Zhang, Ye, Ph.D.

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

1. Li, Y, Hu, N, Fan, B, Wang, X, Liu, B, Mao, P et al.. Development and Validation of a Novel Clinical Prediction Model for Postherpetic Neuralgia: Integrating Inflammatory and Coagulation Biomarkers. Pain Physician. 2026;29 (3):E229-E237. . PubMed PMID:42263316 .
2. Shen, Y, Yang, X, Yu, J, Zhang, Y, Yang, T, Gao, Y et al.. MFPD: A Multiple Fungal Pathogen Detection Pipeline Across Diverse Habitats. Adv Sci (Weinh). 2026; :e22660. doi: 10.1002/advs.202522660. PubMed PMID:42263256 .
3. Yu, M, Dai, H, Zhong, X, Li, Q, Yuan, H, Yang, Y et al.. Nanocellulose Alleviates Intrahepatic Cholestasis of Pregnancy via Gut Microbiota-Mediated Bile Acid Homeostasis. Adv Sci (Weinh). 2026; :e18337. doi: 10.1002/advs.202518337. PubMed PMID:42263239 .
4. Li, W, Hu, Z, Sun, J, Ding, G, Wang, D, Zhang, Y et al.. Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of a PET Probe: 4-Borono-2-[¹⁸F]fluoro-l-phenylalanine ([¹⁸F]FBPA) via an Iodonium Ylide Method for BNCT. J Org Chem. 2026; :. doi: 10.1021/acs.joc.6c00536. PubMed PMID:42263230 .
5. Fang, H, Li, Y, Cheng, H, Song, S, Lu, F, Zhang, YPJ et al.. Engineering Cellobiose Phosphorylase toward Lactose with Its Application to the Biosynthesis of Lacto-N-Biose. J Agric Food Chem. 2026; :. doi: 10.1021/acs.jafc.6c03691. PubMed PMID:42263145 .

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