Yung-Shu Kuan
	EDUCATION:
	Ph.D., Biology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC, USA	1997	2003
	B.S., Biology, Tung-Hai University.	1990	1994
	PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:
	Post-doctoral fellow, Embryology Dept., Carnegie Inst. for Science.	2003	2008
	Research assistant, Inst. of Biomedical Sciences, Academia Sinica.	1994	1996
	Recent Progress
	The development of specialized and properly wired neuronal networks is crucial for the function of nervous system. Abnormal neuronal specification and wiring lead to neurological disorders or lethality. Using diencephalic habenula nuclei (HA) and their connections to the interpeduncular nucleus (IPN) as a model (Figure 1), I have studied how HA are generated and how habenular axons recognize their targets during zebrafish embryonic development. Utilizing different approaches such as data mining, molecular manipulation and laser ablation, I found that Neuropilin 1a (Nrp1a) positive habenular neurons extend their axons onto the dorsal IPN by responding to attractive guidance cues Semaphorin 3D (Sema3D) (Figure 2). Utilizing chemical mutagenesis and in situ hybridization screen, I found that the novel Golgi protein Wntless (Wls) plays a critical role during habenula neurogenesis, presumably by controlling the expression of proneural gene neurogenin 1 (ngn1) (Figure 3). Currently I am investigating the mechanisms of how HA axons correctly navigate to their targets, how Wls influence HA neurogenesis, and how different habenular neurons adopt their individual identities during the generation of HA-IPN circuit. Understand the factors and mechanisms that control the development of HA-IPN circuit in zebrafish will quickly advance our knowledge of this important neural circuit in all vertebrates and may shed light on human conditions involving altered neuronal generation and axonal connectivity.

Publication(2009.02.17 update)

Wang, L.P., Lim C., Kuan, Y.S., Chen C.L., Chen H.F. and King K. (1996) Positive Charge at Position 549 Is Essential for Phosphatidylinositol 4,5-Bisphosphate-hydrolyzing but Not Phospahtidylinositol-hydrolyzing Activities of Human Phospholipase Cd1. J. Biol. Chem. 271(40): 24505-24516.

Lomasney J.W., Cheng H.F., Wang, L.P., Kuan, Y.S., Liu S.M., Fesik S.W. and King K. (1996) Phosphatidylinositol 4,5-Bisphosphate Binding to the Pleckstrin Homology Domain of Phospholipase Cd1 Enhances Enzyme Activity. J. Biol. Chem. 271(41): 25316-25326.

Kuan, Y.S., Brewer-Jensen, P. and Searles. L.L. (2004) Suppressor of sable, a Putative RNA-Processing Protein, Functions at the Level of Transcription. Mol Cell Biol. 24(9): 3734-3746.

Gamse, J.T., Kuan, Y.S. (co-first author), Macurak, M., Thisse, C., Thisse, B., Brösamle, C., and Halpern, M.E. (2005) Directional asymmetry of the zebrafish epithalamus guides dorsoventral innervation of the midbrain target. Development. 132(21):4869-4881.

Kuan, Y.S., Yu, H.H., Moens, C.B. and Halpern, M.E. (2007) Neuropilin asymmetry

mediates a left‑right difference in habenular connectivity. Development. 134(5):857-65.

Kuan, Y.S. , Gamse, J.T., Schreiber, A.M. and Halpern, M.E. (2007) Selective asymmetry in a conserved forebrain to midbrain projection. J Exp Zool Mol Dev Evol. 308B(5):669-678.

Bai, Wenli, Kuan, Y.S. , Brewer-Jensen, P., Wing, J.S. and Searles. L.L. (2008) Su(s)

co-localizes with hypophosphorylated RNA polymerase II (Pol II) on polytene

chromosomes and fine tunes gene expression in Drosophila. Revising.

Kuan, Y.S. , Gamse, J.T., Fortuno, L., Wolf-Saxon, E., Donn, T., Moens C.B. and Halpern, M.E. (2008). Zebrafish Wntless mediates habenular neurogenesis. (Abstract accepted by Curr. Biol).