Grants per year
Personal profile
Research Interests
The long-term goal of my lab is to identify and investigate molecules that play important roles in mammalian hearing, thus to enrich our understanding of cochlear physiology, and to further develop a better strategy to prevent hearing loss. Outer hair cells (OHCs) are essential for providing high sensitivity and frequency selectivity of hearing. They are also the most vulnerable cells in the inner ear and are involved in most sensorineural hearing loss that affects the hearing of millions of people. It is known that OHC death is strongly connected with the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Yet, it is not fully understood why OHCs, as compared to other cells in the organ of Corti, are more vulnerable to ROS. The main function of OHCs is to amplify mechanical signals through their somatic electromotility. This exclusive property is executed by a unique motor protein called prestin (Zheng et al., Nature, 2000). We are currently investigating prestin’s protective role against oxidative stress in the ear using different prestin-expressing cell lines and prestin-knockout/prestin-knockin animal models. We are focused on understanding the molecular mechanism of motor protein prestin using various cellular, biochemical and molecular biological methods including high throughput small molecule compound library screening procedures. These studies will not only expand knowledge of prestin as the OHC-based cochlear amplifier at the molecular level, but also produce a deeper understanding of mechanisms associated with outer hair cells loss, and may offer new methods for the prevention of OHC damage.
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
Education/Academic qualification
PhD, Michigan State University
… → 1992
Research interests keywords
- Aging
- Biochemistry: Proteins
- Cell Biology
- Communicable Diseases
- Developmental Neurobiology
- Genetics
- Hearing
- Neuroscience
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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A new strategy to detect cochlear damages and promote spiral ganglia neural regeneration
Zheng, J. (PD/PI), Richter, C.-P. (Co-Investigator) & Whitlon, D. S. (Co-Investigator)
U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command
9/1/23 → 8/31/26
Project: Research project
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Alzheimer’s disease and a prospective hearing-related serum biomarker
Zheng, J. (PD/PI) & Dong, H. (Co-Investigator)
National Alzheimer's Association
8/1/23 → 7/31/26
Project: Research project
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Outer hair cells and noise-induced hearing loss
Zheng, J. (PD/PI), Zheng, J. (PD/PI), Garcia-Anoveros, J. (Co-Investigator), Garcia-Anoveros, J. (Co-Investigator), Tan, X. (Co-Investigator) & Tan, X. (Co-Investigator)
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders
8/1/23 → 7/31/25
Project: Research project
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Investigating functions of a cilium protein in vestibular system
Zheng, J. (PD/PI)
American Hearing Research Foundation
1/1/20 → 12/31/21
Project: Research project
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Dynamic interaction among proteins in hair cells
Zheng, J. (PD/PI), Cheatham, M. A. (Co-Investigator) & Homma, K. (Co-Investigator)
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders
8/1/17 → 7/31/19
Project: Research project
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Verification of Outer Hair Cell Motor Protein, Prestin, as a Serological Biomarker for Mouse Cochlear Damage
Zheng, J., Zhou, Y., Fuentes, R. J. & Tan, X., Jul 2024, In: International journal of molecular sciences. 25, 13, 7285.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access1 Scopus citations -
Prestin and electromotility may serve multiple roles in cochlear outer hair cells
Zheng, J., Takahashi, S., Zhou, Y. & Cheatham, M. A., Sep 15 2022, In: Hearing research. 423, 108428.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
6 Scopus citations -
Vestibular Hair Cells Require CAMSAP3, a Microtubule Minus-End Regulator, for Formation of Normal Kinocilia
O’Donnell, J. & Zheng, J., Jun 17 2022, In: Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience. 16, 876805.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access1 Scopus citations -
CAMSAP3 facilitates basal body polarity and the formation of the central pair of microtubules in motile cilia
Robinson, A. M., Takahashi, S., Brotslaw, E. J., Ahmad, A., Ferrer, E., Procissi, D., Richter, C. P., Cheatham, M. A., Mitchell, B. J. & Zheng, J., Jun 16 2020, In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 117, 24, p. 13571-13579 9 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access26 Scopus citations -
Accelerated age-related degradation of the tectorial membrane in the Ceacam16βgal / βgal null mutant mouse, a model for late-onset human hereditary deafness DFNB113
Goodyear, R. J., Cheatham, M. A., Naskar, S., Zhou, Y., Osgood, R. T., Zheng, J. & Richardson, G. P., May 27 2019, In: Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience. 12, 147.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access12 Scopus citations
Datasets
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The susceptibility of cochlear outer hair cells to cyclodextrin is not related to their electromotile activity
Zhou, Y. (Contributor), Takahashi, S. (Contributor), Homma, K. (Creator), Duan, C. (Contributor), Zheng, J. (Creator), Cheatham, M. A. (Creator) & Zheng, J. (Creator), figshare, 2018
DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.c.4242956, https://springernature.figshare.com/collections/The_susceptibility_of_cochlear_outer_hair_cells_to_cyclodextrin_is_not_related_to_their_electromotile_activity/4242956
Dataset