About

Jihong Bai is a professor affiliated with the Fred Hutch Cancer Center and the University of Washington, specializing in biological physics, structure, and design. His research focuses on understanding how neurons are integrated into functional circuits, with particular emphasis on synaptic activity that supports information delivery and storage in the brain. He employs a combination of genetic, biochemical, and electrophysiological techniques to explore synaptic modulation, with a specific interest in the protein machinery that controls exocytosis and endocytosis of synaptic vesicles. His work involves using time-resolved assays to study molecular actions in vitro and electrophysiological methods to monitor neuronal activity in vivo, aiming to uncover structural principles that enable proteins to shape intracellular membranes at synapses. His goal is to develop a molecular understanding of synaptic machinery that can lead to novel strategies for tuning neuronal communication and brain activity.

Research topics

• Biology
• Chemistry
• Cell biology
• Biochemistry
• Computer Science
• Neuroscience
• Biophysics

Selected publications

• Presynaptic autophagy is coupled to the synaptic vesicle cycle via ATG-9

  Neuron · 2022 · 104 citations

  • Neuroscience
  • Chemistry
  • Biology
  DOI

• A novel dual Ca2+ sensor system regulates Ca2+-dependent neurotransmitter release

  The Journal of Cell Biology · 2021 · 23 citations

  • Biophysics
  • Cell biology
  • Biology

  Ca2+-dependent neurotransmitter release requires synaptotagmins as Ca2+ sensors to trigger synaptic vesicle (SV) exocytosis via binding of their tandem C2 domains-C2A and C2B-to Ca2+. We have previously demonstrated that SNT-1, a mouse synaptotagmin-1 (Syt1) homologue, functions as the fast Ca2+ sensor in Caenorhabditis elegans. Here, we report a new Ca2+ sensor, SNT-3, which triggers delayed Ca2+-dependent neurotransmitter release. snt-1;snt-3 double mutants abolish evoked synaptic transmission, demonstrating that C. elegans NMJs use a dual Ca2+ sensor system. SNT-3 possesses canonical aspartate residues in both C2 domains, but lacks an N-terminal transmembrane (TM) domain. Biochemical evidence demonstrates that SNT-3 binds both Ca2+ and the plasma membrane. Functional analysis shows that SNT-3 is activated when SNT-1 function is impaired, triggering SV release that is loosely coupled to Ca2+ entry. Compared with SNT-1, which is tethered to SVs, SNT-3 is not associated with SV. Eliminating the SV tethering of SNT-1 by removing the TM domain or the whole N terminus rescues fast release kinetics, demonstrating that cytoplasmic SNT-1 is still functional and triggers fast neurotransmitter release, but also exhibits decreased evoked amplitude and release probability. These results suggest that the fast and slow properties of SV release are determined by the intrinsically different C2 domains in SNT-1 and SNT-3, rather than their N-termini-mediated membrane tethering. Our findings therefore reveal a novel dual Ca2+ sensor system in C. elegans and provide significant insights into Ca2+-regulated exocytosis.

  DOI

• Dopamine receptor DOP-1 engages a sleep pathway to modulate swimming in C. elegans

  iScience · 2021 · 14 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Computer Science
  • Neuroscience
  • Cell biology

  . The temporal transition between DOP-3 and DOP-1 pathways highlights the dynamic nature of neuromodulation for rhythmic movements that persist over time.

  DOI

Recent grants

• Molecular Mechanisms That Control the Quality of Synaptic Vesicle Recycling

  NIH · $2.0M · 2018–2023

• Molecular Interplay of Endocytic Proteins

  NIH · $4.2M · 2020–2030

• NIH Grant R01NS085214

  NIH · $1.9M · 2019

• NIH Grant R00MH085039

  NIH · $727k · 2014

• Genetic dissection of circuit modulation for cross-modal plasticity

  NIH · $484k · 2017–2020

Frequent coauthors

• Edwin R. Chapman

  Howard Hughes Medical Institute

  35 shared

• Yongming Dong

  Fred Hutch Cancer Center

  24 shared

• Ithai Rabinowitch

  Hebrew University of Jerusalem

  21 shared

• Yan Liu

  Shandong Agricultural University

  17 shared

• Vadim A. Klenchin

  University of Wisconsin–Madison

  16 shared

• Ivan Rayment

  University of Wisconsin–Madison

  16 shared

• Kumud R. Poudel

  Fred Hutch Cancer Center

  16 shared

• Gerard Marriott

  University of California, Berkeley

  16 shared

Education

• Ph.D., Biophysics

  University of Washington

  1995

• M.S., Physics

  University of Science and Technology of China

  1990

• B.S., Physics

  University of Science and Technology of China

  1987

Similar researchers at University of Washington

• Sarah Jaewon Leeh-151
• Jan Hansenh-130
• Linda Simonsenh-120
• Anna Waldh-119
• Jesse Bloomh-117