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USC College > Faculty > Departments > Department of Biological Sciences > Hussam Jourdi
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Hussam Jourdi

Assistant Professor (research) of Biological Sciences

Contact Information
Office: HNB 528 A
Phone: (213)740-7533
E-mail: jourdi@usc.edu

LINKS
Personal Website
Baudry Lab on Departmental Website
Baudry Lab Website
Personal PubMed Search
 

Education
B.S. Double major Biology and Chemistry, Lebanese American Univeristy, 8/1990
M.S. Morphology, American University of Beirut, 2/1993
B.S. Biochemistry, Univeristy of Science and Technology of Languedoc (USTL) / Universite' Montpellier II- France., 9/1994
M.S. Health Biology, Univeristy of Science and Technology of Languedoc (USTL) / Universite' Montpellier II- France., 9/1995
Ph.D. Molecular Neurobiology, Brain Research Institute, Niigata University, 8/2002
 

Postdoctoral Training
Senior Research Associate, USC, 05/2005-06/2006  
Postdoctoral Research Associate, USC, 12/2003-03/2005  
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of California Irvine, 10/2002-12/2003  
 

Academic Appointment, Affiliation, and Employment History

Non-Tenure Track Appointments
Research Assistant Professor, University of Southern California, 06/01/2006-  
Senior Research Associate, University of Southern California, 04/30/2005-06/01/2006  
 

PostDoctoral Appointments
Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Southern California, 12/01/2003-04/30/2005  
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of California, Irvine, 10/14/2002-12/01/2003  
 

Description of Research

Summary Statement of Research Interests
Growth factors and neurotrophins have a wide range of pathophysiological effects in the mammalian brain, implicating them in synaptic development and neurotransmission, in promoting better communication between neurons or, conversely, in malformation of synaptic connections that lead to disorders of behavior, learning, and memory. The work of Dr. Jourdi identified various growth factors (EGF, EGF-like growth factors, bFGF, PDGF) and neurotrophins (mainly, BDNF) as key regulators of the expression, stabilization, and trafficking of AMPA-type glutamate receptors (AMPAr), and of their interacting postsynaptic density (PSD) proteins: Some growth factors promote differentiation and others act as de-differentiation factors for the glutamatergic synapse: BDNF increases levels of PSD proteins that interact with AMPAr causing, indirectly, an accumulation of total protein levels and surface expression of AMPAr. These results were consolidated further, demonstrating positive effects of BDNF on synaptic transmission, namely in GABAergic neurons. Conversely, EGF and EGF-like growth factors (a group of inflammatory cytokines) reduce AMPAr and several PSD proteins and this leads to reduced AMPAr-mediated neurotransmission. This was later correlated with the "Developmental Hypothesis of Schizophrenia", revealing reduced levels of protein expression of AMPAr subunit GluR1 and its interacting PSD protein SAP97, specifically in the prefrontal cortex of postmortem human brain samples taken from schizophrenic patients. Similar EGF effects were also observed in animal model of schozophrenia. More recently, in collaboration with Dr. M. Baudry and his team, calpains (Ca++ - dependent proteases) were found to participate in regulation of AMPAr protein levels and trafficking, whether directly by truncating AMPAr C-terminal domains, or indirectly by degrading AMPAr-interacting PSD proteins. Ampakines, a very promising new class of positive modulators of AMPAr, potentiate glutamatergic transmission, facilitate memory formation and learning, reduce neuronal fatigue, improve performance in behavioral tasks, and increase BDNF mRNA and protein (for further details, check the links, below, to the wesbsites of Dr. Gary Lycnh and Dr. Christine Gall at UC Irvine). These characteristics of Ampakines are very useful to treat neurodegenerative diseases. As such, together with the team of Dr. M. Baudry at USC, we study the long term effects of Ampakines on AMPAr and PSD proteins and exploit their ability to induce a surge in BDNF protein levels as a tool to reduce neuronal cell death in “in vitro” models of neurotoxicity. We are currently developing the project on calpains’ roles in neuronal cell death and survival, in synaptic physiology, and on their contributions to intracellular trafficking of AMPAr.
 

Research Keywords
Neurotrophins, Cytokines, Glutamate Receptors, PDZ ptoteins, Proteases, Receptor Modulators,
 

Research Specialties
Neurotrophins, Cytokines, Glutamate Receptors, PDZ ptoteins, Proteases.
 

Affiliations with Research Centers, Labs, and Other Institutions
Michel Baudry Laboratory,http://baudrylab.zwz1.com/
Baudry Lab.,http://www.usc.edu/programs/neuroscience/faculty/profile.php?fid=21
Hiroyuki Nawa Laboratory,http://brain.bri.niigata-u.ac.jp/bri_nu/e/organization/molecular.html
Christine M. Gall Laboratory,http://www.ucihs.uci.edu/anatomy/gall.html
Gray S. Lynch Laborartory,http://www.faculty.uci.edu/profile.cfm?faculty_id=2658
Takaomi C. Saido Laboratory,http://www.brain.riken.go.jp/bsi/t_saido.html
Richard F. Thompson Laboratory,http://www.usc.edu/programs/neuroscience/faculty/profile.php?fid=31
 

Publications

Journal Article
Jourdi, H. (2006). Transforming growth factor alpha attenuates the functional expression of AMPA receptors in cortical GABAergic neurons. Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience/Elsevier. Vol. 31(4), pp. 628-641..
Jourdi, H. (2006). ErbB1 receptor ligands negatively regulate the expression of synaptic scaffolding proteins, GRIP1 and SAP97, in developing neocortex. The Society for Neuroscience. Vol. 601.13
Jourdi, H. (2006). Internalization of AMPA Receptors(AMPArs) Induced by Positive Modulators of AMPArs:. The Society for Neuroscience. Vol. na
Jourdi, H. (2006). Positive modulation of AMPA glutamate glutamate receptors provides protection against MPP induced toxicity. Receptors in a Model for Parkinson’s Disease/The Society for Neuroscience. Vol. n/a
Jourdi, H. (2006). Protection against Neurotoxicity following treatment with Positive Modulators of AMPA. Receptors in a Model for Parkinson’s Disease/The Society for Neuroscience. Vol. na
Jourdi, H. (2006). BDNF Mediates Ampakine-Elicited Protection Against MPTP Neurotoxicity in Cultured Hippocampal Slices. The Society for Neuroscience/Communication University of China Press. Vol. n/a
Jourdi, H. (2006). ErbB1 receptor ligands attenuate the expression of presynaptic proteins in cultured neocortical neurons. The Society for Neuroscience./Communication University of China Press. Vol. n/a
Jourdi, H. (2005). Effects of positive AMPA receptor modulators on calpain-mediated spectrin degradation in cultured hippocampal slices. . Neurochemistry International/Elsevier. Vol. 46(1), pp. 31-40..
Jourdi, H. (2005). Prolonged positive modulation of AMPA receptors induces calpain-mediated PDZ protein degradation and AMPA receptor down-regulation in cultured hippocampal slices. Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics./Stanford University Press. Vol. 314(1), pp. 16-26..
Jourdi, H. (2005). ErbB1 receptor ligands attenuate the expression of synaptic scaffolding proteins, GRIP1 and SAP97, in developing neocortex. Neuroscience/Elsevier. Vol. 136, pp. p.1037-1047..
Jourdi, H. (2005). Differential regulation of AMPA receptor subunits interactions with SAP97 and GRIP1 by BDNF. The Society for Neuroscience. Vol. 949.13
Baudry, M., Jourdi, H., Yanagihara, T. n., Martinez, U. n., Bi, X., Lynch, G. n. (2005). Effects of positive AMPA receptor modulators on calpain-mediated spectrin degradation in cultured hippocampal slices. Nuerochemistry International. Vol. 46, pp. 31-40.
Baudry, M., Jourdi, H., Lu, X. n., Yanagihara, T. n., Martinez, U. n., Liu, J., Bi, X., Gall, C. n., Lynch, G. n. (2005). Ampakine-mediated AMPA receptor down-regulation via calpain-induced PDZ protein truncation in cultured hippocampal slices. J. Pharm. Exp. Therap. Vol. 314, pp. 16-26.
Jourdi, H. (2003). Brain-derived growth factor signal enhances and maintains the expression of AMPA receptor-associated PDZ proteins in developing cortical neurons. Developmental Biology/Elsevier. Vol. 263, pp. p. 216-230..
Jourdi, H. (2002). Neurotrophins induce BDNF expression through the glutamate receptor pathway in neocortical neurons. Neuropharmacology/Elsevier. Vol. 42(7), pp. p.903-912..
Jourdi, H. (1999). Regulation of Nerve Growth Factor release by Nitric Oxide through cyclic GMP pathway in cortical glial cells. Mol Pharmacol./Stanford University Press. Vol. 56(2), pp. p. 339-347..
Jourdi, H. (1998). Emerging roles of Dlg-like PDZ proteins in the organization of the NMDA-type glutamatergic synapse. J. Biochem. 124: p. 869-875. Review. J. Biochem./Oxford Journals. Vol. J. Biochem. 124, pp. p. 869-875. Review..
 

Service to the Profession

Professional Memberships
Molecular and Cellular Cognition Society, 2004-  
International Brain Research Organization, 1999-  
Society for Neuroscience, 1999-  
 
 
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