Yi RAO
Email: yrao(at)pku(dot)edu(dot)cn；
Telephone: +86-10-62751850；
Lab Homepage: http://www.bio.pku.edu.cn/lab/raolab/index.php
Research Area:
The Rao laboratory studies the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying social behaviors and social cognition. Social behaviors are those directed by one animal towards another in the same species, ranging from aggression, courting and mating in animals to politics and wars in humans. We study the fruit flies, mice, and primates including humans, aiming to understand mechanisms important in animals from insects to primates. In flies and mice, we focus on aggression, courtship and maternal behaviors. We take multidisciplinary approaches, integrating molecular biology, biophysics, genetics and neurobiology, to manipulate specific genes and cells, in order to determine the functional roles of molecules, neurons and brain regions, hoping to find molecules and circuits required for specific social behaviors. We also use genetic analysis, genomics and brain imaging, to investigate genes and environmental factors important for social cognition and behaviors in primates.
Selected Publications:
1. Liu W, Liang X, Gong J, Yang Z, Zhang YH, Zhang JX, Rao Y*, Social regulation of aggression by pheromonal activation of Or65a olfactory neurons in Drosophila. NATURE NEUROSCIENCE, 14(7):896-902, 2011.
2. Liu Y, Jiang Y, Si Y, Kim JY, Chen ZF, Rao Y*, Molecular regulation of sexual preference revealed by genetic studies of 5-HT in the brain of male mice. NATURE, 472:95-99, 2011.
3. Zhou C, Rao Y, Rao Y*, A subset of octopaminergic neurons are important for Drosophila aggression. NATURE NEUROSCIENCE, 11(9):1059-1061, 2008.
4. Li X, Gao X, Liu G, Xiong W, Wu J, Rao Y*, Netrin signal transduction and the guanine nucleotide exchange factor DOCK180 in attractive signaling. NATURE NEUROSCIENCE, 11(1):28-35, 2008.
5. Jiang H, Guo W, Liang X H, Rao Y*, Both the establishment and the maintenance of neuronal polarity require active mechanisms: critical roles of GSK-3 and its upstream regulators. CELL, 120(1):123-135, 2005.