Contact info:
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Physical Biosciences Division
One Cyclotron Road
Mailstop: LSA
Berkeley, California 94720
USA

Location: LSA, Room 269
Phone: (510) 642-9885      
Email: jngai(at)socrates.berkeley.edu

Research Emphasis
How does the olfactory apparatus of vertebrates detect and discriminate thousands of odors? Our approach to elucidating the mechanisms of olfactory discrimination involves the characterization of odorant receptors and the neural pathways that they activate. We are also interested in the developmental mechanisms responsible for specifying odorant receptor expression in olfactory neurons and the pathfinding of these cells' axons to their appropriate targets. Finally, our lab is developing DNA microarray technologies to elucidate genome-wide patterns of gene expression in the nervous system.

Publications

Molecular determinants of ligand selectivity in a vertebrate odorant receptor. [Luu, P., H.O. Bertrand, F. Acher, and J. Ngai (2003) Submitted for publication]

A spatial map of gene expression in the olfactory bulb. [D.M. Lin, Y.H. Yang, J.S. Scolnick, L.J. Brunet, V. Peng, Y. Okazaki, Y. Hayashizaki, T. Speed, and J. Ngai (2003) Submitted for publication]

Analysis of gene expression in the developing mouse retina. [E. Diaz, Y.H. Yang, T. Ferreira, K.C. Loh, M. Tessier-Lavigne, Y. Okazaki, Y. Hayashizaki, T.P. Speed, and J. Ngai (2003) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 100, 5491-5496]

Molecular analysis of gene expression in the developing pontocerebellar projection system. [E. Diaz, Y. Ge, Y.H. Yang, K.C. Loh, Y. Okazaki, Y. Hayashizaki, T. Serafini, T.P. Speed, J. Ngai, and P. Scheiffele (2002) Neuron 36, 417-434]

Odorant receptor gene regulation: implications from genomic organization. [E. Kratz, J.C. Dugas, and J. Ngai (2002) Trends Genet. 18, 29-34]

Analysis and characterization of an odorant receptor gene cluster in the zebrafish genome. [J.C. Dugas and J. Ngai (2001) Genomics 71, 53-65]

Formation of precise synaptic connections in the olfactory bulb occurs in the absence of odorant-evoked neuronal activity. [D.M. Lin, F. Wang, G. Lowe, G. H. Gold, R. Axel, J. Ngai, and L. Brunet (2000) Neuron 26, 69-80]

Functional identification of a goldfish odorant receptor. [D.J. Speca, D.M. Lin, P.W. Sorensen, E.Y. Isacoff, J. Ngai, and A.H. Dittman (1999) Neuron 23, 487-498]

Pathfinding of olfactory neuron axons to stereotyped glomerular targets revealed by dynamic imaging in living zebrafish embryos. [J. L. Dynes and J. Ngai (1998) Neuron 20, 1081-1091]