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Dr. Huan Ma

‪Distinguished Professor, Department of Physiology, Institute of Neuroscience

School of Medicine, Zhejiang University

Medical Research Building C515, 866 Yuhangtang Road

Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China, 310058

Dr. Ma got his Bachelor degree at Fudan University in China and earned his Ph.D. in neuroscience through a joint program between NIH and Shanghai Jiao-Tong University in 2009. He finished his postdoctoral training with Richard W Tsien in Stanford University – and later the NYU Neuroscience Institute. He joined Zhejiang University as a principal investigator in 2015 and is now the vice director of the mental health center at the 7th People’s Hospital of Hangzhou. His lab mainly focuses on the cellular and molecular mechanisms that underlie activity-dependent signaling and their relationship to neurological disorders using a combination of electrophysiology, molecular biology, and live imaging. Dr. Ma has published many peer-reviewed articles in journals including Cell as the corresponding author and serves as the reviewer for the Journal of Neuroscience.

The point of entry for calcium matters to neurons

Activity-dependent gene expression triggered by Ca2+ entry is critical for neuronal plasticity and many other cellular processes, but whether specific sources of Ca2+ entry act distinctly or merely supply Ca2+ to a common pool remains uncertain.By manipulating Ca2+ signaling to the nucleus following neuronal activity, We found that both signaling modes co-exist and pertain to CaV1 and CaV2 channels, respectively, which couple membrane depolarization to gene transcription with different signaling efficiencies. (Cell 2012 May 25;149(5):1112-24)

Shuttling excitation from synapse to the nucleus

Activity-dependent CREB phosphorylation and gene expression are critical for long-term neuronal plasticity. Local signaling at CaV1 channels triggers these events, but how information is relayed onward to the nucleus remains unclear. We identified a novel mechanism that mediates long-distance communication within cells: a shuttle protein that transports Ca2+/calmodulin from the surface membrane to the nucleus. Interestingly, various players in this mechanism, including CaV1, CaMKII, and calcineurin are all implicated in multiple neuropsychiatric diseases such as autism, schizophrenia and major depression disorder (Cell, 2014 Oct 9;159(2):281-294).

Gating of hippocampal rhythms and memory by synaptic plasticity in inhibitory interneurons

Activity-dependent changes traversing levels of synapses and networks are essential for memory. He et al. uncover gCaMKII as a mediator of LTPE/I and

molecular control of experiencedependent brain rhythms, suggesting that E/I synaptic plasticity plays a gatekeeping role in tuning experiencedriven E/I spike transmission, network activity, and therefore mnemonic function (Neuron, 2021 Mar 17;109,1-16).