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
- Zhang, GH, Zhang, WQ, Ren, XY, Fu, LY, He, LW, Zhu, QH et al.. Super Cost-Effective and Scalable Imine-Based Sorbent With Field Attraction and In Situ Fixation for Efficient Capture of Diverse Iodine Species under Industrial Conditions. Adv Mater. 2026; :e22566. doi: 10.1002/adma.202522566. PubMed PMID:41964339 .
- Wu, S, Xu, B, Wu, Y, Li, H, Waseem, MA, Aslam, J et al.. Cationic Organic Polymers With Electrostatic Shielding Effect and Lithiophilic Sites for Dendrite-Free Lithium Metal Batteries. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2026; :e3142983. doi: 10.1002/anie.3142983. PubMed PMID:41964321 .
- Guo, J, Wei, L, Zhang, Y. Indications and Adverse Events of Toradol: Based on FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS). Pain Res Manag. 2026;2026 (1):e8822463. doi: 10.1155/prm/8822463. PubMed PMID:41964289 .
- Sun, Y, He, L, Shen, Z, Zhang, Y, Tang, Y, Yu, X et al.. Synergistic Sunlight-Activated Photodynamic and Near-Infrared-Induced Mild Photothermal Therapy for Infected Wound Healing Using Functionalized Nano-Bi2WO6 Composites. Adv Sci (Weinh). 2026; :e22124. doi: 10.1002/advs.202522124. PubMed PMID:41964279 .
- Luo, G, He, Z, Zhang, Y, Liu, B, Yang, G, Liu, W et al.. Low-Dose Polystyrene Nanoplastics Alleviate High-Fat Diet-Induced Hepatic Injury via AMPK/mTOR-Mediated Lipophagy Activation. Liver Int. 2026;46 (5):e70635. doi: 10.1111/liv.70635. PubMed PMID:41964238 .