Led by Xiaoming Jin, PhD, research in this lab focuses on the organization and plasticity of neural circuits in the cerebral cortex, and the mechanisms of epileptogenesis following traumatic brain injury. These topics are investigated with a variety of techniques at molecular, cellular and circuit levels, including laser-scanning photostimulation combined with whole-cell patch-clamp recording, organotypic brain slice culture, gene gun transfection, time-lapse confocal imaging, in vitro and in vivo optogenetic stimulation.
Active Research
The goals of the Jin lab are to understand cortical plasticity and reorganization in the mechanisms of traumatic brain injury, posttraumatic epilepsy and neuropathic pain, and to develop novel treatments and prevention for these diseases. A major direction is to examine the role of homeostatic activity regulation in the mechanism and treatment of posttraumatic epilepsy and neuropathic pain.
Get Research Updates
To stay current on the medical research work at IU School of Medicine’s statewide campuses, follow the IU School of Medicine research blog, where investigators throughout the school’s academic departments post updates about their work.
Other ongoing projects include determining the role of HMGB1 and its downstream signaling in the development and prevention of posttraumatic epilepsy and studying functional and dysfunctional brain plasticity after traumatic brain injury and spinal cord injury. In addition, they also explore the effects of acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine in the treatment of neurological diseases.
Research Funding
Homeostatic plasticity in the control of neuropathic pain. NIH (R01, EUREKA program).
Targeting HMGB1 signaling for preventing posttraumatic epileptogenesis. CURE Epilepsy Foundation.
Reorganization of motor cortex following traumatic brain injury and its mechanisms. Indiana Spinal Cord and Brain Injury Fund.
Sodium channel function and pharmacology in posttraumatic injury epileptogenesis. Indiana Spinal Cord and Brain Injury Fund
Wei Wu, Wenhui Xiong, Ping Zhang, Lifang Chen, Jianqiao Fang, Christopher Shields, Xiao-Ming Xu, Xiaoming Jin. Increased threshold of short-latency motor evoked potentials in transgenic mice expressing Channelrhodopsin-2. PLoS One. 2017 (Accepted)
Xingjie Ping and Xiaoming Jin. Chronic posttraumatic epilepsy following neocortical undercut lesion in mice. PLoS One. 2016 Jun 27;11(6):e0158231.
Xingjie Ping and Xiaoming Jin. Transition from initial hypoactivity to hyperactivity in cortical layer V pyramidal neurons following traumatic brain injury in vivo. J Neurotrauma. 2015 Jun 21. PMID: 26095991.
Ping X, Jiang K, Lee SY, Cheng JX, Jin X. PEG-PDLLA micelles treatment improves axonal function of the corpus callosum following traumatic brain injury. J. Neurotrauma. 2014 Mar 3. PMID: 24579802.
Xiaoming Jin, Kewen Jiang, David A. Prince. Excitatory and Inhibitory Synaptic Connectivity to Layer V Fast-spiking Interneurons in the Freeze Lesion Model of Cortical Microgyria. J Neurophysiol. 2014 Oct 1;112(7):1703-13. PMID: 24990567.
Xiaoming Jin, John R. Huguenard, David A. Prince. Reorganization of Inhibitory Synaptic Circuits in Rodent Chronically Injured Epileptogenic Neocortex. Cerebral Cortex. 2011 May; 21(5):1094-1104. PMID: 20855494.
Joel M. Brittain, Djane B. Duarte, Sarah M. Wilson, Yuying Wang, Weiguo Zhu, Carrie Ballard, May Khanna, Tatiana Brustovetsky, Brian S. Schmutzler, Wenhui Xiong, Matthew S. Ripsch, Nicole M. Ashpole, Andy Hudmon, Cynthia M. Hingtgen, Nikolay Brustovetsky, Xiaoming Jin, Michael R. Vasko, Jill C. Fehrenbacher, Joyce H. Hurley, Fletcher A. White, and Rajesh Khanna. Suppression of inflammatory and neuropathic pain by uncoupling CRMP-2 from the presynaptic Ca2+ channel complex. Nat Med. 2011 Jun 5;17(7):822-9. PMID: 21642979.
#Yunxiang Chu, #Xiaoming Jin, Isabel Parada, Alexei Pesic, Beth Stevens, Ben Barres, David A. Prince. Enhanced synaptic connectivity and epilepsy in C1q knockout mice. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2010 Apr 27;107(17):7975-80. (# equal contribution). PMID: 20375278.
Xiaoming Jin, David A. Prince and John R. Huguenard (2006). Enhanced Excitatory Synaptic Connectivity in Layer V Pyramidal Neurons of Chronically Injured Epileptogenic Neocortex in Rats. Journal of Neuroscience, 2006 May; 26 (18): 4891 – 4900. PMID: 16672663.
Xiaoming Jin, Hang Hu, Peter H. Mathers, and Ariel Agmon (2003). Brain-derived neurotrophic factor mediates activity-dependent dendritic growth in nonpyramidal neocortical interneurons in developing organotypic cultures. Journal of Neuroscience, 2003 Jul; 23 (13):5662-5673. PMID: 12843269.
Associate Professor of Anatomy, Cell Biology & Physiology
Additional Research Team Members
Other research team members include Xingjie Ping (Postdoctoral fellow), Jianhua Gao (Lab manager), Jun Qian (Visiting scholar), Xiaomei Wang (Visiting scholar), Xiaomei Shao (Visiting scholar), Tyler Nguyen (Graduate student), Allison Moore (Graduate student) and Yadav Adhikari (Graduate student).
