Education

Ph.D. Pharmacology, June 2013, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China

B.S. Life Science, June 2008, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, Shandong, China

Experience

2019-2020, Research & Teaching Specialist I, Rutgers University Medical School, Newark, NJ, USA

2014 -2019, Postdoctoral Research Fellow/Associate, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA

Research Interest

The main goal of our group is to understand the structure and function of neural circuits and networks in the central nervous system of mammalian brain. Specifically, we combine virus-mediated circuit tracing, multiple-channel whole cell recording, calcium imaging, optogenetic manipulation and transgenetic modeling to study: 1. Neocortical single-cell initiated neural networks; 2. Physiological and pathological functions of TREM2 and microglia; 3. Microcircuits in Amygdala.

Publications

1. Xiaoli Liu; Huijin Wang; Xi Tian; Yingqi Luo; Minmin Ma; Zilong Zheng; Yaping Wang; Shi Feng; Qiushi Wang; Zhuo Xu; Wen Yao; Siqiang Ren^*. Depression exacerbates AD pathology through lactate-dependent activation of microglial Kv1.3 to promote Aβ-containing exosome spreading, Journal of Neuroinflammation, 2025, 22(1):166.

2. Shufen Li^#; Hongyu Ni^#; Yaping Wang^#; Xiaohui Wu; Jianqiang Bi; Haiyan Ou; Zhongwei Li; Junjiao Ping; Zhongju Wang; Renhao Chen; Qiong Yang; Meijun Jiang; Liping Cao; Tingyun Jiang; Siqiang Ren^*; Cunyou Zhao^*. Gain of bipolar disorder-related lncRNA AP1AR-DT in mice induces depressive and anxiety-like behaviors by reducing Negr1-mediated excitatory synaptic transmission. BMC Medicine, 2024, 22(1):543.

3. Siqiang Ren^#; Wen Yao^#; Marc D Tambini; Tao Yin; Kelly A Norris; Luciano D’Adamio^*; Microglia TREM2 R47H Alzheimer-linked variant enhances excitatory transmission and reduces LTP via increased TNF-α levels, eLife, 2020, 9:e57513.

4. Siqiang Ren; Lionel Breuillaud; Wen Yao; Tao Yin; Kelly A Norris; Simone P Zehntner; Luciano D'Adamio*; TNF-α-mediated reduction in inhibitory neurotransmission precedes sporadic Alzheimer's disease pathology in young Trem2 R47H rats, Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2021, 296:100089.

5. Si-Qiang Ren; Zhizhong Li; Susan Lin; Matteo Bergami; Song-Hai Shi^*; Precise long-range microcircuit to microcircuit communication connects the frontal and sensory cortices, Neuron, 2019, 104(2): 385-401.

6. Xiaohui Lv; Si-Qiang Ren; Xin-Jun Zhang; Zhongfu Shen; Tanay Ghosh; Anjin Xianyu; Peng Gao; Zhizhong Li; Susan Lin; Yang Yu; Qiangqiang Zhang; Matthias Groszer; Song-Hai Shi; TBR2 Coordinates Neurogenesis Expansion and Precise Microcircuit Organization via Protocadherin 19 in the Mammalian Cortex, Nature Communications, 2019, 10(1):3946.

7. Si-Qiang Ren; Jing-Zhi Yan; Xiao-Yan Zhang; Yun-Fei Bu; Wei-Wei Pan; Wen Yao; Tian Tian; Wei Lu^*; PKCλ Is Critical in AMPA Receptor Phosphorylation and Synaptic Incorporation During LTP, EMBO J, 2013, 32(10): 1365-1380.

8. Jing-Zhi Yan^#; Zhuo Xu^#; Si-Qiang Ren^#; Bin Hu; Wen Yao; Shan-Hui Wang; Su-Yi Liu; Wei Lu^*; Protein Kinase C Promotes N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) Receptor Trafficking by Indirectly Triggering Calcium/Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinase II (CaMKII) Autophosphorylation, Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2011, 286(28): 25187-25200.