Scholars@Duke
Junli Zhao

Junli Zhao

Research Associate, Senior
Anesthesiology
3 Genome Ct, MSRB3 6200, Durham, NC 27710

Featured Works

PD-L1/PD-1 checkpoint pathway regulates hippocampal neuronal excitability and learning and memory behavior.

Journal article Neuron · September 6, 2023 Featured Publication Programmed death protein 1 (PD-1) and its ligand PD-L1 constitute an immune checkpoint pathway. We report that neuronal PD-1 signaling regulates learning/memory in health and disease. Mice lacking PD-1 (encoded by Pdcd1) exhibit enhanced long-term potentia ... Full text Link to item Cite

Immunotherapies in chronic pain through modulation of neuroimmune interactions.

Journal article Pharmacol Ther · August 2023 Featured Publication It is generally believed that immune activation can elicit pain through production of inflammatory mediators that can activate nociceptive sensory neurons. Emerging evidence suggests that immune activation may also contribute to the resolution of pain by p ... Full text Link to item Cite

Immunotherapy and Pain

Book section · January 1, 2023 Featured Publication Immunotherapy was initially developed as a method to treat cancer through the use of the host’s immune system. Now, immunotherapy is used as a treatment for a wide variety of diseases. The connection between the nervous system and the immune system in chro ... Full text Cite

Activated astrocytes attenuate neocortical seizures in rodent models through driving Na+-K+-ATPase.

Journal article Nature communications · November 2022 Featured Publication Epileptic seizures are widely regarded to occur as a result of the excitation-inhibition imbalance from a neuro-centric view. Although astrocyte-neuron interactions are increasingly recognized in seizure, elementary questions about the causal role of astro ... Full text Cite

Emerging Role of PD-1 in the Central Nervous System and Brain Diseases.

Journal article Neurosci Bull · August 2021 Featured Publication Programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) is an immune checkpoint modulator and a major target of immunotherapy as anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibodies have demonstrated remarkable efficacy in cancer treatment. Accumulating evidence suggests an important role of P ... Full text Link to item Cite

HMGB1 Is a Therapeutic Target and Biomarker in Diazepam-Refractory Status Epilepticus with Wide Time Window.

Journal article Neurotherapeutics : the journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics · April 2020 Featured Publication Status epilepticus (SE), a life-threatening neurologic emergency, is often poorly controlled by the current pharmacological therapeutics, which are limited to a narrow time window. Here, we investigated the proinflammatory cytokine high mobility group box- ... Full text Cite

Therapeutic potential of an anti-high mobility group box-1 monoclonal antibody in epilepsy.

Journal article Brain, behavior, and immunity · August 2017 Featured Publication Brain inflammation is a major factor in epilepsy, and the high mobility group box-1 (HMGB1) protein is known to contribute significantly to the generation of seizures. Here, we investigated the therapeutic potential of an anti-HMGB1 monoclonal antibody (mA ... Full text Cite

Aberrant Buildup of All-Trans-Retinal Dimer, a Nonpyridinium Bisretinoid Lipofuscin Fluorophore, Contributes to the Degeneration of the Retinal Pigment Epithelium.

Journal article Investigative ophthalmology & visual science · February 2017 Featured Publication PurposeNondegradable fluorophores that accumulate as deleterious lipofuscin of RPE are involved in pathological mechanisms leading to the degeneration of RPE in AMD. A2E, a major component of RPE lipofuscin, could cause damage to RPE cells. Nevert ... Full text Cite

Preparative and biosynthetic insights into pdA2E and isopdA2E, retinal-derived fluorophores of retinal pigment epithelial lipofuscin.

Journal article Investigative ophthalmology & visual science · November 2014 Featured Publication PurposeRetinal-derived fluorophores that accumulate as RPE lipofuscin are implicated in pathological mechanisms of AMD. One component of RPE lipofuscin has been characterized as pdA2E, a pyridinium adduct derived from all-trans-retinal and excess ... Full text Cite