Sean Moran

Graduate Student

     B.S.  Biology, Chemistry minor, Clarkson University, 2011

 

Biosketch and Research Interests
Sean earned his bachelors in science degree from Clarkson University in 2011, where he conducted neurochemistry research exploring the thermal stability of the KcsA potassium channel. During the summer of his junior/senior year, he examined phenotypic abnormalities in Bacillus subtilis biofilm formation through the National Science Foundation’s Research Experience for Undergraduates at Texas A&M University under the mentorship of Dr. Paul Straight. After graduation from Clarkson, he worked as a Research Specialist under the mentorship of Anthony Chan at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center where he investigated cognitive, biochemical, and cellular dysfunction of Huntington’s disease using a transgenic nonhuman primate model.


Sean joined the Conn lab in the spring of 2015 to continue his investigation into neurodegenerative and neurological disorders, focusing his research on the molecular underpinnings of synaptic plasticity in the central nervous system. Using electrophysiological, biochemical and behavioral techniques he is currently investigating the function of phospholipase D’s role in metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 (mGluR5) dependent long-term depression and long-term plasticity. Phospholipase D is the enzyme responsible for the hydrolysis of the membrane-bound lipid phosphatidylcholine into choline and phosphatidic acid, the latter heavily involved in intracellular signal transduction. 
 

 

Selected Publications

Moran SP, Chi T, Prucha MS, Ahn KS, Connor-Stroud F, Jean S, Gould K, Chan AWS. (2015). Germline transmission in transgenic Huntington’s disease monkeys. Theriogenology. In Press

Chan AWS, Jiang J, Chen Y, Li C, Prucha MS, Hu Y, Chi T, Moran SP, Rahim T, Li S, Li X, Zola SM, Testa CM, Villalba R, Smith Y, Zhang X, Bachevalier J. (2015). Progressive cognitive deficit, motor impairment and striatal pathology in a transgenic Huntington disease monkey model from infancy to adulthood. PLoS One 10(5): e0122335. doi:10.1371

Cho IK, Moran SP, Paudyal R, Piotrowska-Nitsche K, Cheng PH, Zhang X, Mao H, Chan AWS. Longitudinal Monitoring of Stem Cell Grafts In Vivo Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging with Inducible Maga as a Genetic Reporter. Theranostics 2014; 4(10):972-989.

Carter RL, Chen Y, Kunkanjanawan T, Xu Y, Moran SP, Putkhao K, Yang J, Huang, AHC, Parnpai R, Chan AWS. (2014) Reversal of Cellular Phenotypes in Neural Cells Derived from Huntington’s Disease Monkey-Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells. Stem Cell Reports 3 (4), 585-593.

Chan AWS, Xu Y, Jiang J, Rahim T, Kocerha J, Zhao D, Chi T, Engelhardt H, Moran SP, Larkin K, Neumann A, Cheng H, Li C, Nelson K, Banta H, Zola SM, Villinger F, Yang J, Testa C, Mao H, Zhang X, Bachevalier J. A two years longitudinal study of a transgenic Huntington disease monkey. BMC Neuroscience 2014, 15:36

Kocerha J, Liu Y, Willoughby D, Chidamparam K, Benito J, Nelson K, Xu Y, Chi T, Engelhardt H, Moran SP, Yang SH, Li SH, Li XJ, Larkin K, Neumann A, Banta H, Yang JJ, Chan AW. Longitudinal transcriptomic dysregulation in the peripheral blood of transgenic Huntington's disease monkeys. BMC Neuroscience 2013 Aug 17;14(1):88.