Lucas Martin Cheadle
Assistant Professor
Ph.D., Neuroscience, Yale University, 2014
cheadle@cshl.edu | 516-367-5920
The trillions of connections between brain cells enable complex thought and behavior. These connections are wired with great precision through both genetics and in response to an organism’s experiences. Our lab seeks to understand how experiences engage specialized immune cells called microglia to shape the connectivity and function of the brain. We are further interested in how impairments in these processes can contribute to neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism.
The powerful influence of sensory experience on brain development has been appreciated since the 1960s. Yet, even today, the fundamental cellular and molecular mechanisms through which sensory input shapes developing neural circuits remain largely mysterious. The Cheadle lab recently discovered that sensory experience alters gene and protein expression in microglia, the resident immune cells of the brain. These sensory-induced changes allow microglia to interact with neighboring neurons to strengthen and maintain a subset of synaptic connections and to eliminate others. These findings raise the exciting possibility that microglia, which are predominantly associated with immune responses to injury and disease, also decode salient features of the physical world and contribute to neural responses to the environment.
The Cheadle lab applies a multidisciplinary approach to the visual system of the mouse to investigate the contributions of microglia to sensory experience-dependent synapse development and plasticity. They further seek to identify the molecular mechanisms through which microglia effect changes at synapses and thereby exert control over brain function. To accomplish this, the Cheadle lab images microglial interactions with synapses in the brains of living mice, which allows the researchers to characterize the specific features of the environment to which microglia respond. In parallel, the research team uses cutting-edge single-cell transcriptomic and genomic strategies, such as single-cell RNA-sequencing, to profile the molecular changes in microglia that are elicited by distinct sensory stimuli. With these combined approaches, the Cheadle lab is interrogating the ways in which environmental stimuli converge upon the microglial genome to shape neural circuit development and function.
Lucas Cheadle named HHMI Freeman Hrabowski Scholar
May 9, 2023
Cheadle was selected for his leadership in neuroscience research and advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in science.
Diversity drives Science Forward
April 20, 2023
CSHL hosts the first-ever Science Forward symposium, a two-day event for early-career researchers from historically marginalized groups.
Lucas Cheadle named a 2022 NIH Director’s New Innovator
October 4, 2022
Cheadle is CSHL’s first recipient of the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award. It supports his new work on inflammation and autism spectrum disorders.
The unexpected cells helping to shape young brains
September 28, 2022
CSHL scientists discover cells called OPCs help shape developing brains by eliminating unnecessary connections.
CSHL neuroscientist Lucas Cheadle named Emerging Scholar
January 20, 2022
Diverse: Issues In Higher Education magazine named CSHL Assistant Professor Lucas Cheadle a top “40 and under” scholar.
CSHL’s Lucas Cheadle receives Rita Allen Award
July 26, 2021
CSHL Assistant Professor Lucas Cheadle received the Rita Allen Scholar Award from the Rita Allen Foundation.
CSHL neuroscientist awarded Klingenstein-Simons Fellowship
June 10, 2021
Assistant Professor Lucas Cheadle was awarded the Klingenstein-Simons Neuroscience Fellowship for his microglia research.
CSHL neuroscientist Lucas Cheadle named McKnight Scholar
June 4, 2021
Assistant Professor Lucas Cheadle has been named a 2021 McKnight Scholar for his work on microglia.
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory: Science is hope
December 21, 2020
The Laboratory is a leading research center for genetics, cancer, plant biology, quantitative biology, and neuroscience.
Assistant Professor Cheadle named Next Generation Leader
November 19, 2020
CSHL Assistant Professor Lucas Cheadle has been named a Next Generation Leader by the Allen Institute for Brain Science.
All Publications
The cytokine receptor Fn14 is a molecular brake on neuronal activity that mediates circadian function in vivo
2 Apr 2024 | bioRxiv
Ferro, Austin, Arshad, Anosha, Boyd, Leah, Stanley, Tess, Berisha, Adrian, Vrudhula, Uma, Gomez, Adrian, Borniger, Jeremy, Cheadle, Lucas
Integrated high-confidence and high-throughput approaches for quantifying synapse engulfment by oligodendrocyte precursor cells
25 Aug 2023 | bioRxiv
Kahng, Jessica, Xavier, Andre, Ferro, Austin, Auguste, Yohan, Cheadle, Lucas
Emerging roles of oligodendrocyte precursor cells in neural circuit development and remodeling
Aug 2023 | Trends in Neurosciences | 46(8):628-639
Buchanan, JoAnn, da Costa, Nuno, Cheadle, Lucas
Neuron-glia communication through bona fide synapses
5 May 2023 | Nature Reviews Neuroscience
Cheadle, Lucas
Publisher Correction: Oligodendrocyte precursor cells engulf synapses during circuit remodeling in mice.
Dec 2022 | Nature Neuroscience | 25(12):1735
Auguste, Yohan, Ferro, Austin, Kahng, Jessica, Xavier, Andre, Dixon, Jessica, Vrudhula, Uma, Nichitiu, Anne-Sarah, Rosado, Daniele, Wee, Tse-Luen, Pedmale, Ullas, Cheadle, Lucas
Oligodendrocyte precursor cells engulf synapses during circuit remodeling in mice
28 Sep 2022 | Nature Neuroscience
Auguste, Yohan, Ferro, Austin, Kahng, Jessica, Xavier, Andre, Dixon, Jessica, Vrudhula, Uma, Nichitiu, Anne-Sarah, Rosado, Daniele, Wee, Tse-Luen, Pedmale, Ullas, Cheadle, Lucas
When the levee of sympathetic outflow breaks
9 Aug 2022 | Immunity | 55(8):1334-1336
Ferro, Austin, Cheadle, Lucas
Microglia, Cytokines, and Neural Activity: Unexpected Interactions in Brain Development and Function
2021 | Frontiers in Immunology | 12:703527
Ferro, Austin, Auguste, Yohan, Cheadle, Lucas
Sensory Experience Engages Microglia to Shape Neural Connectivity through a Non-Phagocytic Mechanism.
11 Nov 2020 | Neuron | 108(3):451-468.e9
Cheadle, Lucas, Rivera, Samuel, Phelps, Jasper, Ennis, Katelin, Stevens, Beth, Burkly, Linda, Lee, Wei-Chung, Greenberg, Michael
Sensory lesioning induces microglial synapse elimination via ADAM10 and fractalkine signaling
Jul 2019 | Nature Neuroscience | 22(7):1075-1088
Gunner, G, Cheadle, L, Johnson, K, Ayata, P, Badimon, A, Mondo, E, Nagy, M, Liu, L, Bemiller, S, Kim, K, Lira, S, Lamb, B, Tapper, A, Ransohoff, R, Greenberg, M, Schaefer, A, Schafer, D