Erik Ullian, PhD
Professor
Ophthalmology
School of Medicine

Education & Training

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• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Champion Training University of California 2018
• Ph.D. Graduate Division (Neuroscience) University of California, San Francisco 1997

Grants and Projects

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• P30 - Core Grant for Vision Research, NIH, 1977-2024
• Developing astrocyte, neuron, and microglial 3D organoids to model key aspects of human pathology, NIH, 2019-2021
• Investigating Astrocyte Diversity and Function in Midbrain Dopaminergic Circuits, NIH, 2012-2015
• The Role of Astrocytes in Plasticity and Disease., NIH, 2009-2014
• Role of Micro-RNAs in Neuronal Circuit Formation and Function, NIH, 2008-2011
• Presynaptic Glial Enhancement of Synaptic Efficacy, NIH, 1999-1900

Publications (66)

Top publication keywords:
Amyotrophic Lateral SclerosisCoculture TechniquesNeuronsVisual PathwaysInduced Pluripotent Stem CellsCell DifferentiationRetinal Ganglion Cellsras ProteinsSynapsesAstrocytesFrontotemporal DementiaExcitatory Postsynaptic PotentialsSynaptic TransmissionCostello SyndromeGlutamic Acid

• CRISPRi-based screens in iAssembloids to elucidate neuron-glia interactions.
  bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology 2023 Li E, Benitez C, Boggess SC, Koontz M, Rose IVL, Draeger N, Teter OM, Samelson AJ, Ullian EM, Kampmann M
• Astroglial toxicity promotes synaptic degeneration in the thalamocortical circuit in frontotemporal dementia with GRN mutations.
  The Journal of clinical investigation 2023 Marsan E, Velmeshev D, Ramsey A, Patel RK, Zhang J, Koontz M, Andrews MG, de Majo M, Mora C, Blumenfeld J, Li AN, Spina S, Grinberg LT, Seeley WW, Miller BL, Ullian EM, Krummel MF, Kriegstein AR, …
• Granulin loss of function in human mature brain organoids implicates astrocytes in TDP-43 pathology.
  Stem cell reports 2023 de Majo M, Koontz M, Marsan E, Salinas N, Ramsey A, Kuo YM, Seo K, Li H, Dräger N, Leng K, Gonzales SL, Kurnellas M, Miyaoka Y, Klim JR, Kampmann M, Ward ME, Huang EJ, Ullian EM
• Machine learning dissection of human accelerated regions in primate neurodevelopment.
  Neuron 2023 Whalen S, Inoue F, Ryu H, Fair T, Markenscoff-Papadimitriou E, Keough K, Kircher M, Martin B, Alvarado B, Elor O, Laboy Cintron D, Williams A, Hassan Samee MA, Thomas S, Krencik R, Ullian EM, …
• TMIC-43. HEDGEHOG LIGANDS FROM GLIOBLASTOMA CELLS INDUCE ASTROCYTES INHIBITION OF CANCER STEM CELLS.
  Neuro-Oncology 2022 Kyounghee Seo, S John Liu, Vikas Daggubati, Joanna J Phillips, Jennifer Clarke, Michael Prados, Aparna Bhaduri, Daniel Lim, Erik Ullian, David Raleigh

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• CRISPRi screens in human iPSC-derived astrocytes elucidate regulators of distinct inflammatory reactive states.
  Nature neuroscience 2022 Leng K, Rose IVL, Kim H, Xia W, Romero-Fernandez W, Rooney B, Koontz M, Li E, Ao Y, Wang S, Krawczyk M, Tcw J, Goate A, Zhang Y, Ullian EM, Sofroniew MV, Fancy SPJ, Schrag MS, Lippmann ES, Kampmann M
• Tropism of SARS-CoV-2 for human cortical astrocytes.
  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2022 Andrews MG, Mukhtar T, Eze UC, Simoneau CR, Ross J, Parikshak N, Wang S, Zhou L, Koontz M, Velmeshev D, Siebert CV, Gemenes KM, Tabata T, Perez Y, Wang L, Mostajo-Radji MA, de Majo M, Donohue KC, Shin…
• Trans-Seq maps a selective mammalian retinotectal synapse instructed by Nephronectin.
  Nature neuroscience 2022 Tsai NY, Wang F, Toma K, Yin C, Takatoh J, Pai EL, Wu K, Matcham AC, Yin L, Dang EJ, Marciano DK, Rubenstein JL, Wang F, Ullian EM, Duan X
• Multiplatform genomic profiling and magnetic resonance imaging identify mechanisms underlying intratumor heterogeneity in meningioma.
  Nature communications 2020 Magill ST, Vasudevan HN, Seo K, Villanueva-Meyer JE, Choudhury A, John Liu S, Pekmezci M, Findakly S, Hilz S, Lastella S, Demaree B, Braunstein SE, Bush NAO, Aghi MK, Theodosopoulos PV, Sneed PK, …
• Neurotoxic microglia promote TDP-43 proteinopathy in progranulin deficiency.
  Nature 2020 Zhang J, Velmeshev D, Hashimoto K, Huang YH, Hofmann JW, Shi X, Chen J, Leidal AM, Dishart JG, Cahill MK, Kelley KW, Liddelow SA, Seeley WW, Miller BL, Walther TC, Farese RV, Taylor JP, Ullian EM, …
• CRISPRi-based radiation modifier screen identifies long non-coding RNA therapeutic targets in glioma.
  Genome biology 2020 Liu SJ, Malatesta M, Lien BV, Saha P, Thombare SS, Hong SJ, Pedraza L, Koontz M, Seo K, Horlbeck MA, He D, Birk HS, Jain M, Olsen HE, Akeson M, Weissman JS, Monje M, Gupta N, Raleigh DR, Ullian EM, …
• Astrocyte layers in the mammalian cerebral cortex revealed by a single-cell in situ transcriptomic map.
  Nature neuroscience 2020 Bayraktar OA, Bartels T, Holmqvist S, Kleshchevnikov V, Martirosyan A, Polioudakis D, Ben Haim L, Young AMH, Batiuk MY, Prakash K, Brown A, Roberts K, Paredes MF, Kawaguchi R, Stockley JH, Sabeur K, …
• An update on human astrocytes and their role in development and disease.
  Glia 2020 de Majo M, Koontz M, Rowitch D, Ullian EM
• GENE-39. CRISPRi-BASED RADIATION MODIFIER SCREEN IDENTIFIES LONG NON-CODING RNA THERAPEUTIC TARGETS IN GLIOMA.
  Neuro-Oncology 2019 S John Liu, Martina Malatesta, Kyounghee Seo, Brian Lien, Sung Hong, Mark Koontz, David Raleigh, Erik Ullian, Daniel Lim
• TMOD-27. A NEURAL CREST CELL SUBPOPULATION UNDERLIES INTRATUMOR HETEROGENEITY IN MENINGIOMA.
  Neuro-Oncology 2019 Stephen Magill, Harish Vasudevan, Kyounghee Seo, S John Liu, Stephanie Hilz, Javier Villanueva-Meyer, Abrar Choudhury, Benjamin Demaree, Daniel Lim, Steve Braunstein, Nancy Ann Oberheim-Bush, Erik …
• COL4A1 Mutations Cause Neuromuscular Disease with Tissue-Specific Mechanistic Heterogeneity.
  American journal of human genetics 2019 Labelle-Dumais C, Schuitema V, Hayashi G, Hoff K, Gong W, Dao DQ, Ullian EM, Oishi P, Margeta M, Gould DB
• TMOD-04. TARGETING A GLIOMA SPECIFIC lncRNA IN A HUMAN BRAIN ORGANOID TUMOR MODEL.
  Neuro-Oncology 2018 Martina Malatesta, John Liu, Leslie Pedraza, Kyounghee Seo, Elizabeth DiLullo, David Raleigh, Arnold Kriegstein, Erik Ullian, Daniel Lim
• Proceedings of the fifth international RASopathies symposium: When development and cancer intersect.
  American journal of medical genetics. Part A 2018 Rauen KA, Schoyer L, Schill L, Stronach B, Albeck J, Andresen BS, Cavé H, Ellis M, Fruchtman SM, Gelb BD, Gibson CC, Gripp K, Hefner E, Huang WYC, Itkin M, Kerr B, Linardic CM, McMahon M, Oberlander B…
• Kir4.1-Dependent Astrocyte-Fast Motor Neuron Interactions Are Required for Peak Strength.
  Neuron 2018 Kelley KW, Ben Haim L, Schirmer L, Tyzack GE, Tolman M, Miller JG, Tsai HH, Chang SM, Molofsky AV, Yang Y, Patani R, Lakatos A, Ullian EM, Rowitch DH
• Clemastine rescues myelination defects and promotes functional recovery in hypoxic brain injury.
  Brain : a journal of neurology 2018 Cree BAC, Niu J, Hoi KK, Zhao C, Caganap SD, Henry RG, Dao DQ, Zollinger DR, Mei F, Shen YA, Franklin RJM, Ullian EM, Xiao L, Chan JR, Fancy SPJ
• Cellular Phenotypes in Human iPSC-Derived Neurons from a Genetic Model of Autism Spectrum Disorder.
  Cell reports 2017 Deshpande A, Yadav S, Dao DQ, Wu ZY, Hokanson KC, Cahill MK, Wiita AP, Jan YN, Ullian EM, Weiss LA
• Systematic Three-Dimensional Coculture Rapidly Recapitulates Interactions between Human Neurons and Astrocytes.
  Stem cell reports 2017 Krencik R, Seo K, van Asperen JV, Basu N, Cvetkovic C, Barlas S, Chen R, Ludwig C, Wang C, Ward ME, Gan L, Horner PJ, Rowitch DH, Ullian EM
• Patient-derived iPSCs show premature neural differentiation and neuron type-specific phenotypes relevant to neurodevelopment.
  Molecular psychiatry 2017 Yeh E, Dao DQ, Wu ZY, Kandalam SM, Camacho FM, Tom C, Zhang W, Krencik R, Rauen KA, Ullian EM, Weiss LA
• Human stem cell-derived astrocytes replicate human prions in a PRNP genotype-dependent manner.
  The Journal of experimental medicine 2017 Krejciova Z, Alibhai J, Zhao C, Krencik R, Rzechorzek NM, Ullian EM, Manson J, Ironside JW, Head MW, Chandran S
• Zika virus cell tropism in the developing human brain and inhibition by azithromycin.
  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2016 Retallack H, Di Lullo E, Arias C, Knopp KA, Laurie MT, Sandoval-Espinosa C, Mancia Leon WR, Krencik R, Ullian EM, Spatazza J, Pollen AA, Mandel-Brehm C, Nowakowski TJ, Kriegstein AR, DeRisi JL
• Selective Vulnerability of Specific Retinal Ganglion Cell Types and Synapses after Transient Ocular Hypertension.
  The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience 2016 Ou Y, Jo RE, Ullian EM, Wong RO, Della Santina L
• Autonomous and Non-autonomous Defects Underlie Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy in BRAF-Mutant hiPSC-Derived Cardiomyocytes.
  Stem cell reports 2016 Josowitz R, Mulero-Navarro S, Rodriguez NA, Falce C, Cohen N, Ullian EM, Weiss LA, Rauen KA, Sobie EA, Gelb BD
• Human astrocytes are distinct contributors to the complexity of synaptic function.
  Brain research bulletin 2016 Krencik R, van Asperen JV, Ullian EM
• Dynamic Modulation of Myelination in Response to Visual Stimuli Alters Optic Nerve Conduction Velocity.
  The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience 2016 Etxeberria A, Hokanson KC, Dao DQ, Mayoral SR, Mei F, Redmond SA, Ullian EM, Chan JR
• Human iPS Cell-Derived Neurons Uncover the Impact of Increased Ras Signaling in Costello Syndrome.
  The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience 2016 Rooney GE, Goodwin AF, Depeille P, Sharir A, Schofield CM, Yeh E, Roose JP, Klein OD, Rauen KA, Weiss LA, Ullian EM
• Dysregulation of astrocyte extracellular signaling in Costello syndrome.
  Science translational medicine 2015 Krencik R, Hokanson KC, Narayan AR, Dvornik J, Rooney GE, Rauen KA, Weiss LA, Rowitch DH, Ullian EM
• Abstract 19583: Autonomous and Non-Autonomous Defects Underlie Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy in BRAF-Mutant hiPSC-Derived Cardiomyocytes.
  Circulation 2014 Rebecca Josowitz, Sonia Mulero-Navarro, Christine Falce, Ninette Cohen, Erik M Ullian, Lauren A Weiss, Katherine A Rauen, Eric A Sobie, Bruce D Gelb
• Phosphorylation of LKB1/Par-4 establishes Schwann cell polarity to initiate and control myelin extent.
  Nature communications 2014 Shen YA, Chen Y, Dao DQ, Mayoral SR, Wu L, Meijer D, Ullian EM, Chan JR, Lu QR
• Astrocyte-encoded positional cues maintain sensorimotor circuit integrity.
  Nature 2014 Molofsky AV, Kelley KW, Tsai HH, Redmond SA, Chang SM, Madireddy L, Chan JR, Baranzini SE, Ullian EM, Rowitch DH
• A cellular star atlas: using astrocytes from human pluripotent stem cells for disease studies.
  Frontiers in cellular neuroscience 2013 Krencik R, Ullian EM
• Loss of microRNAs in pyramidal neurons leads to specific changes in inhibitory synaptic transmission in the prefrontal cortex.
  Molecular and cellular neurosciences 2012 Hsu R, Schofield CM, Dela Cruz CG, Jones-Davis DM, Blelloch R, Ullian EM
• Astrocytes and disease: a neurodevelopmental perspective.
  Genes & development 2012 Molofsky AV, Krencik R, Krenick R, Ullian EM, Ullian E, Tsai HH, Deneen B, Richardson WD, Barres BA, Rowitch DH
• Afadin, a Ras/Rap effector that controls cadherin function, promotes spine and excitatory synapse density in the hippocampus.
  The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience 2012 Beaudoin GM, Schofield CM, Nuwal T, Zang K, Ullian EM, Huang B, Reichardt LF
• Pathway-specific genetic attenuation of glutamate release alters select features of competition-based visual circuit refinement.
  Neuron 2011 Koch SM, Dela Cruz CG, Hnasko TS, Edwards RH, Huberman AD, Ullian EM
• A role for noncanonical microRNAs in the mammalian brain revealed by phenotypic differences in Dgcr8 versus Dicer1 knockouts and small RNA sequencing.
  RNA (New York, N.Y.) 2011 Babiarz JE, Hsu R, Melton C, Thomas M, Ullian EM, Blelloch R
• Monoallelic deletion of the microRNA biogenesis gene Dgcr8 produces deficits in the development of excitatory synaptic transmission in the prefrontal cortex.
  Neural development 2011 Schofield CM, Hsu R, Barker AJ, Gertz CC, Blelloch R, Ullian EM
• Chapter 39 Development of Retinogeniculate Projections.
  Adler\u0027s Physiology of the Eye 2011 S.M. Koch, E.M. Ullian
• Neuronal pentraxins mediate silent synapse conversion in the developing visual system.
  The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience 2010 Koch SM, Ullian EM
• Dact1 is a postsynaptic protein required for dendrite, spine, and excitatory synapse development in the mouse forebrain.
  The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience 2010 Okerlund ND, Kivimäe S, Tong CK, Peng IF, Ullian EM, Cheyette BN
• Astrocytes and synaptic plasticity.
  The Neuroscientist : a review journal bringing neurobiology, neurology and psychiatry 2010 Barker AJ, Ullian EM
• Delta-catenin regulates spine and synapse morphogenesis and function in hippocampal neurons during development.
  The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience 2009 Arikkath J, Peng IF, Ng YG, Israely I, Liu X, Ullian EM, Reichardt LF
• Functional regulations of p120 catenin at presynaptic site in neuron cultures.
  International Journal of Developmental Neuroscience 2008 I. Feng. Peng, S-H. Lee, L. Reichardt, E. Ullian
• Neuronal pentraxins mediate silent synapse conversion in the developing visual system.
  International Journal of Developmental Neuroscience 2008 E. Ullian
• Synapses are regulated by the cytoplasmic tyrosine kinase Fer in a pathway mediated by p120catenin, Fer, SHP-2, and beta-catenin.
  The Journal of cell biology 2008 Lee SH, Peng IF, Ng YG, Yanagisawa M, Bamji SX, Elia LP, Balsamo J, Lilien J, Anastasiadis PZ, Ullian EM, Reichardt LF
• Architecture and activity-mediated refinement of axonal projections from a mosaic of genetically identified retinal ganglion cells.
  Neuron 2008 Huberman AD, Manu M, Koch SM, Susman MW, Lutz AB, Ullian EM, Baccus SA, Barres BA
• Developmental control of synaptic receptivity.
  The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience 2008 Barker AJ, Koch SM, Reed J, Barres BA, Ullian EM
• Conditional loss of Dicer disrupts cellular and tissue morphogenesis in the cortex and hippocampus.
  The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience 2008 Davis TH, Cuellar TL, Koch SM, Barker AJ, Harfe BD, McManus MT, Ullian EM
• Dicer loss in striatal neurons produces behavioral and neuroanatomical phenotypes in the absence of neurodegeneration.
  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2008 Cuellar TL, Davis TH, Nelson PT, Loeb GB, Harfe BD, Ullian E, McManus MT
• New roles for astrocytes in developing synaptic circuits.
  Communicative & integrative biology 2008 Barker AJ, Ullian EM
• Neuronal pentraxins mediate synaptic refinement in the developing visual system.
  The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience 2006 Bjartmar L, Huberman AD, Ullian EM, Rentería RC, Liu X, Xu W, Prezioso J, Susman MW, Stellwagen D, Stokes CC, Cho R, Worley P, Malenka RC, Ball S, Peachey NS, Copenhagen D, Chapman B, Nakamoto M, …
• Extracellular Matrix Molecules and Formation of CNS Synapses.
  Molecular Mechanisms of Synaptogenesis 2006 Erik M. Ullian, Alexander Dityatev
• Thrombospondins are astrocyte-secreted proteins that promote CNS synaptogenesis.
  Cell 2005 Christopherson KS, Ullian EM, Stokes CC, Mullowney CE, Hell JW, Agah A, Lawler J, Mosher DF, Bornstein P, Barres BA
• Role for glia in synaptogenesis.
  Glia 2004 Ullian EM, Christopherson KS, Barres BA
• Invulnerability of retinal ganglion cells to NMDA excitotoxicity.
  Molecular and cellular neurosciences 2004 Ullian EM, Barkis WB, Chen S, Diamond JS, Barres BA
• Schwann cells and astrocytes induce synapse formation by spinal motor neurons in culture.
  Molecular and cellular neurosciences 2004 Ullian EM, Harris BT, Wu A, Chan JR, Barres BA
• Differential control of clustering of the sodium channels Na(v)1.2 and Na(v)1.6 at developing CNS nodes of Ranvier.
  Neuron 2001 Kaplan MR, Cho MH, Ullian EM, Isom LL, Levinson SR, Barres BA
• Control of synapse number by glia.
  Science (New York, N.Y.) 2001 Ullian EM, Sapperstein SK, Christopherson KS, Barres BA
• The Schwann song of the glia-less synapse.
  Neuron 1998 Ullian EM, Barres BA
• Rapid synaptic transmission in the avian ciliary ganglion is mediated by two distinct classes of nicotinic receptors.
  The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience 1997 Ullian EM, McIntosh JM, Sargent PB
• Pronounced cellular diversity and extrasynaptic location of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunit immunoreactivities in the chicken pretectum.
  The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience 1995 Ullian EM, Sargent PB
• Receptor localization.
  International Symposium on Nicotine: The Effects of Nicotine on Biological Systems II 1994 P. B. Sargent, H. L. Wilson, E. M. Ullian, Reinhard Marks, John Lindstrom, Hannsjórg Schröder, M. Piattoni-Kaplan, D. Donnelly-Roberts, J. Pauly, D. Hill, J. B. Pan, S. P. Arneric, J. P. Sullivan, I. …