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Name:
 ZHANG Yunfeng
Subject:
 Neurobiology/Physiology/Zoology
Tel/Fax:
 +86-10-64807202  / 
E-mail:
 yfzhang@ioz.ac.cn
Address:
 The State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1 Beichen West Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100101, P.R.China
More:
 Group of Animal Behavior and Neural Coding      
Resume:

2022.9-Present, Principal Investigator, Institute of Zoology of Chinese Academy of Sciences

2021.9-2022.8, Research Associate, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, US

2016.9-2021.8, Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, US

2011.7-2016.8, Assistant Professor, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China

Education:

2006.9-2011.7 Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Institute of Zoology of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

2002.9-2006.7 B.S. in Biotechnology, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, China

Research Interests:

The final mission of the brain is the dictation of bebavioral outputs. Animals live in an extremely complicated and dynamic environment, and how the brain senses and encodes external information so as to guide animals performing optimal behaviors (e.g., feeding, social, defensive and mating behavior, etc.) is very crucial for its survival and reproduction. Clarifying the physiological and neural modulation mechanisms underlying behavioral outputs and adaptation will greatly benefit the exploration and development of novel strategies for behavioral modulation, and will provide valuable insights for the early warning, prevention and control as well as integrated management of rodent pest.     

The lab takes advantage of laboratory and wild rodents as research objects, and uses a comprehensive combination of in vivo and in vitro electrophysiological recordings, optogenetics, chemogenetics, virus-guided neural circuit tracing, as well as multiple behavioral assays, aiming to decipher the physiological and neurological mechanisms responsible for behavioral regulation from a view of the molecular, cellular, circuitry, behavioral and physiological level, at both in vitro and in vivo states. The projects are mainly focused on but not limited to (1) The molecular and neural circuit mechanisms underlying feeding behavior of the olfactory cortex-hypothalamus pathway; (3) The neural mechanism underlying social behavior regulated by interactions between the olfactory system and other brain areas; (3) The neural circuit mechanism responsible for emotion-related behaviors guided by the olfactory system; (4) Under the state of  “pros and cons” conflict, how animals weigh and game between different behavioral outputs and what are the corresponding neural mechanisms. The final aim is to clarify the differences in the aforementioned aspects between laboratory and wild rodents and uncover the neural substrates responsible for these differences via a comprehensive comparison study, and deepen our understanding of the working mechanism underlying rodent behavior in population occurrence and damage, so as to supply theoretical evidence and technical support for the prevention and control as well as management of rodent pest.

Awards and Honors:

Professional Activities:

Research Grants:

Selected Publications:

(#contribute equally，*corresponding author)

  1. Guanqing Li, Chanyi Lu, Miaomiao Yin, Peng Wang, Pengbo Zhang, Jialiang Wu, Wenqiang Wang, Ding Wang, Mengyue Wang, Jiahan Liu, Xinghan Lin, Jian-Xu Zhang, Zhenshan Wang*, Yiqun Yu*, Yun-Feng Zhang*. Neural substrates for regulating self-grooming behavior in rodents. Journal of Zhejiang University-SCIENCE B. 2024, 1-16.
  2. Wenqiang Wang, Haiping Wang, Jian Yang, Mengyue Wang, Pengbo Zhang, Zheng Zhu, Liya Wei, Yanbiao Zhong, Yun-Feng Zhang*. A Short Glance at the Role of Olfactory Tubercle in Odour Processing. Flavour and Fragrance Journal. 2024, 1-9.
  3. Kun Yang, Yuto Hasegawa, Janardhan P. Bhattarai, Jun Hua, Milan Dower, Semra Etyemez, Neal Prasad, Lauren Duvall, Adrian Paez, Amy Smith, Yingqi Wang, Yun-Feng Zhang, Yun-Feng Zhang, Andrew P. Lane, Koko Ishizuka, Vidyulata Kamath, Minghong Ma, Atsushi Kamiya*, Akira Sawa*. Inflammation-related pathology in the olfactory epithelium: its impact on the olfactory system in psychotic disorders. Molecular Psychiatry. 2024, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-024-02425-8.
  4. Ming-Yu Zhang, Rui-Dong Cao, Yi Chen, Jian-Cang Ma, Cheng-Min Shi, Yun-Feng Zhang, Jian-Xu Zhang*, Yao-Hua Zhang*. Genomic and phenotypic adaptations of Rattus tanezumi to cold limit its further northward expansion and range overlap with R. norvegicus. Molecular Biology and Evolution. 2024, Jun 1;41(6).
  5. Yun-Feng Zhang*, Jialiang Wu, Yingqi Wang, Natalie L. Johnson, Janardhan P. Bhattarai, Guanqing Li, Wenqiang Wang, Camilo Guevara, Hannah Shoenhard, Marc V. Fuccillo, Daniel W. Wesson, Minghong Ma*. Ventral striatal islands of Calleja neurons bidirectionally mediate depression-like behaviors in mice. Nature Communications. 2023, 14:6887. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-42662-z.
  6. Yun-Feng Zhang*, Emma Janke, Janardhan P. Bhattarai, Daniel W. Wesson, Minghong Ma*. Self-grooming promotes social interaction in mice via chemosensory communication. iScience. 2022, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2022.104284.
  7. Yun-Feng Zhang, Luigim Vargas Cifuentes, Janardhan P. Bhattarai, Julia Mohrhardt1, David Fleck, Emma Janke1, Suna L. Cranfill, Andrew H. Moberly, Yiqun Yu, Benjamin R. Arenkiel, Wenqin Luo, Johannes Stegmaier, Daniel W. Wesson*, Marc Spehr*, Marc V. Fuccillo*, Minghong Ma*. The Islands of Calleja, a Ventral Striatal Circuit for Grooming Control. Nature Neuroscience. 2021, 24:1699-1710.
  8. Kate A. White#, Yun-Feng Zhang#, Zhijian Zhang#, Janardhan P. Bhattarai, Andrew H. Moberly, Estelle E. in 't Zandt, José I. Pena-Bravo, Huijie Mi, Xianglian Jia, Marc V. Fuccillo, Fuqiang Xu, Minghong Ma and Daniel W. Wesson*. Glutamatergic Neurons in the Piriform Cortex Influence the Activity of D1-and D2-Type Receptor-Expressing Olfactory Tubercle Neurons. Journal of Neuroscience. 2019, 39:9546-9559.
  9. Chanyi Lu, Qi-Qin Li, Yao-Yao Li, Hua-Zhen Lin, Jia Qu, Yun Wang* and Yun-Feng Zhang*. Light deprivation produces distinct morphological orchestrations on RGCs and cortical cells in a depressive-like YFP-H mouse model. Neuroscience Letters, 2017, 659:60-68.
  10. Haiyan Jiang, Mengjuan Wu, Yimei Liu, Liping Song, Shifeng Li, Xianwei Wang, Yun-Feng Zhang, Junxu Fang, Shengzhou Wu*. Serine racemase deficiency attenuates choroidal neovascularization and reduces nitric oxide and VEGF levels by retinal pigment epithelial cells. Journal of Neurochemistry, 2017, 143(3):375-388.
  11. Yun-Feng Zhang*，Qi-Qin Li, Jia Qu, Cui-Min Sun and Yun Wang*. Alterations of motor cortical microcircuit in a depressive-like mouse model produced by light deprivation. Neuroscience, 2017, 341: 79-94.
  12. Chanyi Lu, Yun Wang, Yun-Feng Zhang*. Light deprivation produces a sexual dimorphic effect on neural excitability and depression-like behavior in mice. Neuroscience Letters. 2016, 633:69-76.
  13. Yun-Feng Zhang，Li-Xiong Liu, Hua-Teng Cao, Li Ou, Jia Qu, Yun Wang* & Jie-Guang Chen*. Otx1 promotes basal dendritic growth and regulates intrinsic electrophysiological and synaptic properties of layer V pyramidal neurons in mouse motor cortex. Neuroscience, 2015, 285:139-54.
  14. Yun-Feng Zhang, Ling-Qiao Huang, Feng Ge, Chen-Zhu Wang*. Tarsal taste neurons of Helicoverpa assulta (Guenée) respond to sugars and amino acids, suggesting a role in feeding and oviposition. Journal of Insect Physiology. 2011, 57: 1332-1340.
  15. Yun-Feng Zhang, van Loon JJA, Chen-Zhu Wang*. Tarsal taste neuron activity and proboscis extension reflex in response to sugars and amino acids in Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner). The Journal of Experimental Biology. 2010, 213: 2889-2895.