Dogukan Mizrak

Titles

Associate Research Scientist

As an associate research scientist in the laboratory of Peter Sims, my work focuses on adult neural stem cells (NSC), which continuously generate neurons in restricted parts of the adult mouse brain that functionally integrate into neural circuits. Within the ventricular-subventricular zone (V-SVZ), which constitutes the largest germinal region in the adult brain, V-SVZ NSCs generate different subtypes of olfactory bulb neurons as well as oligodendrocytes. Importantly, these NSCs exist in both quiescent and actively dividing states. In previous work I defined a combination of markers that allows the prospective purification of quiescent and activated adult neural stem cells directly from their in vivo niche. In ongoing work I aim to establish an objective platform for NSC classification based on single cell gene expression profiles. In addition, by combining classical mutational analysis of key NSC markers with single cell genomics and epigenetics approaches, I am interested in identifying intermediate transcriptional steps underlying neural stem cell activation. Our hope is that this will open potential avenues to mobilize these stem cell reservoirs and other quiescent brain astrocytes for future studies. 

Previously I completed my PhD in biology at New York University, where the main focus of my thesis was to address the effect of electrical activity on circadian transcription. Ultimately, we demonstrated a bidirectional flow of information between electrical activity and the circadian transcriptome.

My work is supported by an F32 grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NS090736), titled “Single-cell dissection of neural stem cell heterogeneity in vivo.”


Education History

PhD, Biology, New York University


Publications

Mizrak, D., Bayin, N.S., Yuan, J., Liu, Z., Suciu, R., Niphakis, M.J., Ngo, N., Lum, K.M., Cravatt, B.F., Joyner, A.L., et al. (2019). Single-cell profiling and SCOPE-seq reveal the lineage dynamics of adult neurogenesis and NOTUM as a key V-SVZ regulator. bioRxiv, 770610.

Delgado, A.C., Maldonado-Soto, A.R., Silva-Vargas, V., Mizrak, D., Känel, T.v., Paul, A., Madar, A., Cuervo, H., Kitajewski, J., Lin, C.-S., et al. (2019). Release of stem cells from quiescence reveals multiple gliogenic domains in the adult brain. bioRxiv, 738013.

Mizrak, D., Levitin, H.M., Delgado, A.C., Crotet, V., Yuan, J., Chaker, Z., Silva-Vargas, V., Sims, P.A., and Doetsch, F. (2019). Single-Cell Analysis of Regional Differences in Adult V-SVZ Neural Stem Cell Lineages. Cell Rep 26, 394-406 e395.

Silva-Vargas V, Maldonado-Soto A, Mizrak D, Codega P, Doetsch F. Age-dependent niche signals from the choroid plexus regulate adult neural stem cells. Cell Stem Cell. 2016 Jul 19. [Epub ahead of print]

Mizrak D, Ruben M, Myers GN, Rhrissorrakrai K, Gunsalus KC, Blau J. Electrical activity can impose time of day on the circadian transcriptome of pacemaker neurons. Curr Biol. 2012 Oct 23;22(20):1871-80.

Ruben M, Drapeau MD, Mizrak D, Blau J. A mechanism for circadian control of pacemaker neuron excitability. J Biol Rhythms. 2012 Oct;27(5):353-64.

Holmes TC, Sheeba V, Mizrak D, Rubovszky B, Dahdal D. Circuit-breaking and behavioral analysis by molecular genetic manipulation of neural activity in Drosophila.  Invertebrate Neurobiology. 2007 Ed. Geoffrey North, Ralph J. Greenspan. p. 19-53. Cold Spring Harbor Press, NY. 

Blau J, Blanchard F, Collins B, Dahdal D, Knowles A, Mizrak D, Ruben M. What is there left to learn about the Drosophila clock? Cold Spring Harb Symp Quant Biol. 2007;72:243-50.