Yongjun Fan

TL;DR: A new cell model based on patient-derived cells from the human olfactory mucosa, the organ of smell, which regenerates throughout life from neural stem cells is described, which has many advantages over embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells as models for brain diseases.

TL;DR: Data from proteomic, transcriptomic, and functional assays from schizophrenia patient-derived ONS cells with genomics data are integrated to implicate dysregulated protein synthesis for the first time in schizophrenia.

TL;DR: Altered motility and focal adhesion dynamics in patient-derived cells is consistent with dysregulated gene expression in the FAK signaling pathway in these cells, which could bias the trajectory of brain development in schizophrenia.

TL;DR: Investigation of cell cycle dynamics in olfactory neurosphere-derived cells from nine male schizophrenia patients and nine male healthy control subjects indicates that schizophrenia is associated with subtle alterations in cell Cycle dynamics, shortening of the cell cycle period, and increased expression of G1/S phase cyclins.

TL;DR: Sub-nanomolar concentrations of the microtubule-binding drugs, paclitaxel and vinblastine, increased acetylated α-tubulin levels in patient cells to control levels, indicating the utility of this cell model for screening other candidate compounds for drug therapies.