Quan, Ning

Ning Quan, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor
Division of Oral Biology, College of Dentistry

Joint Appointment
Department of Molecular Virology, Immunology and Medical Genetics

Research Interests:
Our laboratory studies the pathophysiology of neuroimmune communication.

Research Summary:
We investigate the mechanisms by which chronic peripheral inflammation/infection triggers the degeneration of the central nervous system and how various different types of psychosocial stress alter the susceptibility to peripheral infection. The expression and regulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines is a key focus of our research.

Selected Publications:

Quan, N., Zhang, Z., Kitson, R.P., Chambers, W.H., Goldfarb, R. H., and Weiss, J.M. Evidence for involvement of B lymphocytes in the surveillance of lung metastasis in the rat. Cancer Res. 59: 1080-1089, 1999.

Quan, N., Mhlanga, J-D., Whiteside, M., McCoy, A.N., and Kristensson, K., and Herkenham, M. Chronic sodium salicylate treatment exacerbates brain neurodegeneration in rats infected with Trypanosoma brucei Neurosci. 96:181-194, 2000.

Stern, E., N. Quan, M, Proescholdt, and M. Herkenham. Spatiotemporal induction patterns of cytokine and related immune signal molecule mRNAs in response to intrastriatal injection of lipopolysaccharide. J. Neuroimmunology 106:114-129, 2000.

Herkenham, M. and Quan, N. Immune-brain interactions involving CNS immune signal molecules. Neurogastroenterology and Motility, 12: 372, 2000.

Ning. Quan, Lingli He, Wenmin Lai, Tiansheng Shen, and Miles Herkenham. Induction of I mRNA expression in the brain by glucocorticoids: a negative feedback mechanism for immune-to-brain signaling. J. Neuroscience (in press).

Emily Ho, Ning Quan, Weimin Lai and Tammy M. Bray. Dietary Zinc Supplementation Inhibits NF. Activation and Protects Against Chemically Induced Diabetes in CD1 Mice. PEBM (in press).