Xin-Fu Zhou

This laboratory has a long standing interest in neurotrophins and their receptors in neural development and neurological disorders. In recent years, we are interested in how neurotrophins and their receptors signal in the neurodegenerative disease such as Alzheimer’s disease. BDNF is one of the most studied neurotrophins which is critical for brain functions such as learning and memory. Its precursor has a different role to that of mature BDNF. We have been investigating its role in spinal cord injury, in pain and in nerve development. Neurotrophins can be potential drugs for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases or nerve injuries including spinal cord injury and stroke. We are also interested in developing methods to treat neurological diseases. We use a variety of techniques including biochemical, immunological, molecular and histological approaches in our research projects. The research activities are funded by NHMRC, ARC, UniSA and other funding agencies. Currently, the lab has running 3 NHMRC grants and 1 ARC grant. The laboratory is interested to take honours, Msc and PhD students. It has been successful in educating honours students, Msc students and PhD students. The graduates of honours and MScs are 100% either employed, or go to medicine training or PhD training. This lab has educated over a dozen PhD graduates who are all leaders in the academics and administraters in different parts of the world. There are a number of honours, Msc and PhD research projects available and Scholarships which support the high degree students. Investigators: Xin-Fu Zhou, MSc, PhD Miao Yang, MBBS, PhD Yanchuang Han PhD Jianjun Lu, MBBS, PhD Support Staff : Jin-Hua Zhong Hua Li Annie Sun, BMSc Yoon Lim, BMSc Visiting Scholars Willian Shan Liu Shangqing (Sandrich) Liu Students Ying Sun, MBBS, MSc, PhD student Yoon Lim MSc, PhD student Khalil Saadipour, Msc, PhD student Neuroscience, neuron development, neurotrophins; spinal cord injury, nerve regeneration, neural plasticity; Neuropathic pain, affective pain and mechanisms; Neurodegenerative diseases, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease; Mood disorders, depression

2026 - Yao, X. Q., Jiao, S. S., Saadipour, K., Zeng, F., Wang, Q. H., Zhu, C., . . . Wang, Y. J. (2026). Correction: p75NTR ectodomain is a physiological neuroprotective molecule against amyloid-beta toxicity in the brain of Alzheimer’s disease (Molecular Psychiatry, (2015), 20, 11, (1301-1310), 10.1038/mp.2015.49). Molecular Psychiatry, 31(2), 1202-1203. 2026 - Xu, Y. X., Zhang, X. Y., Wang, L., Ma, H. C., Xue, S. Q., Gu, J. H., . . . Pu, L. J. (2026). Therapeutic potential of oral edaravone in diabetic endothelial dysfunction through NF-κB and p38 pathway inhibition. European Journal of Pharmacology, 1012, 12 pages. 2026 - Zhuang, X. F., Zhang, T., Zeng, Y. Q., Shan, Z. N., Huang, J. L., Gu, J. H., . . . Luo, H. Y. (2026). Borneol–Edaravone mitigates ischemic brain injury in MCAO rats. J