鄒志華論文撤消風波
諾貝爾獎得主琳達·巴克及其合作者在2008年3月6日出版的英國《自然》雜誌發表聲明，宣布撤銷六年前在該雜誌上刊登的一篇論文。而來自中國的鄒志華，則是該論文的共同第一作者。作為美國弗雷德·哈欽森癌症研究中心的教授，2004年，琳達·巴克與理察·阿克塞爾共同獲得該年度的諾貝爾醫學或生理學獎。後者是她在哥倫比亞大學做博士後研究時的導師。
2001年11月6日，巴克的研究組在《自然》雜誌發表的一篇論文中稱，開發出一種轉基因小鼠模型，可以追蹤大腦嗅覺皮層中的神經網路信息。作為研究組負責人，巴克是這篇論文的通訊作者，其實驗室的鄒志華和麗莎·霍洛維茨則是共同第一作者。
1988年，鄒志華在廣州第一軍醫大學獲得碩士學位，後於1997年在日本大阪大學醫學院獲得博士學位，隨後赴巴克實驗室從事博士後研究。2002年，巴克實驗室遷到西雅圖的弗雷德·哈欽森癌症研究中心，鄒志華也隨同前往。2005年，鄒志華離開該實驗室，開始在美國德克薩斯大學醫學中心神經與細胞生物學系任教。
巴克在接受《自然》雜誌採訪時表示，“第一作者提供的圖表數據，與(實驗記錄的)原始數據有矛盾之處，我們對論文的結果完全失去了信心。”在這份論文撤銷聲明中，鄒志華被指證為“提供了所有的圖表和數據”。《自然》雜誌在其新聞報導中稱，鄒志華沒有回應該雜誌的詢問。
據悉，哈佛大學醫學院已組成一個專門的調查委員會，調查這篇論文的撤銷過程。不僅如此，巴克還要求弗雷德·哈欽森癌症研究中心評估鄒志華作為主要作者在後來發表的另外兩篇論文。
據《自然》網站報導，由於對重現研究結果失去信心，諾貝爾獎獲得者琳達·巴克（Linda Buck）於2010年撤銷了兩篇有關哺乳動物大腦研究的文章，一篇曾於2006年發表在《科學》（Science）雜誌上，而另一篇於2005年發表在美國《國家科學院院刊》（PNAS）上。 據琳達·巴克所在的弗雷德·哈欽森癌症研究中心發表的一份聲明稱，琳達·巴克及其同事“無法重現兩篇文章中的關鍵結果”，“此外，他們發現在PNAS上發表的那篇文章中的圖表與原始數據前後矛盾，因此巴克同時撤銷了這兩篇文章”。 這兩篇文章的第一作者均為巴克課題組的一位博士後鄒志華（Zhihua Zou音譯），此前他與巴克合作的一篇同樣以他為第一作者發表在2001年的《自然》雜誌上的文章也因研究結果無法重現而被撤銷。
ZhihuaZou,Ph.D.
Education
•BachelorofMedicine,FirstMilitaryMedicalUniversity,China,1980-1985•MasterofScience,FirstMilitaryMedicalUniversity,China,1985-1986
•DoctorofPhilosophy,OsakaUniversity,Japan,1992-1997
•Post-DoctoralTraining,HarvardMedicalSchool,1997-2001
FredHutchinsonCancerResearchCenter,2002-2005
Research Interests
Weusemoleculargeneticapproachestostudyneuronalorganizationalpatternsinthecentralnervoussystem.Thehumanbraincontainsmorethan100billionneuronsand100trillionneuronalconnections.Mentalactivitiesemergefromthebiologicalpropertiesofthenervecellsandoftheirpatternsofinterconnection.Neuronswithsimilarbasicpropertiescanplayquitedifferentrolesbecauseofthewaytheyareconnectedwitheachother.Amajorfocusofourlabistousegeneticneuronalmarkersandtransneuronaltracerstoinvestigateconnectivitybetweenbrainneurons.Moleculargeneticswitchesarethenusedtotemporarilycontroltheactivityofidentifiedneuralcircuitsinordertounderstandtheirphysiologicalfunctions.Bythesestudies,weaimtounderstandhowbrainneuronsareassembledintofunctionalcircuits,therelationshipbetweendifferentpatternsofinterconnectiontodifferenttypesofbehavior,andhowneuronsandtheirconnectionschangewithexperience.Identificationoffunctionalneuralcircuits
Tounderstandtheneuralbasesofbehaviors,wedevelopedabi-cistronicconstructthatexpressesatransneuronaltracer(barleylectin,BL)andaneuronalmarker(GFP-tetanustoxinfragmentCfusionprotein,GFP-TTC).Whenexpressedinneurons,GFP-TTCfillstheentireneuronalcompartment,includingdendritesandaxons,andBLservesasaretro-aswellasanterogradetransneuronaltracer,allowingustovisualizetheprojectionsaswellastheSynaptictargetsofspecificgroupsofbrainneurons.Weusegenetargetingandviralvectorstodeliverthesegeneticmolecularmarkerstosubsetsofneuronswithdistinctmolecularidentity.Moreover,wealsogeneratedagenetargetedmouselinewherebytheexpressionofashort-livedGFPisdependentonneuralactivity,hencelabelingbehaviorallyrelevantneuralcircuits.Anotherconstructexpressesanivermectin(IVM)-gatedchloridechannelfromC.elegans(IVM-GluCl).systematicallyadministratingIVMreversiblysuppressesexcitabilityofneuronsexpressingIVM-GluCl,thusallowingustoinvestigatephysiologicalfunctionsofaparticularneuralcircuit.
Odorandpheromonesensing
Animals,includinghouseflies,cockroaches,mosquitoes,andwildmice,relyheavilyonodorsandPheromonesforindividualsurvivalandspeciesextension.UnderstandingtheuniqueodorandpheromonecomponentsthatarerelevanttospecificbiologicalactivitieswillnotonlyallowforanalysisoftheneuralcircuitsunderlyingolfactorybehaviorsbutalsoprovideAVENUEStocontrolthepopulationsizeofpests.Wearestudyingthesensoryneuronsandreceptorsthatareactivatedbyspecificolfactorybehaviors,whichwillaidintheidentificationoftheodorandpheromonecomponents.Meanwhile,wearealsoinvestigatinghowodorinformationisorganizedandprocessedinthebraintobringaboutspecificodorperceptionsandodor-evokedbehavioralresponses.
Wehavedevelopedagene-targetedmouselinetolabelodor-orbehaviorally-activatedolfactorysensoryneuronsandbulbglomerulibyGFP,whichwillallowustoidentifytherelevantodorantreceptors.Identificationofbehaviorally-activatedreceptorsisanecessarystepforstudiestoscreendifferentodorfractionsandindividualodorcomponentstorevealtheidentityofbiologicallysignificantolfactorystimuli,todissecttherolesofdifferentolfactorysub-systemsinregulatingspecificolfactorybehaviors,andtocharacterizehowsignalsfromthesereceptorsareroutedinthebraintoregulatedistinctbehaviors.
Afundamentalprincipleofsensoryinformationcodingisthatsensorystimuliarefirstdeconstructedintounitaryneuralsignalsintheperiphery;progressiveconvergenceofafferentinputsthengeneratescellswithincreasinglycomplexresponseproperties.Eachcellatahigherlevelsurveystheactivityofagroupofcellsatalowerlevel.Theolfactorysystemresemblesothersensorysystemsinthateachodorantreceptorrecognizesaspecificstructuralfeatureinindividualodormoleculesandthuseachodorantorodormixisencodedbymultipledifferentodorantreceptors.Asolfactorysensoryneuronsexpressingthesametypeofreceptorprojectaxonstothesameglomeruliintheolfactorybulb,eachbulbglomerulusrepresentsasingletypeofreceptorandeachodorisencodedbyactivityinaspecificcombinationofglomeruli,inputsofwhichmaybeintegratedincorticalneuronstoreconstructanodorimageinthebrain.Wearesystematicallyinvestigatinghowtheolfactorybulbismappedontothevariousregionsoftheolfactorycortex.Meanwhile,wearealsointerestedinthefunctionalimplicationsofneurogenesisintheadultolfactorybulbandhowodorinformationaffectsbehaviors-suchasfear,aggressionandappetite.
NeuralandMetabolicControlofFoodIntakeandMetabolism
Appetiteandmetabolismistightlycontrolledbymolecularlydistinctsubsetsofneuronsinthehypothalamus,whichintegrateneural(sensory,hedonicandcognitive)aswellashormonalsignalstocoordinatefoodintakeandenergyexpenditure.Weuseviralvectorstoexpressgeneticmarkersanddrug-controllableneuronalchannelsinspecificgroupsoftheseneurons.Thesestudiesaimtomaptheneuralcircuitsthatstimulateorinhibitfoodintakeandmetabolism,andtorevealnoveltargetsfortreatmentofObesityandeatingdisorders.Inaddition,peripheraltissuessecretavarietyofhormonesthatstimulateorsuppressappetite.Thelevelsofthesehormonesfluctuateaccordingtoenergyavailability.Wearestudyingthemolecularmechanismsbywhichperipheraltissuessenseenergylevelstocontrolthesecretionofthesehormones.
Recent Publications
Zou,Z.andBuck,L.CombinatorialEffectsofOdorantMixesinOlfactoryCortex.Science311,1477-1481,2006Boehm,U.,Zou,Z.,andBuck,L.Feedbackloopslinkodorandpheromonesignalingwithreproduction.Cell123(4):683-695,Nov.18,2005
Zou,Z.,Li,F.,Buck,L.Odormapsintheolfactorycortex.ProcNatlAcadSciUSA102(21),7724-7729,2005
