1. 少突胶质细胞谱系细胞在神经退行性疾病中的作用及其对轴突病理的调控

2. 解析血管-胶质细胞-轴突互作轴，揭示神经免疫微环境对轴突-髓鞘病变的调控

3. 开发人脑细胞特异性蛋白质组学、iPSC疾病建模、细胞特异性标记AAV、以及多组学与组织成像整合等前沿研究工具

2025 - 2026    Pilot Project Award, Carol and Gene Ludwig Program for the Study of Neuroimmune Interactions in Dementia

2023 - 2026    Alzheimer's Association Research Fellowship, Alzheimer's Association

2023 – 2024   EMBL-CPP Fellowship, European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL)

2021 - 2023    BrightFocus Postdoc Fellowship in Alzheimer's Research, BrightFocus Foundation

1. Y. Cai†, I.P. Sousa∗, M. Slobodyanyuk∗, F. Chen∗, T. Huynh, P. Tang, L. Fuentes, A. Braker, R. Welch, A. Huttner, L. Tong, P. Yuan, T.T. Lam, A.C. Nairn, E. Petsalaki, J. Reimand, J. Grutzendler†. Myelin–axon interface vulnerability in Alzheimer’s disease revealed by subcellular proteomics and imaging of human and mouse brain. (2025) Nature Neuroscience. doi: 10.1038/s41593-025-01973-8. （† 共同通讯）

2. Y. Cai†, J. Kanyo, R. Wilson, S. Bathla, P. Cardozo, L. Tong, S. Qin, L.A. Fuentes, I.Pinheiro-de-Sousa, T. Huynh, L. Sun, M. Mohammad, Z. Tian, H. Gan, A. Braker, K. Trinh, A. Huttner, T. T. Lam, E. Petsalaki, K. J. Brennand, A.C. Nairn, J. Grutzendler†. Subcellular proteomics and iPSC modeling uncover reversible mechanisms of axonal pathology in Alzheimer’s disease. (2025) Nature Aging. doi: 10.1038/s43587-025-00823-3. （† 共同通讯）

3. P. Yuan, M. Zhang, L. Tong, T.M. Morse, R.A. McDougal, H. Ding, D. Chan, Y. Cai, J. Grutzendler. PLD3 affects axonal spheroids and network defects in Alzheimer’s disease. Nature. 612, 328–337 (2022).

4. J. Mukai, E. Canavo, Z. Sun, A. Diamantopoulou, P. Thakur, C. Chang, Y. Cai, S. Lomvardas, A. Takata, B. Xu, J.A. Gogos. Recapitulation and reversal of schizophreniarelated phenotypes in Setd1a-deficient mice. Neuron. 104 (3): 471-487 (2019).

5. J. Guo, Y. Cai, X. Ye, N. Ma, Y. Wang, B. Yu, J. Wan. Regulation of neurite outgrowth by miR-409-5p is involved in Alzheimer’s disease development. Front. Neurosci. 13, 2164 (2019).

6. Y. Cai, J. Wan. Competing endogenous RNA regulations in neurodegenerative disorders: current challenges and emerging insights. Front. Mol. Neurosci. 11, 370 (2018).

7. Y. Cai, Z. Sun, H. Jia, H. Luo, X. Ye, Q. Wu, X. Yi, W. Zhang, J. Wan. Rpph1 upregulates CDC42 expression and promotes hippocampal neuron dendritic spine formation by competing with miR-330-5p. Front. Mol. Neurosci. 10, 27 (2017).

8. Y. Cai*, Z. Liang*, T. He, G. Zhang, J. Huang, X. Zeng. Augmenting LASSO regression with decision tree for identifying the correlation of genetic polymorphism and adverse events. IEEE International Conference on Bioinformatics and Biomedicine (BIBM), 355-360 (2013).