C. elegans Cell Biology and Neuroscience Laboratory

Education:

2005 Ph.D. Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom

2001 M.Phil. Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom

1996 M.S. Institute of Cell and Molecular Biology, Taipei Medical College, Taiwan

Research experience:

2021-present Associate Professor, Department of Biological Science and Technology, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taiwan

2014-2021 Assistant Professor, Department of Biological Science and Technology, National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan

2012-2013 Associate Specialist, Department of Cell and Tissue Biology, University of California, San Francisco, USA

2011-2012 Assistant Project Scientist, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, Davis, USA

2005-2011 Postdoctoral Scholar, Center for Neuroscience, University of California, Davis, USA

Research objectives:

1. Investigation of learning and memory formation through danamic olfactory plasticity in Caenorhabditis elegans: When sensory neurons are prolonged exposed to the external stimulation, they must fine-tune the gene expression to shape appropriate behaviors, termed neuronal and behavioral plasticity. The loss of plasticity often results in neurological and mental diseases. My lab established olfactory behavior system in C. elegans which is inherently attracted to odors, but the animal ignores the odor after prolonged exposure to the stimuli. This dynamic system allows us to study the molecular mechanism of long-term memory. (Juang et al., 2013, Cell)

2. Investigation of the molecular mechanism of Werner syndrome: Werner syndrome is called adult progeria and is caused by mutations in the human WRN protein. Using a powerful combination of methods including BiFC, we found that the exonuclease domain of human WRN (MUT-7 in C. elegans) is required for the synthesis of non-coding 22G RNA. The 22G RNA is shuttled into the nucleus to direct the association between the helicase domains of WRN (CeWRN-1 in C. elegans) and HPL-2. The complex leads to changes in neuronal gene expression that mediate olfactory learning. (Hsu et al., 2021, eLife)

3. Investigation of the epigenetic mechanism of Fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome (FXTAS): FXTAS is a late onset neurodegenerative disorder and patients are often reported to be misdiagnosed as Parkinson’s disease. We have successfully established the disease model in C. elegans’ neurons by expressing mRNA with the pathogenic expanded CGG repeats in the 5’UTR of the human fragile X mental retardation gene (FMR1). (Juang et al., 2014, Human Molecular Genetics)

Key publications

1. Hsu, T.-Y., Zhang, B., L'Etoile, N.D., Juang, B.-T. (2021) C. elegans orthologs MUT-7/CeWRN-1 of Werner syndrome protein regulate neuronal plasticity. eLife 10:e62449. doi: 10.7554/eLife.62449

2. Juang, B.-T., Ludwig, A.L., Benedetti, K. L., Gu, C., Collins, K., Morales, C., Asundi, A., Wittmann, T., L'Etoile, N.D., and Hagerman, P.J. (2014) Expression of an expanded CGG-repeat RNA in a single pair of primary sensory neurons impairs olfactory adaptation in Caenorhabditis elegans. Human molecular genetics 23, 4945-59. doi: 10.1093/hmg/ddu210

3. Juang, B.-T., Gu, C., Starnes, L., Palladino, F., Goga, A., Kennedy, S., L'Etoile, N.D. (2013) Endogenous nuclear RNAi mediates behavioral adaptation to odor. Cell 154, 1010-1022. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2013.08.006

4. Juang, B.-T., Izeta, A., O’Hare, P., and Luisi, B. F. (2005) Purification and characterization of the Caenorhabditis elegans HCF protein and domains of human HCF. Biochemistry 44, 10396-405. doi: 10.1021/bi050357l

Research Support

1. National Institutes of Health (NIH), USA

No. R01DC005991

Olfactory memory acquisition consolidation and recall (Co-PI; 2018/07/01- 2023/06/30)

2. Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), Taiwan

No. 111-2311-B-A49-002

Studying the molecular mechanism of cell surface receptors in the formation of olfactory memory in C. elegans

(2022/08/01- 2023/07/31)

3. Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), Taiwan

No. 105-2311-B-009 -002 -MY3

Epigenetic dynamics in a model of long-term memory in Caenorhabditis elegans (2016/08/01- 2019/10/31)

4. Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), Taiwan

No. 103-2311-B-009 -003 -MY2

Investigation of the neuronal plasticity in response to odor specificity in C. elegans (2014/09/01- 2016/10/31)

5. National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan

國立交通大學校內計畫代號: Q794

人體X性染色體CGG序列不當的重覆擴增誘發老年神經退化震顫之分子機制研究計畫 (2015/10/01- 2018/12/31)