Dr Lan Zhu

Lan Zhu studied Medicine in Wuhan, China and went on to teach Physiology for a couple of years in the same Medical School. To further develop her interest in neuroscience she went to study for her PhD in Neuroscience in Turin, Italy upon receiving an international PhD studentship. After her PhD, she has been working at University of Turin, Italy, University of Leicester, and King’s College London as a postdoctoral researcher. 

She joined DMU in February 2015 as a Lecturer in Biomedical and Medical Science. Her main research interests are the neuronal mechanisms in physiological and pathological processes. She has been studying the brain cellular and molecular mechanisms for the learning and memory, e.g. neuronal/synaptic plasticity, for many years and then ion channel mechanisms particularly potassium channel mechanisms in peripheral neuropathic pain in the recent years.

She also has a passion in the translational research which led her to lead and complete a project with a group of neuroscientists, engineers and urologists.

She is currently interested in combining neurophysiology with neuropsychiatry and trying to understand the neurobiology of psychiatric disorders. Her current research is looking at the regulation of some neuronal functional key players such as potassium channels and glutamate receptors and the underlying mechanisms in the brain of a pharmacological animal model of schizophrenia. She is collaborating with neuroscientists from DMU and University of Leicester.

The research techniques employed in her research include whole cell patch clamp recording, in vivo extracellular recording, ex vivo intracellular recording, cell/tissue culture, confocal imaging, immunohistochemistry, Western blotting, behaviour analysis, surgery, tissue preparation.

• DMU Pharmacology and Neuroscience Research Group 
• DMU Biomedical and Environmental Health Research Group

• Altered potassium channel distribution and composition in myelinated axons suppresses hyperexcitability following injury
  Calvo, M., Richards, N., Schmid, A.B., Barroso, A., Zhu, L., Ivulic, D., Zhu, N., Anwandter, P., Bhat, M.A., Court, F.A., McMahon, S.B. and Bennett, D.L. (2016) Altered potassium channel distribution and composition in myelinated axons suppresses hyperexcitability following injury. eLife, 5, e12661
  
  
• A microchannel neuroprosthesis for bladder control after spinal cord injury in rats
  Chew, D.J., Zhu, L., Delivopoulos, E. et al. (2013) A microchannel neuroprosthesis for bladder control after spinal cord injury in rat. Science translational medicine, 5 (210), pp. 210ra155
  
  
• Kv2 dysfunction after peripheral axotomy enhances sensory neuron responsiveness to sustained input.
  Tsantoulas, C., Zhu, L., Yip, P. et al. (2014) Kv2 dysfunction after peripheral axotomy enhances sensory neuron responsiveness to sustained input. Experimental neurology, 251, pp. 115-126
  
  
• Sensory Neuron Downregulation of the Kv9.1 Potassium Channel Subunit Mediates Neuropathic Pain following Nerve Injury
  Tsantoulas, C. et al. (2012) Sensory Neuron Downregulation of the Kv9.1 Potassium Channel Subunit Mediates Neuropathic Pain following Nerve Injury. The Journal of Neuroscience, 32 (48), pp. 17502-17513
• Basolateral amygdala inactivation impairs learning-induced long-term potentiation in the cerebellar cortex.
  Zhu, L. et al. (2011) Basolateral amygdala inactivation impairs learning-induced long-term potentiation in the cerebellar cortex. PloS one, 6 (1), pp. e16673.
  
  
• The effects of fear conditioning on cerebellar LTP and LTD
  Zhu, L. et al. (2007) The effects of fear conditioning on cerebellar LTP and LTD. The European journal of neuroscience, 26 (1), pp. 219-227
  
  
• Membrane excitability and fear conditioning in cerebellar Purkinje cell
  Zhu, L. et al. (2006) Membrane excitability and fear conditioning in cerebellar Purkinje cell. Neuroscience, 140 (3), pp. 801-810
  
  
• Metabotropic glutamate receptor-mediated currents at the climbing fiber to Purkinje cell synapse
  Andjus, P. R et al. (2005) Metabotropic glutamate receptor-mediated currents at the climbing fiber to Purkinje cell synapse. Journal of chemical information and modelling, 45 (6), pp. 1536-1538
  
  
• Short-term facilitation and depression in the cerebellum: some observations on wild-type and mutant rodents deficient in the extracellular matrix molecule tenascin C
  Andjus, P.R. et al. (2005) Short-term facilitation and depression in the cerebellum: some observations on wild-type and mutant rodents deficient in the extracellular matrix molecule tenascin C. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1048, pp. 185-197.
  
  
• Pharmacology of the metabotropic glutamate receptor mediated current at the climbing fiber to Purkinje cell synapse.
  Zhu, L., Strata, P. and Andjus, P.R. (2005) Pharmacology of the metabotropic glutamate receptor mediated current at the climbing fiber to Purkinje cell synapse. Progress in brain research, 148, pp. 299-306

Click here to view a full listing of Dr Lan Zhu's publications and outputs.

• Physiology of potassium channels particularly voltage-gated potassium channels
• Regulation of voltage-gated potassium channels and its mechanisms in the cerebellum in schizophrenia
• Regulation of NMDA receptors and its mechanisms in the cerebellum in schizophrenia
• Relationships among dopamine hypothesis, NMDA receptor hypofunction hypothesis, and Kv channels dysregulation in schizophrenia
• Cerebellar mechanisms in schizophrenia
• Neuropathic pain ion channel mechanisms particularly potassium channels
• Translational bioengineering e.g. bladder functional recovery after spinal cord injury
• Neuronal mechanisms including neuronal excitability, synaptic transmission and synaptic plasticity of learning and memory
• Pharmacology of glutamatergic receptors, e.g. AMPAR, NMDAR, mGluR and their involvement in synaptic plasticity underlying learning and memory

• Nervous system
• Histopathology and Cytopathology
• Basic anatomy and physiology
• Organ systems physiology

• Bachelor of Medicine
• PhD in Neuroscience
• PGCert in Higher Education

• British Neuroscience Association (BNA)
• Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS)
• International Brain Research Organisation (IBRO)
• Fellow of Higher Education Academy

• Certificate of Home Office Procedure Individual Licence
• Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education
• Certificate in Research Supervision

• Regulation of potassium channels and its underlying mechanisms in the brain of a schzophrenia animal model
• Regulation of a glutamate receptor and its underlying mechanisms in the cerebellum of a schizophrenia animal model
• Regulation of a calcium binding protein and its underlying mechanisms in the cerebellum of a schizophrenia animal model

• Mr Lukasz Lagojda (First supervisor) 
• Miss Rubab Talpur (Second supervisor)

• De Montfort University Research Investment Fund (Principle Investigator, 1/8/2015 - 31/07/2016). Collaborator: Prof Ian Forsythe from University of Leicester.
• De Montfort Unviersity Full Bursary PhD studentship (1st supervisor, 1/10/2016 - 30/09/2019)

Schizophrenia is a disabling psychiatric disorder affecting more than 1% of global population. The NMDAR (N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor) hypofunction hypothesis is one of the pathogenesis hypotheses for schizophrenia. Voltage-gated potassium channels (Kv) exert intricate control over electrophysiological properties of neurons; hence contributing to the information processing and behaviour adaptation of the brain. The cerebellum is a region of the brain that is well known for its role in motor control. Recent research proves its involvement in cognitive functions. Recently, the concept of involvement of the cerebellum in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia is gaining momentum, exemplified in the structural and functional alterations in the cerebellum in people with schizophrenia.

The projects are designed to investigate the regulation of particular types of Kv channels and NMDAR in the brain particularly the cerebellum and its underlying mechanisms in a schizophrenia animal model.