SBC | Sensory Biology COBRE | University of Wyoming

Contact Us

Dr. Qian-Quan Sun, SBC Director, Professor

Department of Zoology and Physiology

Laramie, WY 82071

Phone: 307-766-5602

Email: neuron@uwyo.edu

SBC News and Publications

Established in September, 2017, the SBC is a phase I center of biomedical research excellence program (COBRE) funded by National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) of National Institutes of Health (NIH). The primary mission of the SBC is to foster and conduct high-quality scientific research that advances the understanding of our sensory systems and disorders related to them [read more].

Publications supported by the SBC grant (1 P20 GM 121310)

All publications were from COBRE supported investigator acknowledging COBRE awards.

Zhang Y, Denman A, Liang B, Werner C, Beacher N, Li Y, Shaham Y, Barbera G, and Lin DT. (2021). Detailed Mapping of Behavior Reveals the Formation of Prelimbic neural ensembles across operant learning. Neuron. Doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2021.11.022

Institutional affiliation:

Names with underline: University of Wyoming

Names without underline: National Institute on Drug Abuse

Cahill B, Poelker-Wells S, Prather, JF, Li Y. (2021). A Glimpse Into The Sexual Dimorphisms In Major Depressive Disorder Through Epigenetic Studies. Neural Circuits. Doi: 10.3389/fncir.2021.768571

Institutional affiliation:

Names with underline: University of Wyoming

Names without underline: National Institute on Drug Abuse

Thapa R, Liang B, Liu R, Li Y. 2021. Stereotaxic Viral Injection and Gradient-index Lens Implantation for Deep Brain In vivo Calcium Imaging. Doi: 10.3791/63049

Institutional affiliation:

Names with underline: University of Wyoming

Names without underline: National Institute on Drug Abuse

Beacher NJ, Washington KA, Werner CT, Zhang Y, Barbera G, Li Y, Lin DT. 2021. Circuit Investigation of Social Interaction and Substance Use Disorder using Miniscopes. Neural Circuits 15:107. Doi: 10.3389/fncir.2021.762441

Institutional affiliation:

Names with underline: University of Wyoming

Names without underline: National Institute on Drug Abuse

Vollmer KM¹, Doncheck EM¹, Grant RI¹, Winston KT¹, Romanova EV¹, Bowen CW¹, Siegler PN¹, Green LM¹, Bobadilla AC², Trujillo-Pisanty I³, Kalivas PW¹, Otis JM ^1,4 (2021) A Novel Assay Allowing Drug Self-Administration, Extinction, and Reinstatement Testing in Head-Restrained Mice. Front Behav Neurosci doi: 10.3389/fnbeh.2021.744715. PMID: 34776891 PMCID: PMC8585999 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2021.744715

Institutional affiliation:

1 Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, United States.

2 School of Pharmacy, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, United States.

3 Langara College, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Hollings Cancer Center, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, United States.

Zhang Z and Zhang GR (2022) Chromosome-condensed G1 phase yeast cells are tolerant to desiccation stress. Microbial Cell, 9(2): 42–51.

Institutional affiliation:

1 Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, 82071, USA.

2 Laramie High School, 1710 Boulder Dr. Laramie, WY 82070, USA.

Roballo KCS¹, Gigley JP², Smith TA³, Bittner GD⁴, Bushman JS¹ Functional and immunological peculiarities of peripheral nerve allografts. (2022) Neural Regen Res 2022 Apr;17(4):721-727doi: 10.4103/1673-5374.322445. PMID: 34472457 PMCID: PMC8530136

Institutional Affiliations

1School of Pharmacy, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, USA.

2Department of Molecular Biology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, USA.

3Department of Molecular Biosciences, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.

4Department of Neuroscience, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.

PMID: 34472457 PMCID: PMC8530136 DOI: 10.4103/1673-5374.322445

Liu, Z., Donnelly, K. B., Pratt, K. G. Preparations and Protocols for Whole Cell Patch Clamp Recording of Xenopus laevis Tectal Neurons. J. Vis. Exp. (133), e57465, doi:10.3791/57465 (2018).

Yang W and Sun QQ*. (2018) Circuit-specific and neuronal subcellular-wide E-I balance in cortical pyramidal cells. Scientific Reports | (2018) 8:3971 | DOI:10.1038/s41598-018-22314-9

Baskilab receives a second US Patent. This patent describes an invention of a nanoparticle Delivery System for Tageted Anti-Obesity Treatment. US Patent No US 9,782,481 B2 awarded on October 10,2017.

Weiguo Yang, Anthony Williams, Qian-Quan Sun* (2021). Circuit Mechanisms Underlying Epileptogenesis in a Mouse Model of Focal Cortical Malformation. Current Biology. 31, 1–12.

Article link: https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1c17C3QW8Ru9h7

Qun Ren, Rebecca Brenner, Thomas C. Boothby & Zhaojie Zhang, Membrane and lipid metabolism plays an important role in desiccation resistance in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. BMC Microbiology,20:338 (2020).

Van der Linden CJ, Gupta P, Bhuiya A, Riddick K, Hossain K, Santoro SW (2020). Olfactory Stimulation Regulates the Birth of Neurons That Express Specific Odorant Receptors. Cell Rep. 33(1):108210. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2020.108210.

FY 2022-2023

1. Wang Y, Sun QQ. A long-range, recurrent neuronal network linking the emotion regions with the

somatic motor cortex. Cell reports. 2021 September 21;36(12):109733. PubMed PMID: 34551292;

PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8507441; DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2021.109733.

2. Beacher NJ, Washington KA, Werner CT, Zhang Y, Barbera G, Li Y, Lin DT. Circuit Investigation of

Social Interaction and Substance Use Disorder Using Miniscopes. Frontiers in neural circuits.

2021;15:762441. PubMed PMID: 34675782; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8523886; DOI:

10.3389/fncir.2021.762441.

3. Thapa R, Liang B, Liu R, Li Y. Stereotaxic Viral Injection and Gradient-Index Lens Implantation for

Deep Brain In Vivo Calcium Imaging. Journal of visualized experiments : JoVE. 2021 October

8(176). PubMed PMID: 34694282; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC9427020; DOI: 10.3791/63049.

4. Gold-Lock Zhang Y, Denman AJ, Liang B, Werner CT, Beacher NJ, Chen R, Li Y, Shaham Y,

Barbera G, Lin DT. Detailed mapping of behavior reveals the formation of prelimbic neural

ensembles across operant learning. Neuron. 2022 February 16;110(4):674-685.e6. PubMed PMID:

34921779; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8899843; DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2021.11.022.

5. Gold-Lock Liang B, Thapa R, Zhang G, Moffitt C, Zhang Y, Zhang L, Johnston A, Ruby HP,

Barbera G, Wong PC, Zhang Z, Chen R, Lin DT, Li Y. Aberrant neural activity in prefrontal

pyramidal neurons lacking TDP-43 precedes neuron loss. Progress in neurobiology. 2022

August;215:102297. PubMed PMID: 35667630; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC9258405; DOI:

10.1016/j.pneurobio.2022.102297.

6. Williams RE, Mruk K. Aquatic Freshwater Vertebrate Models of Epilepsy Pathology: Past

Discoveries and Future Directions for Therapeutic Discovery. International journal of molecular

sciences. 2022 August 3;23(15). PubMed PMID: 35955745; PubMed Central PMCID:

PMC9368815; DOI: 10.3390/ijms23158608.

7. Zhang L, Liang B, Barbera G, Hawes S, Zhang Y, Stump K, Baum I, Yang Y, Li Y, Lin DT.

Miniscope GRIN Lens System for Calcium Imaging of Neuronal Activity from Deep Brain Structures

in Behaving Animals. Current protocols in neuroscience. 2019 January;86(1):e56. PubMed PMID:

30315730; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6318019; DOI: 10.1002/cpns.56.

8. Liang B, Zhang L, Moffitt C, Li Y, Lin DT. An open-source automated surgical instrument for

microendoscope implantation. Journal of neuroscience methods. 2019 January 1;311:83-88.

PubMed PMID: 30326202; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6258328; DOI:

10.1016/j.jneumeth.2018.10.013.

9. Barbera G, Liang B, Zhang L, Li Y, Lin DT. A wireless miniScope for deep brain imaging in freely

moving mice. Journal of neuroscience methods. 2019 July 15;323:56-60. PubMed PMID:

31116963; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6636826; DOI: 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2019.05.008.

10. Cahill B, Poelker-Wells S, Prather JF, Li Y. A Glimpse Into the Sexual Dimorphisms in Major

Depressive Disorder Through Epigenetic Studies. Frontiers in neural circuits. 2021;15:768571.

PubMed PMID: 34744641; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8564393; DOI:

10.3389/fncir.2021.768571.

11. Liang B, Zhang L, Zhang Y, Werner CT, Beacher NJ, Denman AJ, Li Y, Chen R, Gerfen CR,

Barbera G, Lin DT. Striatal direct pathway neurons play leading roles in accelerating rotarod motor

skill learning. iScience. 2022 May 20;25(5):104245. PubMed PMID: 35494244; PubMed Central

PMCID: PMC9046249; DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.104245.

12. Jun R, Zhang W, Beacher NJ, Zhang Y, Li Y, Lin DT. Dysbindin-1, BDNF, and GABAergic

Transmission in Schizophrenia. Frontiers in psychiatry. 2022;13:876749. PubMed PMID:

35815020; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC9258742; DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.876749.

13. Gold-Lock Beacher NJ, Washington KA, Zhang Y, Li Y, Lin DT. GRIN lens applications for studying

neurobiology of substance use disorder. Addiction neuroscience. 2022 December;4. PubMed

PMID: 36531187; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC9757736; DOI: 10.1016/j.addicn.2022.100049.

FY 2023-2024

1. Rogers JF, Vandendoren M, Prather JF, Landen JG, Bedford NL, Nelson AC. Neural cell-types and

circuits linking thermoregulation and social behavior. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2024

Jun;161:105667. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2024.105667. Epub 2024 Apr 9. Review. PubMed PMID:

38599356.

2. Purifoy EJ, Mruk K. Differential Roles of Diet on Development and Spinal Cord Regeneration in

Larval Zebrafish. Zebrafish. 2024 Apr;21(2):214-222. doi: 10.1089/zeb.2023.0042. PubMed PMID:

38621204; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC11035855.

3. Wang Y, Sun QQ. A prefrontal motor circuit initiates persistent movement. bioRxiv. 2024 Mar 27;.

doi: 10.1101/2023.07.11.548619. PubMed PMID: 38585867; PubMed Central PMCID:

PMC10996565.

4. Allgood JE, Bittner GD, Bushman JS. Repair and regeneration of peripheral nerve injuries that

ablate branch points. Neural Regen Res. 2023 Dec;18(12):2564-2568. doi: 10.4103/1673-

5374.373679. Review. PubMed PMID: 37449590; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC10358654.

5. Jeffs QL, Prather JF, Todd WD. Potential neural substrates underlying circadian and olfactory

disruptions in preclinical Alzheimer's disease. Front Neurosci. 2023;17:1295998. doi:

10.3389/fnins.2023.1295998. eCollection 2023. Review. PubMed PMID: 38094003; PubMed

Central PMCID: PMC10716239.

6. Dai J, Sun QQ. Learning induced neuronal identity switch in the superficial layers of the primary

somatosensory cortex. bioRxiv. 2023 Sep 1;. doi: 10.1101/2023.08.30.555603. PubMed PMID:

37693620; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC10491147.

7. Warfield AE, Gupta P, Ruhmann MM, Jeffs QL, Guidone GC, Rhymes HW, Thompson MI, Todd

WD. A brainstem to circadian system circuit links Tau pathology to sundowning-related

disturbances in an Alzheimer's disease mouse model. Nat Commun. 2023 Aug 18;14(1):5027. doi:

10.1038/s41467-023-40546-w. PubMed PMID: 37596279; PubMed Central PMCID:

PMC10439113.

8. Yusifova M, Yusifov A, Polson SM, Todd WD, Schmitt EE, Bruns DR. Voluntary Wheel Running

Exercise Does Not Attenuate Circadian and Cardiac Dysfunction Caused by Conditional Deletion of

Bmal1. J Biol Rhythms. 2023 Jun;38(3):290-304. doi: 10.1177/07487304231152398. Epub 2023

Feb 20. PubMed PMID: 36802963; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC10277226.

9. Underwood KL, Walker WJ, Garrett PI, Linch S, Rynes TP, Mruk K. Optimizing spinal cord injury in

zebrafish larvae: effects of age on the injury response. bioRxiv. 2023 May 18;. doi:

10.1101/2023.05.18.541337. PubMed PMID: 37292959; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC10245662.

10. Wang Y, Sun QQ. Persistence is driven by a prefrontal motor circuit. Res Sq. 2023 Apr 20;. doi:

10.21203/rs.3.rs-2739144/v1. PubMed PMID: 37131668; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC10153365.

11. Sharma V, Swaminathan K, Shukla R. The Ribosome Hypothesis: Decoding Mood Disorder

Complexity. Int J Mol Sci. 2024 Feb 29;25(5):2815. doi: 10.3390/ijms25052815. PMID: 38474062

PMCID: PMC10931790 DOI: 10.3390/ijms25052815

SBC in the News

October 12, 2017: UW's Sensory Biology Center Receives Five-Year, $10 Million COBRE Grant

October 10, 2017: Baskilab receives second U.S. Patent, US 9,782,481 B2

September 9, 2022: UW’s Sensory Biology Center Receives $10.5 Million COBRE Phase II NIH Grant

Contact Us

Dr. Qian-Quan Sun, SBC Director, Professor

Department of Zoology and Physiology

Laramie, WY 82071

Phone: 307-766-5602

Email: neuron@uwyo.edu