Prof. Jun Xia received his medical degree in 1993 from Xiangya Medical School of Central South University in China. After obtaining his initial scientific training from the Shanghai Brain Research Institute at Chinese Academy of Sciences, he went to study in the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in the United States and received his PhD in Neuroscience in 2001. He joined the Division of Life Science, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology as a faculty member in 2002. Prof. Xia’s is interested in synapse organization and function with implications in learning, memory and brain disorders. He also works on molecular mechanism of protein trafficking and its implication in diseases.

Research Question

• Organization of synapse and regulation of synaptic transmission.
• Molecular mechanism of protein trafficking and its implication in diseases.

Representative Publications:

1. He J, Xia M, Yeung PKK, Li J, Li, Z, Chung KK, Chung SK, Xia J* (2018) PICK1 inhibits the E3 ubiquitin ligase activity of Parkin and reduces its neuronal protective effect. PNAS 115(30):E7193-E7201
2. Wu M, Tian HL, Liu X, Lai JHC, Du S, Xia J* (2018) Impairments of Inhibitory Synapse Formation and Motor Behaviors in Mice Lacking the NL2 Binding Partner LHFPL4/GARLH4. Cell Reports 23:1691-1705.
3. Cao M, Mao Z, Kam C, Xiao N, Cao X, Shen C, Cheng KKY, Xu A, Lee KM, Jiang L and Xia J* (2013). PICK1 and ICA69 Control Insulin Granule Trafficking and Their Deficiencies Lead to Impaired Glucose Tolerance. PLOS Biology, 11(4): e1001541.
4. Xu J, Xiao N, Xia J* (2010). Thrombospondin 1 accelerates synaptogenesis in hippocampal neurons through neuroligin 1. Nat. Neurosci. 13(1):22-4.
5. Xiao N, Kam C, Shen C, Jin W, Wang J, Lee KM, Jiang L and Xia J* (2009). PICK1 deficiency causes male infertility in mice by disrupting acrosome formation. J. Clin Invest. 119(4):802-812.