Xin-Yun Lu - Faculty - Department of Pharmacology - School of Medicine

PHARMACOLOGY FACULTY

Selected Publications

Wang, X., Zhang, D. and Lu, XY. (2014) Dentate gyrus-CA3 glutamate release/NMDA transmission mediates behavioral despair and antidepressant-like responses to leptin. Mol Psychiatry doi: 10.1038/mp.2014.75 [Epub ahead of print]
Guo, M., Huang, TY., Garza, JC., Chua, SC. and Lu, XY. (2013) Selective deletion of leptin receptors in adult hippocampus induces depression-related behaviours. Int J Neuropsychopharmacol (4):857-67
Liu, J., Garza, JC., Li, W. and Lu, XY. (2013) Melanocortin-4 receptor in the medial amygdala regulates emotional stress-induced anxiety-like behaviour, anorexia and corticosterone secretion. Int J Neuropsychopharmacol 16(1):105-20
Liu, J., Guo, M., Zhang, D., Cheng, SY., Liu, M., Ding, J., Scherer, PE., Liu, F. and Lu, XY. (2012) Adiponectin is critical in determining susceptibility to depressive behaviors and has antidepressant-like activity. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 109(30):12248-53. Highlighted in Nature 487:274, selected as an ‘Exceptional’ paper by Faculty of 1000
Garza, JC., Guo, M., Zhang, W. and Lu, XY. (2012) Leptin restores adult hippocampal neurogenesis in a chronic unpredictable stress model of depression and reverses glucocorticoid-induced inhibition of GSK-3β/β-catenin signaling. Mol Psychiatry 17(8):790-808. Selected by Faculty of 1000

Xin-Yun Lu

Professor of Pharmacology
Ph.D., Washington State University

Office: 210-567-0803
Email: lux3@uthscsa.edu

View a video introduction to Dr. Lu's lab

Research Interests

• leptin	• adiponectin
• depression	• PTSD
• anxiety	• metabolic disorders
• neural plasticity

Research Activities

My laboratory studies the molecular mechanisms and neural circuits underlying mood and metabolic disorders. Our current research focuses on the roles of adipose-derived hormones, leptin and adiponectin, in regulating neuronal plasticity (synaptogenesis and neurogenesis), cognition and emotion. We utilize neuron-specific transgenic mouse models, various types of stress and behavioral paradigms, in vivo and in vitro electrophysiology, in vivo real-time neurochemical monitoring and neuronal tracing techniques to understand how adipose-derived hormones communicate with the brain to contribute to the pathogenesis of major depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and cognitive dysfunction and further explore their therapeutic potential for these psychiatric disorders.

Lu research pic