columnar visual neurons. Neuron, Vol. 15, 259-271, 1995.
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Reiter, Ch., Nie, Z. and Fischbach, K.-F. (1996). The role of the irreC-rst adhesion molecule in initiation of apoptosis during Drosophila eye development. J. Brain Research 37: (4) 587-588
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Reiter, Ch., Schimansky, T., Nie, Z. and Fischbach, K.-F. (1996). Reorganization of membrane contacts prior to apoptosis in the Drosophila retina: the role of the IrreC-rst. Development 122, 1931-1940
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Nie, Z. Ranjan, R., Wenniger, J.J., Hong, S.N.,Bronk, P. and Zinsmaier, K.E.. (1999). Overexpression of cysteine string protein in Drosophila reveals interactions with Syntaxin. Journal of Neuroscience. 19(23): 10270-10279
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Rosengard, A.M., Liu, Y., Nie, Z., and Jimenez, R. (2002). Variola virus immune evasion design: Expression of a highly efficient inhibitor of human complement. PNAS. Vol. 99, 8808-8813
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Song, W. Ranjan, R. Dawson-Scully, K. Bronk, P. Marin, L. Seroude, L. Lin, YJ. Nie, Z. Atwood HL. Benzer, S. Zinsmaier, KE. (2002). Presynaptic regulation of neurotransmission in Drosophila by the g protein-coupled receptor methuselah. Neuron. 36(1):105-19.
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Bronk, P., Nie, Z., Klose, M.K., Dawson-Scully, K., Zhang, J., Robertson, R.M., Atwood, H.L., and Zinsmaier, K.E. (2005). The Multiple Functions of Cysteine-String Protein Analyzed at Drosophila Nerve Terminals. J. Neurosci. 25: 2204 – 2214
Education
- B.S. Cell Biology (1985) Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China
- M.S. Molecular Genetics (1988) Fudan University, Shanghai, China
- Ph.D. Molecular Genetics (1996) Albert-Ludwigs University of Freiburg, Freiberg Germany
E-mail Zhiping |
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