Joselyn Soto, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Biological Science

Office: MH-211B, Lab: MH-319

Phone: 657-278-6534

Dr. Soto earned a B.S. in Cell, Molecular, and Developmental Biology at UC Riverside where she discovered her passion for astrocytes, a star-shaped cell in the brain, while studying multiple sclerosis as a MARC-U scholar. She completed her Ph.D. in Neuroscience at UCLA studying the cell biology of astrocytes in models of brain disorders including Huntington’s disease, Alzheimer's disease, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Dr. Soto trained as a post-doctoral scholar at UCLA, studying signaling pathways within astrocytes.

Joselyn Soto photo

Research Interests

Dr. Soto investigates how astrocytes regulate sensory perception, specifically audition, from the molecular level to the organismal level using cutting-edge neuroscience tools. The Soto lab uses in vivo molecular and genetic techniques to investigate astrocyte contributions to sensory perception in health and disease.

Fun Facts

I was introduced to research as an undergraduate because I decided to go to a seminar solely because there was free pizza. Before that, I was an “undeclared” major up until my third year. I have a French Bulldog named Nacho who is more of a people-person than myself. I am an avid hot wing enthusiast.

Publications

Soto JS, Neupane C, Kaur M, Pandey V, Wohlschlegel JA, Khakh BS. (2024) Astrocyte Gi-GPCR signaling corrects compulsive-like grooming and anxiety-related behaviors in Sapap3 knockout mice. Neuron, (Epub ahead of print) doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2024.07.019.

Ollivier M, Soto JS, Linker KE, Moye SL, Jami-Alahmadi Y, Jones AE, Divakaruni AS, Kawaguchi R, Wohlschlegel JA, Khakh BS. (2024) Crym-positive striatal astrocytes gate perseverative behaviour. Nature, 627(8003):358-366. doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-07138-0.

Soto JS, Jami-Alahmadi Y, Wohlschlegel JA, Khakh BS. (2024) In vivo identification of astrocyte and neuron subproteomes by proximity-dependent biotinylation. Nature Protocols, 19(3):896-927. doi: 10.1038/s41596-023-00923-7

Soto JS, Jami-Alahmadi Y, Chacon J, Moye SL, Diaz-Castro B, Wohlschlegel JA, Khakh BS. (2023) Astrocyte-neuron subproteomes and obsessive-compulsive disorder mechanisms. Nature, 616(7958):764-773. doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-05927-7

Gangwani MR, Soto JS, Jami-Alahmadi Y, Tiwari S, Kawaguchi R, Wohlschlegel JA, Khakh BS. (2023) Neuronal and astrocytic contributions to Huntington's disease dissected with zinc finger protein transcriptional repressors. Cell Reports, 42(1):111953. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2022.111953

Endo F, Kasai A, Soto JS, Yu X, Qu Z, Hashimoto H, Gradinaru V, Kawaguchi R, Khakh BS. (2022) Molecular basis of astrocyte diversity and morphology across the CNS in health and disease. Science, 4;378(6619):eadc9020. doi: 10.1126/science.adc9020.