Chang Curriculum Vitae

Yongchang Chang, MD, PhD
Division of Neurobiology
Barrow Neurological Institute
350 West Thomas Road
Phoenix, AZ 85013
Phone: (602) 406-6192
FAX: (602) 406-4172
e-mail: yongchang.chang@chw.edu

Printable Document Format (pdf)

Education

1998 -- Ph. D. Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA

1986 -- Master of Medicine, Department of Pathophysiology, Sun Yat-sen University of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou, China

1982 -- Bachelor of Medicine (M.D. equivalence), Sun Yat-sen University of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou, China

Academic Appointments

07/2004-present -- Assistant Staff Scientist: Division of Neurobiology, Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, Arizona, USA

09/03-06/04 -- Assistant Professor (nontenure track): Department of Neurobiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA

1998-2003 -- Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Neurobiology and Physiology & Biophysics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA

1995-1998 -- Graduate Research Assistant, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA

1993-1995 -- Graduate Research Assistant, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida, USA

1988-1993 -- Lecturer, Pathophysiology, Sun Yat-sen University of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou, P.R. China

1986-1988 -- Assistant, Pathophysiology, Sun Yat-sen University of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou, P.R. China

Memberships

• Society for Neuroscience
• Biophysical Society

Peer Reviewing

• Served as an ad hoc reviewer for the Journal of Neurobiology, FEBS letters, and Biophysical Journal.

Awards

•  2006-2009: ABRC grant; Mechanisms of rho-1 GABA-C receptor activation and antagonism. Principal investigator.
• 2006-2008: NIH R21 grant, GABAergic excitation in human hypothalamic hamartoma. Co-investigator.
• 2000-2003: NIH postdoctoral training grant
• 1988: Outstanding teacher in the higher educational system of Guangdong province, P.R. China

Research Experience

1993-present ---- Studied structure-function relationships for GABA-gated ion channels using electrophysiological, pharmacological, molecular biological and fluorescence techniques.

1988-1993 ---- Conducted spectral, coherence analysis and chaotic dynamics studies of electroencephalograms (EEG).

1983-1987 ---- Conducted research on the role of central enkephalins in the pathogenesis of hemorrhagic shock.

Research Techniques

• Receptor kinetics modeling

Used ScoP program to fit or simulate activation and binding kinetics

• Single oocyte binding

A novel technique developed by me and Dr. David S. Weiss.

• Molecular Biology

Site-directed mutagenesis, subcloning and chimera construction, DNA sequencing, PCR, DNA preparation, in vitro transcription

• Protein expression, purification and refolding
• Receptor expression

oocyte preparation, microinjection, mammalian cell transfection

• Electrophysiology

voltage-clamp, patch-clamp, single-channel recording, data analysis, curve fitting, statistical tests

• Site-specific fluorescence technique for studies of conformational changes and confocal microscope analysis of ion channels
• Other techniques

radio-ligand binding, animal manipulation and surgery, radio immunoassay, EEG recording and spectral analysis

Teaching experience

1998-2000 ---- Teaching assistant in biophysics class for graduate students

1994 ---- Teaching assistant, Laboratory of Medical Physiology, University of South Florida

1988-1993 ---- Lecturer, Pathophysiology, Sun Yat-sen University of Medical Sciences

1986-1988 ---- Assistant, Pathophysiology, Sun Yat-sen University of Medical Sciences 
 Training third year medical students in the principles of General and Systemic Pathophysiology through lectures.
 Lab course in reproducing animal models of human diseases and pathological processes.

Publications

Research articles

1.  Claudia Campo-Soria, Yongchang Chang, David S. Weiss (2006). Mechanism of Action of Benzodiazepines on GABAA Receptors British Journal of Pharmacology. 148(7):984-990.

2.  Yonghui Chen, Kevin Reilly, Yongchang Chang* (2006). Evolutionarily conserved allosteric network in the cys-loop family of ligand-gated ion channels revealed by statistical covariance analyses. Journal of Biological Chemistry 281(26):18184-18192. (* corresponding author)

3.  Sedelnikova, Anna, Craig D. Smith, Stanislav O. Zakharkin, Delores Davis, David S. Weiss, Yongchang Chang* (2005). Mapping rho-1 GABAC receptor agonist binding pocket: constructing a complete model. Journal of Biological Chemistry 280: 1535-1542. (* corresponding author)

4.  Huang, Yao. Yongchang Chang, Xiangdong Wang, Jing Jiang, Stuart J. Frank. (2004) Growth hormone alters epidermal growth factor receptor binding affinity via activation of ERKs in 3T3-F442A cells. Endocrinology. 145: 3297-3306.

5.  Chang, Yongchang and David S. Weiss (2002). Site-specific fluorescence reveals distinct structural changes with GABA receptor activation and antagonism. Nature Neuroscience. 5(11): 1163-1168.

6.  Chang, Yongchang, Emmanuel Ghansah, Yonghui Chen, Jiawei Ye, David S Weiss (2002). Desensitization mechanism of GABAA receptor revealed by repeated single oocyte binding and receptor function. Journal of Neuroscience 22(18):7982-7990.

7.  Liu, Xiaojin, Yongchang Chang, Peter H. Reinhard, Harald S Sentimer (2002). Cloning and characterization of gBK, a novel isoform of BK channels expressed in human glioma cells. Journal of Neuroscience 22(5): 1840.

8.  Chang, Yongchang,, Yi Xie, David S. Weiss (2001). Positive allosteric modulation by ultraviolet irradiation on GABAA, but not GABAC, receptors expressed in Xenopus oocytes. Journal of Physiology. 536(2):471-478.

9.  Chang, Yongchang, Douglas F. Covey, David S. Weiss (2000).  Correlation of the affinities and efficacies of gamma-aminobutyric acidC receptor agonists. Molecular Pharmacology, 58:1375-1380.

10.  Chang, Yongchang, David S. Weiss (1999). Channel opening locks agonist onto the GABAC receptor. Nature Neuroscience 2(3):219-225.

11.  Chang, Yongchang, David S. Weiss (1999). Allosteric activation mechanism of the alpha1-beta2-gamma2 gamma-aminobutyric acid type A receptor revealed by mutation of the conserved M2 leucine. Biophysical Journal 77:2542-2551.

12.  Wotring, Virginia E, Yongchang Chang, David S. Weiss. (1999). Permeability and single channel conductance of human homomeric rho-1 GABAC receptors. Journal of Physiology 521(2): 327-336. (First two authors contributed equally).

13.  Chang, Yongchang, David S. Weiss (1998). Substitutions of the highly conserved M2 leucine create spontaneously opening rho-1 gamma-aminobutyric acid receptors. Molecular Pharmacology 53(3):511-523

14.  Chang, Yongchang, Ruoping Wang, Sonal Barot, David S. Weiss (1996). Stoichiometry of a recombinant GABAA receptor. Journal of Neuroscience 16: 5415-5424.

15.  Chang, Yongchang, Jahanshah Amin, David S. Weiss (1995). Zinc is a mixed antagonist of homomeric rho-1 gamma-aminobutyric acid-activated channels. Molecular Pharmacology 47:595-602.

16.  Chang, Yongchang, Can Hou,  Jiaojan Luo, Yongdong Li, Jiafa Chen and Jun Hou (1991). Spectral, information entropy, and coherence analysis of electroencephalogram (EEG) in TAIQI masters compared to normal control. Meditation and Massage (6):7-10. [Chinese]

17.  Chang, Yongchang, Can Hou (1989). The role of central enkephalins in the pathogenesis of hemorrhagic shock of rats. Chinese Journal of Pathophysiology  5(7): 554-559. [Chinese with English abstract]

News and Views

• Weiss, David, Yongchang Chang (2003). Crystallizing our understanding of partial agonists (News and Views). Nature Neuroscience 6:788-789.

Book Chapters

• Chang, Yongchang, David S. Weiss (2000). Functional domains of GABA receptors. In: GABA in the nervous system, the view at fifty years. David L Martin and Richard W. Olsen ed. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Philadelphia, PA, USA. pp127-140.
• Chang, Yongchang, and Shunong Li (1993). Hypoxia. In: Contemporary Pathophysiology (English edition). Xianshou Kong ed., Shanghai Medical University Press. Shanghai, China 1993:70-81.
• Hou, Can, Chang, Yongchang (1993). Overview to the computer analysis of electroencephalograph and its application. In: Medical Frontiers. Huiming Xia & Longshao Xu ed., People's Health Press. Beijing. 239-244. [Chinese]

Abstracts

• Campo-Soria C, Chang Y, Weiss DS, Direct gating of a GABAA receptor by diazepam and its implication to the mechanism for benzodiazepine allosteric potentiation. Biophysical Society 49th Annual Meeting, 2005.
•  Chen Y, Reilly K, Chang Y. Evolutionarily conserved allosteric network of ligand-gated ion channels revealed by sequence-based statistical method. Annual Meeting of International Society for Computational Biology 2005.
• Chang, Y, DS Weiss. Site-specific fluorescence reveals distinct agonist- and antagonist-mediated molecular rearrangements in the GABA receptor. 32nd Annual meeting, Society for Neuroscience Abstracts. 2002.
• Chang, Y, Y. Xie, DS Weiss. Positive allosteric modulation by ultraviolet irradiation on GABAA, but not GABAC, receptors expressed in Xenopus oocytes.  Biophysical Journal. 2001; 80(1 part 2): 106A.
• Chang, Y, E. Ghansah, J Ye, Y Chen, DS Weiss. GABAA receptor desensitization kinetics revealed by repeated single oocyte binding and electrophysiology. 30th Annual meeting, Society for Neuroscience Abstracts. 2000;26(Part 1): 1144.
• Chang, Y, DS Weiss. Correlation of the apparent affinity and efficacies of GABAC receptor agonists determined in single oocytes. Biophysical Journal. 2000; 78(1 part 2): 354A.
• Chang, Y, DS Weiss. Allosteric activation mechanism of the alpha1-beta2-gamma2 GABAA receptor revealed by mutation of the conserved M2 leucine. 29th Annual meeting, Society for Neuroscience Abstracts. 1999;25(Part 2): 1709.
• Chang, Y, DS Weiss. Activation mechanism of a recombinant GABA receptor revealed by single oocyte binding. 28th Annual meeting, Society for Neuroscience Abstracts. 1998;24(Part 2): 1991.
• Fillippova N, Y. Chang, R Dudley, P Krishnamurthy, and DS Weiss. Evidence for a PKC-dependent internalization of GABA rho-1 receptors. 28th Annual meeting, Society for Neuroscience Abstracts. 1998;24(Part 2): 1991.
• Chang, Y, DS Weiss. Mutations in the conserved leucine of the M2 region of homomeric rho-1 and heteromeric alpha-beta-gamma GABA-gated ion channels. Biophysical Journal (abstract)1997;72(2):A41.
• Chang, Y, DS Weiss. Single channel conductance of rho-1 homomeric GABA receptors expressed in Xenopus oocytes. 27th Annual Meeting. Society for Neuroscience Abstracts. 1997;23(Part 1): 953.
• Chang, Y, DS Weiss. Mutation of a conserved leucine in the M2 region of homomeric rho-1 GABA receptors. 26th Annual Meeting. Society for Neuroscience Abstracts. 1996;22(Part 2): 1295.