Our group employs an interdisciplinary approach involving genomic discovery and functional modeling to study genetics and epigenetic basis of neurodevelopmental disorder. We perform molecular, neurophysiological, and neurobehavioral analysis using patient-induced pluripotent stem cell, or iPSC, in the mutant mice to dissecting the pathophysiology of neurodevelopmental disorder. We aim to develop a gene-editing-based treatment for this disease.

Intracerebroventricular, also called ICV, injection is only method to directly deliver treatment to the central nervous system of neonatal mice. However, it has to penetrate through the cerebral cortex. The intrathecal, IT, injection is a commonly employed procedure in clinics, serving as an effective means to administer treatments directly into the central nervous system.

However, intrathecal injection in neonatal pups can pose significant technical challenges due to their small size and fragile nature. We are trying to develop an efficient and reliable delivery method to test the efficacy and the gene editing in mouse brain that is non-viral and non-nanoparticle. Compared to conventional ICV injection, intrathecal injection presents a significantly lower risk, as it avoid the need for directly penetration through the cerebral cortex.

This add advantage to minimize potential damage to regional cortical tissue and the surrounding nerves. Intrathecal injections also enable at least a fivefold increase in the administrable volume of medications through a single injection and greatly enhance the feasibility of repeated administrations.