Joshua Dubnau, PhD

Professor
Director of the Center for Developmental Genetics
Phone: 631-632-9030
Email
Lab Website
  • Education   
  • Columbia University, PhD
  • Cold Spring Harbor Lab, Postdoc
  • Research Interests   
  • Effects of aging on brain function
  • Mechanisms of neurodegeneration in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, frontotemporal dementia, and Alzheimers
  • Retrotransposons and endogenous retroviruses
  • Recent Publications   
  • Bibliography on PubMed
  • Li W, Jin Y, Prazak L, Hammell M, Dubnau J. Transposable elements in TDP-43-mediated neurodegenerative disorders. PLoS One. 2012;7(9):e44099
  • Qin H, Cressy M, Li W, Coravos JS, Izzi SA, Dubnau J. Gamma neurons mediate dopaminergic input during aversive olfactory memory formation in Drosophila. Curr Biol. 2012 Apr 10;22(7):608-14.
  • Li W, Prazak L, Chatterjee N, Gruninger S, Krug L, Theodorou D, Dubnau J. Activation of transposable elements during aging and neuronal decline in Drosophila. Nat Neurosci. 2013 May;16(5):529-31
  • Li W, Cressy M, Qin H, Fulga T, Van Vactor D, Dubnau J. MicroRNA-276a functions in ellipsoid body and mushroom body neurons for naive and conditioned olfactory avoidance in Drosophila. J Neurosci. 2013 Mar 27;33(13):5821-33
  • Cressy M, Valente D, Altick A, Kockenmesiter E, Honegger K, Qin H, Mitra PP, Dubnau J. Laboratory evolution of adenylyl cyclase independent learning in Drosophila and missing heritability. Genes Brain Behav. 2014 Jul;13(6):565-77
  • Beshel J, Dubnau J, Zhong Y. A Leptin Analog Locally Produced in the Brain Acts via a Conserved Neural Circuit to Modulate Obesity-Linked Behaviors in Drosophila. Cell Metab. 2017 Jan 10;25(1):208-217.
  • Krug L, Chatterjee N, Borges-Monroy R, Hearn S, Liao WW, Morrill K, Prazak L, Rozhkov N, Theodorou D, Hammell M, Dubnau J. Retrotransposon activation contributes to neurodegeneration in a Drosophila TDP-43 model of ALS. PLoS Genet. 2017 Mar 16;13(3):e1006635.
  • Nicolas A, Kenna KP, Renton AE, … Dubnau J, et al. Genome-wide Analyses Identify KIF5A as a Novel ALS Gene. Neuron. 2018 Mar 21;97(6):1268-1283.
  • Dubnau J. The Retrotransposon storm and the dangers of a Collyer's genome. Curr Opin Genet Dev. 2018 Apr 26;49:95-105
  • Conlon EG, Fagegaltier D, Agius P, Davis-Porada J, Gregory J, Hubbard I, Kang K, Kim D; New York Genome Center ALS Consortium, Phatnani H, Kwan J, Sareen D, Broach JR, Simmons Z, Arcila-Londono X, Lee EB, Van Deerlin VM, Shneider NA, Fraenkel E, Ostrow LW, Baas F, Zaitlen N, Berry JD, Malaspina A, Fratta P, Cox GA, Thompson LM, Finkbeiner S, Dardiotis E, Miller TM, Chandran S, Pal S, Hornstein E, MacGowan DJ, Heiman-Patterson T, Hammell MG, Patsopoulos NA, Dubnau J, Nath A, Phatnani H, Shneider NA, Manley JL. Unexpected similarities between C9ORF72 and sporadic forms of ALS/FTD suggest a common disease mechanism. Elife. 2018 Jul 13;7.
  • Shih MM, Davis FP, Henry GL, Dubnau J. Nuclear Transcriptomes of the Seven Neuronal Cell Types That Constitute the Drosophila Mushroom Bodies. G3 (Bethesda). 2019 Jan 9;9(1):81-94.
  • Chang YH, Keegan RM, Prazak L, Dubnau J. Cellular labeling of endogenous retrovirus replication (CLEVR) reveals de novo insertions of the gypsy retrotransposable element in cell culture and in both neurons and glial cells of aging fruit flies. PLoS Biol. 2019 May 16;17(5):e3000278.
  • Chang YH, Dubnau J. The gypsy endogenous retrovirus drives non-cell autonomous propagation in a Drosophila TDP-43 model of neurodegeneration. Curr Biol. 2019 Aug 17.
  • Tam OH, Rozhkov NV, Shaw R, Kim D, Hubbard I, Fennessey S, Propp N; NYGC ALS Consortium, Fagegaltier D, Harris BT, Ostrow LW, Phatnani H, Ravits J, Dubnau J, Gale Hammell M. Postmortem Cortex Samples Identify Distinct Molecular Subtypes of ALS: Retrotransposon Activation, Oxidative Stress, and Activated Glia. Cell Rep. 2019 Oct 29;29(5):1164-1177.
  • Keegan RM, Talbot LR, Chang YH, Metzger MJ, Dubnau J. Intercellular viral spread and intracellular transposition of Drosophila gypsy. PLoS Genet. 2021 Apr 22;17(4):e1009535.
  • Dubnau J. Josh Dubnau. Curr Biol. 2021 Jan 25;31(2):R55-R57.
  • Azpurua J, El-Karim EG, Tranquille M, Dubnau J. A behavioral screen for mediators of age-dependent TDP-43 neurodegeneration identifies SF2/SRSF1 among a group of potent suppressors in both neurons and glia. PLoS Genet. 2021 Nov 1;17(11):e1009882.
  • Brown AL, Wilkins OG, Keuss MJ, Hill SE, Zanovello M, Lee WC, Bampton A, Lee FCY, Masino L, Qi YA, Bryce-Smith S, Gatt A, Hallegger M, Fagegaltier D, Phatnani H; NYGC ALS Consortium (including Dubnau J), Newcombe J, Gustavsson EK, Seddighi S, Reyes JF, Coon SL, Ramos D, Schiavo G, Fisher EMC, Raj T, Secrier M, Lashley T, Ule J, Buratti E, Humphrey J, Ward ME, Fratta P. TDP-43 loss and ALS-risk SNPs drive mis-splicing and depletion of UNC13A. Nature. 2022 Feb 23.
  • Chang YH, Dubnau J. Endogenous retroviruses and TDP-43 proteinopathy form a sustaining feedback driving intercellular spread of Drosophila neurodegeneration. Nat Commun. 2023 Feb 21;14(1):966.
  • Krupp S, Hubbard I, Tam O, Hammell GM, Dubnau J. TDP-43 pathology in Drosophila induces glial-cell type specific toxicity that can be ameliorated by knock-down of SF2/SRSF1. PLoS Genet. 2023 Sep 25;19(9).