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
- Liu, X, Zhang, Y, Ye, N. The Gut-Joint Axis in Osteoarthritis: A Bibliometric Analysis of Research Trends and Mechanistic Insights (2008-2025). Endocr Metab Immune Disord Drug Targets. 2026; :. doi: 10.2174/0118715303399881251121113531. PubMed PMID:41820217 .
- Zhang, Y, Gu, Y. Comment on: Characteristics and diagnostic sensitivity of endoscopic ultrasound in lower gastrointestinal subepithelial lesions. J Formos Med Assoc. 2026; :. doi: 10.1016/j.jfma.2026.03.030. PubMed PMID:41820145 .
- Liang, X, Zhang, Y, Weckwerth, W, Chen, Y. Next-generation proximity labeling: redefining protein interactomes. Trends Plant Sci. 2026; :. doi: 10.1016/j.tplants.2026.02.011. PubMed PMID:41820106 .
- Shi, Y, Liu, H, Fernie, AR, Zhang, Y, Yang, W, Wang, H et al.. Toward a multiomics framework for understanding symbiotic nitrogen fixation. Trends Plant Sci. 2026; :. doi: 10.1016/j.tplants.2026.01.008. PubMed PMID:41820103 .
- Luo, Y, Qin, Y, Zhang, H, Zhang, Y, Lu, J, Liu, X et al.. Corrigendum to "Study on the detection method of Brucella differential type PCR" [Vet. Immunol. Immunopathol. differential type PCR" [Vet. Immunol. Immunopathol. differential type PCR" [Vet. Immunol. Immunopathol. differential type PCR" [Vet. Immunol. Immunopathol. 293 (2026) 111075]. Vet Immunol Immunopathol. 2026; :111101. doi: 10.1016/j.vetimm.2026.111101. PubMed PMID:41820095 .