Research
Astrocyte development and the roles of astrocytes in diseases
Appointments
- Assistant Professor
- Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center
- Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior
Biography
Astrocytes constitute at least a third of all cells in human brains. Long thought to be passive support cells, astrocytes are recently found to be critical for the development and function of the central nervous system. Accumulating evidence show that astrocytes are involved in almost every type of neurological and psychiatric disorder.
The cellular and molecular mechanisms that control astrocyte development as well as dysfunction of astrocytes in neurological and psychiatric disorders remains poorly understood.
We combine cell culture and mouse genetic approaches to study the following questions:
- What signals regulate astrocyte maturation?
- How is astrocyte differentiation regulated?
- Can we improve treatment of glioblastoma by studying astrocyte development?
- Are astrocytes involved in intellectual disability and autism?
Publications
- Wang, C, Gu, XD, Lin, GL, Liu, SW, Liao, GZ, Du, YH et al.. Haplotype-resolved genome of Schizothorax nukiangensis sheds light on polyploidy and altitudinal adaptation in freshwater fishes. Zool Res. 2026; :1-14. doi: 10.24272/j.issn.2095-8137.2025.354. PubMed PMID:42104778 .
- Weng, Y, Chen, T, Zhou, L, Zhang, YY, Shen, Y, Li, QQ et al.. Divergent Evolutionary Routes of Hypoxia Tolerance in Mangroves. Mol Ecol. 2026;35 (9):e70372. doi: 10.1111/mec.70372. PubMed PMID:42104718 .
- Wang, L, Chu, Y, Xie, J, Chen, J, Liu, Y, Yang, S et al.. The impact of previous history of malignant tumors/precancerous lesions on IVF/ICSI outcomes: a retrospective cohort study. Ann Med. 2026;58 (1):2654266. doi: 10.1080/07853890.2026.2654266. PubMed PMID:42104684 .
- Zhang, Y, Li, D. The cytoskeleton as an active regulator of membrane-protein condensation: a mesoscale simulation study. Biophys J. 2026; :. doi: 10.1016/j.bpj.2026.05.010. PubMed PMID:42104615 .
- Pan, H, Hu, Z, Zhong, J, Zhang, Y, Han, J, Li, J et al.. Effects of Rosemary Extract on Methylglyoxal/Glyoxal-Mediated Glycation of Dairy Proteins During Thermal Processing. J Food Sci. 2026;91 (5):e71098. doi: 10.1111/1750-3841.71098. PubMed PMID:42104593 .