Stephen D. Ginsberg, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Psychiatry
Department of Physiology & Neuroscience
New York University School of Medicine
(845)398-2170
ginsberg@nki.rfmh.org
The Ginsberg Lab
NYU Profile
Education

  • B.A. Cornell University, College of Arts and Sciences, Ithaca, NY (Psychology)
  • Ph.D. Mt. Sinai Medical Center, New York, NY (Neuroscience)

Postdoctoral Training

  • Postdoctoral Fellowship, Neuropathology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
  • Postdoctoral Fellow, Molecular Neuroscience, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA

Awards

1988 Graduated cum laude in Psychology, Cornell University

Research Interests

My interests include neurodegeneration, single cell RNA analysis, and lesion-induced synaptic plasticity.

The principal focus of the Ginsberg laboratory is to delineate cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying synaptic and dendritic reorganization following various brain injuries, including excitotoxicity, specific lesions, and neurodegeneration. The hippocampal formation, a brain region critical for learning and memory, is the main region analyzed, with particular emphasis on identifying mechanisms that govern synaptic reorganization within dentate gyrus granule cells and dendrites. We conduct experiments on animal models of synaptic plasticity and neurodegeneration. Mice are used as experimental subjects because of a similar cellular organization of the dorsal hippocampal formation to humans; genetically altered mice are used to analyze specific gene/protein products. In addition, the laboratory studies human brain tissues obtained from patients with no cognitive impairment (NCI), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and Alzheimer’s disease (AD).

A multidisciplinary approach of surgical, state-of-the-art molecular biology, immunohistochemical, and imaging techniques are utilized as part of the experimental design. Particular emphasis is placed upon analyzing single neurons in vivo as a means of understanding cellular events occurring locally at synaptic and somatodendritic sites. For example, lesion paradigms in mice are combined with regional and single cell mRNA amplification techniques and cDNA microarray "DNA chip" technology; we then assess several classes of transcripts simultaneously, including glutamate receptors, dopamine receptors, synaptic proteins, cytoskeletal elements, neurotrophins, cell death genes, and transcription factors from individual neurons and their processes. These studies enable a "molecular fingerprint" of the hippocampus as well as specific neurons within the region following the initial injury, denervation, and reactive synaptogenesis. Furthermore, these studies aim to elucidate markers for early cell-specific synaptic and neurodegenerative changes that can be applied to other models of activity dependence and neurodegenerative disorders.

Selected publications

Ginsberg, S.D., and Che, S.: Expression profile analysis within the human hippocampus: comparison of CA1 and CA3 pyramidal neurons. J. Comp. Neurol., in press.

McClain, K.L., Cai, Y-H., Hicks, J., Peterson, L.E., Yan, X-T., Che, S., and Ginsberg, S.D.: Expression profiling using human tissues in combination with RNA amplification and microarray analysis: assessment of Langerhans cell histiocytosis. Amino Acids, in press. 

Che, S., and Ginsberg, S.D.: RNA amplification methodologies. In Progress in RNA Research, Nova Science Publishing, in press.

Ginsberg, S.D., Hemby, S.E., Mufson, E.J, and Martin, L.J: Cell and tissue microdissection in combination with genomic and proteomic applications. In L. Zaborszky, F. Wouterlood and J.L. Lanciego (eds); Neuroanatomical Tract Tracing 3: Molecules-Neurons-Systems, New York, Springer, in press.

Che, S., and Ginsberg, S.D.: Amplification of transcripts using terminal continuation. Lab Invest., 84: 131-137, 2004.

Ginsberg, S.D., and Che, S.: Combined histochemical staining, RNA amplification, regional, and single cell analysis within the hippocampus. Lab. Invest., 84:952-962 2004.

Ginsberg, S.D., Elarova, I., Ruben, M., Tan, F., Counts, S.E., Eberwine, J.H., Trojanowski, J.Q., Hemby, S.E., Mufson, E.J., and Che, S.: Single cell gene expression analysis: implications for neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disorders: Neurochem. Res., 29:1053-1064, 2004. 

Galvin, J.E., and Ginsberg, S.D.: Expression profiling and pharmacotherapeutic development in the central nervous system. Alzheimer Dis. Assoc. Disord., 18:264-269, 2004.

King, S.R., Ginsberg, S.D., Ishii, T., Smith, R.G., Parker, K.L., and Lamb, D.J.: The steroidogenic acute regulatory (StAR) protein is expressed in steroidogenic cells of the day-old (P1) brain. Endocrinology, 145:4775-4780, 2004.

Counts, S.E., Nadeem, M., Wuu, J., Ginsberg, S.D., Saragovi, H.U., and Mufson, E.J.: Reduction of cortical TrkA but not p75NTR NGF receptor protein levels in early stage Alzheimer’s disease. Ann. Neurol., 56:520-531, 2004.

Hemby, S.E., Trojanowski, J.Q., and Ginsberg, S.D.: Neuron specific age related decreases in dopamine receptor subtype mRNAs. J. Comp. Neurol., 456: 176-83, 2003.

Mufson, E.J., Ginsberg, S.D., Ikonomovic, M.D., and DeKosky, S.T.: Human cholinergic basal forebrain: chemoanatomy and neurologic dysfunction. J. Chem. Neuroanat., 26: 233-242, 2003.

Ginsberg, S.D., and Martin, L.J.: Axonal transection in adult rat brain induces transsynaptic apoptosis and persistent atrophy of target neurons. J. Neurotrauma, 19: 99-109, 2002.                         

Hemby, S.E., Ginsberg, S.D., Brunk, B., Arnold, S.E., Trojanowski, J.Q., and Eberwine, J.H.: Gene expression profile for schizophrenia: discrete neuron transcription patterns in the entorhinal cortex. Arch. Gen. Psychiat., 59: 631-640, 2002.

Ginsberg, S.D., and Che, S.: RNA amplification in brain tissues. Neurochem. Res., 27: 981-992, 2002. 

Mufson, E.J., Counts, S.E., and Ginsberg, S.D.: Gene expression profiles of cholinergic nucleus basalis neurons in Alzheimer’s Disease. Neurochem. Res., 27: 1035-1048, 2002.