Wikipedia

Draft:Guosong Liu

Guosong Liu
Alma materUniversity of California, Los Angeles
Known forResearch on magnesium in synaptic plasticity; development of magnesium L-threonate
Scientific career
FieldsNeuroscience, synaptic plasticity
InstitutionsMassachusetts Institute of Technology
Tsinghua University
Neurocentria

Guosong Liu is a neuroscientist and biotechnology entrepreneur whose research concerns synaptic transmission, the regulation of synapse density, and the role of magnesium in learning and memory. He is the founder and chief executive officer of Neurocentria, a pharmaceutical company,[1] and previously held a faculty position at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and founded the Center for Learning and Memory at Tsinghua University.[2][3] He led the development of magnesium L-threonate, a compound marketed as a dietary supplement under the name Magtein.[2]

Liu's early work characterized synaptic transmission at single hippocampal synapses.[4] He contributed to the 1999 study of the transgenic "Doogie" mice, for which he developed a method to measure NMDA receptor function at individual synapses,[5] and later led research reporting that elevating brain magnesium influenced synaptic plasticity and cognitive performance in rodents.[2]

Education and early career

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Liu completed his doctoral training in neurophysiology at the University of California, Los Angeles,[1] where his early work was in the laboratory of Jack Feldman,[6] and carried out postdoctoral research in the laboratory of Richard Tsien at Stanford University, where he studied the properties of transmission at single synapses.[4]

Career

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Liu joined the faculty of MIT's Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences in 1996, where he was an assistant and later associate professor affiliated with the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory and held the Edward J. Poitras Professorship, a career-development appointment.[5][7][1] He remained at MIT until 2005, after which he founded and directed the Center for Learning and Memory at Tsinghua University in Beijing.[3][2]

Liu co-founded a pharmaceutical company in 2005, originally named Magceutics and later renamed Neurocentria, with the chemist Fei Mao, and serves as its chief executive officer.[8][1] The company develops magnesium-based compounds for neurological indications.[1]

Research

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Liu's research has focused on the mechanisms of synaptic transmission and the regulation of synapse number and function. In work at Stanford and MIT he characterized neurotransmitter release and receptor behavior at single hippocampal synapses,[4][9] and later described the local structural balance between excitatory and inhibitory synapses in dendrites.[10]

Beginning in the 2000s, Liu investigated the influence of magnesium on synaptic function. His group reported that manipulating magnesium levels affected synaptic plasticity,[3] and in 2010 published a study in Neuron, with collaborators including Susumu Tonegawa, reporting that a magnesium compound the group had developed, magnesium L-threonate, was associated with changes in learning and memory measures in rats.[2][8] This line of work formed the scientific basis for the compound later commercialized as a dietary supplement.[2]

Magnesium L-threonate

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Magnesium L-threonate (MgT) is a magnesium salt of threonic acid developed by Liu and colleagues and studied for its effects on brain magnesium levels.[2] It has been marketed as a dietary supplement. Liu and colleagues reported a randomized, placebo-controlled trial of the compound in older adults in 2016,[11] and it has since been studied in an independent randomized trial.[12]

Selected publications

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  • Liu, G.; Tsien, R. W. (1995). "Properties of synaptic transmission at single hippocampal synaptic boutons". Nature 375 (6530): 404–408.
  • Tang, Y. P.; Shimizu, E.; Dube, G. R.; Rampon, C.; Kerchner, G. A.; Zhuo, M.; Liu, G.; Tsien, J. Z. (1999). "Genetic enhancement of learning and memory in mice". Nature 401 (6748): 63–69.
  • Liu, G. (2004). "Local structural balance and functional interaction of excitatory and inhibitory synapses in hippocampal dendrites". Nature Neuroscience 7 (4): 373–379.
  • Slutsky, I.; Abumaria, N.; Wu, L. J.; et al.; Liu, G. (2010). "Enhancement of learning and memory by elevating brain magnesium". Neuron 65 (2): 165–177.
  • Liu, G.; Weinger, J. G.; Lu, Z. L.; Xue, F.; Sadeghpour, S. (2016). "Efficacy and safety of MMFS-01, a synapse density enhancer, for treating cognitive impairment in older adults: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial". Journal of Alzheimer's Disease 49: 971–990.
  • Zhou, H.; Bi, G. Q.; Liu, G. (2024). "Intracellular magnesium optimizes transmission efficiency and plasticity of hippocampal synapses by reconfiguring their connectivity". Nature Communications 15: 3406.

References

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  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Guosong Liu". Neurocentria.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Mind Your Magnesium—Oral Compound Boosts Cognition in Rats". Alzforum. January 2010.
  3. 1 2 3 "Magnesium supplement helps boost brainpower". EurekAlert! / Cell Press. 2010.
  4. 1 2 3 Liu, G.; Tsien, R. W. (1995). "Properties of synaptic transmission at single hippocampal synaptic boutons". Nature. 375: 404–408.
  5. 1 2 "Making Smart Mice". Scientific American.
  6. ↑ Smith, J. C.; Liu, G.; Feldman, J. L. (1988). "Intracellular recording from phrenic motoneurons receiving respiratory drive in vitro". Neuroscience Letters.
  7. ↑ "Scientists Create Smart Mouse". ScienceDaily. September 1999.
  8. 1 2 Slutsky, I.; Abumaria, N.; et al. (2010). "Enhancement of learning and memory by elevating brain magnesium". Neuron. 65 (2): 165–177.
  9. ↑ Liu, G.; Choi, S.; Tsien, R. W. (1999). "Variability of neurotransmitter concentration and nonsaturation of postsynaptic AMPA receptors at synapses in hippocampal cultures and slices". Neuron. 22: 395–409.
  10. ↑ Liu, G. (2004). "Local structural balance and functional interaction of excitatory and inhibitory synapses in hippocampal dendrites". Nature Neuroscience. 7: 373–379.
  11. ↑ Liu, G.; Weinger, J. G.; Lu, Z. L.; Xue, F.; Sadeghpour, S. (2016). "Efficacy and safety of MMFS-01, a synapse density enhancer, for treating cognitive impairment in older adults: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial". Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. 49: 971–990.
  12. ↑ Lopresti, A. L.; Smith, S. J. (2026). "A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of magnesium L-threonate". Frontiers in Nutrition.

Category:Living people Category:American neuroscientists Category:Massachusetts Institute of Technology faculty Category:University of California, Los Angeles alumni

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