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, X, Zhang, Y, Bandala-Sanchez, E, Herold, MJ, Naselli, G, Zhan, Y et al.. The T cell receptor associated transmembrane adaptor 1 regulates the threshold for activation of naïve human CD4+ T cells. Immunobiology. 2026;231 (4):153219. doi: 10.1016/j.imbio.2026.153219. PubMed PMID:42485749 .
- Liang, S, Zhang, Y, Zhang, Y, Liao, W, He, Q. Occurrence and migration of non-intentionally added substances in raw and finished PEEK-based food contact materials via suspect screening and risk prioritization. J Hazard Mater. 2026;515 :142982. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2026.142982. PubMed PMID:42485722 .
- Chen, M, Shi, J, Zhang, S, Zhuang, D, Ren, Y, Zhang, Y et al.. Flexible wood-derived hydrogel patch for smartphone-assisted interval sweat cortisol profiling. Biosens Bioelectron. 2026;312 :119037. doi: 10.1016/j.bios.2026.119037. PubMed PMID:42485701 .
- Song, X, Guo, F, Dan, G, Zhu, J, Zhang, Y. Structural Thermodynamics of Membrane Electroporation: Voltage-Driven Interdigitation Induces Electro-Topological Disparity. J Chem Inf Model. 2026; :. doi: 10.1021/acs.jcim.6c01534. PubMed PMID:42485586 .
- Wu, F, Zhang, Z, Lin, Y, Zhang, Y, Liu, G, Chen, D et al.. Stimuli-Responsive Hydrazone/Oxime Ligation for Selective Labeling of Cell Surface Glycoproteins. Chemistry. 2026; :e71462. doi: 10.1002/chem.71462. PubMed PMID:42485584 .