ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR

Dr. Cai’s laboratory conducts research studies focusing on the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease. Using transgenic animal models, her research group investigates the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying amyloid generation, with the goal of developing new diagnostic and therapeutic tools for Alzheimer's disease. Dr. Cai joined Mount Sinai in July 2010, where she continues to advance our understanding of the workings of the central nervous system and the processes involved in defining disease mechanisms. Prior to coming to Mount Sinai, Dr. Cai was trained by many prestigious basic research scientists. After graduated from Tongji Medical University in China, she obtained her PhD in Neuroscience in the laboratory of Dr. Marie Filbin at Hunter College of The City University of New York, where she studied the roles of cyclic AMP in blocking myelin-derived inhibitors of axonal regeneration in animal models of spinal cord injury. Subsequently, Dr. Cai completed postdoctoral training at Rockefeller University in New York where she was mentored by Nobel Laureate Dr. Paul Greengard in Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience. At Rockefeller University, Dr. Cai conducted research on Alzheimer’s disease focusing on the regulation of APP processing and trafficking and the impact of these processes on neuronal function. Besides her extensive basic research training, Dr. Cai obtained further clinical expertise in neurology and expanded her exposure to translational research during residency training at Yale’s Department of Neurology. She collaborated and continues to work with other research scientists in its Program in Cellular Neuroscience, Neurodegeneration and Repair at Yale to investigate the regulation of membrane lipid composition, metabolism and its effects on Alzheimer’s disease pathogenesis and progression. Dr. Cai has been remarkably productive in terms of scientific publications and awards. She was first-author on many publications in high profile journals including Neuron, Journal of Neuroscience, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and Journal of Biological Chemistry. She obtained significant research funding from the NIH, Alzheimer’s Association, and VA Medical System, among others. Her research goals are to pursue studies that ultimately impact the diagnosis and treatment of patients with neurodegenerative diseases. Selected Publications Dongming Cai, Minghao Zhong, Ruesheng Wang, William Netzer, Dennis Shields, Hui Zheng, Samgram S. Sisodia, David Foster, Fred S. Gorelick, Huaxi Xu, Paul Greengard (2006) Phospholipase D1 corrects impaired beta-APP trafficking and neurite outgrowth in FAD-linked PS1mutant neurons. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 103(6): 1346-1440 Dongming Cai, William Netzer, Minghao Zhong, Yixin Lin, Guangwei Du, Michael Frohman, David A. Foster, Samgram S. Sisodia, Fred S. Gorelick, Huaxi Xu, Paul Greengard (2006) Presenilin-1 uses phospholipase D1 as a negative regulator of beta-amyloid formation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 103(6): 1441-1446 William J. Netzer*, Fei Dou*, Dongming Cai*, Darren Veach D, Stephanie Jean, Yuemei Li, William G. Bornmann, Bayard Clarkson, Huaxi Xu, Paul Greengard (2003) Gleevec inhibits beta-amyloid production but not Notch cleavage. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 100(21): 12444-12449 (*co-first author) Dongming Cai, Kangwen Deng, Wilfredo Mellado, Junghee Lee, Rajiv R. Ratan, and Marie T. Filbin (2002) Arginase I and polyamines act downstream of cyclic AMP in overcoming the inhibition of axonal growth by MAG and myelin in vitro. Neuron 35(4): 711-719 Jin Qiu*, Dongming Cai*, Haining Dai, Marietta AcAtee, Paul N. Hoffman, Barbara S. Bregman, and Marie T. Filbin (2002) Spinal axon regeneration induced by elevation of cyclic AMP Neuron34(6): 895-903 (*co-first author) Dongming Cai*, Jin Qiu*, M.McAtee, Barbara Bregman, and Marie T. Filbin (2001) Neuronal cyclic AMP controls the developmental loss in ability of axons to regenerate. Journal of Neuroscience21(13): 4731-4739 (*co-first author) Dongming Cai, Yingjing Shen, MarieElena DeBellard, Song Tang, and Marie T. Filbin (1999) Prior exposure to neurotrophins blocks inhibition of axonal regeneration by MAG and Myelin via a cAMP-dependent mechanism. Neuron 22(1): 89-101 Multi-Disciplinary Training Area Neuroscience [NEU]