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
- Li, B, Jiao, L, Zhang, Y. Pharmacological inhibition of histone Lactylation enhances immunotherapy efficacy in gastrointestinal cancers. Bioorg Chem. 2026;170 :109536. doi: 10.1016/j.bioorg.2026.109536. PubMed PMID:41581254 .
- Qin, Y, Zhang, Y, Li, M, Ding, D, Luo, R, Liu, H et al.. Exogenous dendritic cell-derived exosomes promote Treg differentiation via IDO1-Kyn-AhR axis and improve cardiac function after myocardial infarction. Int Immunopharmacol. 2026;173 :116253. doi: 10.1016/j.intimp.2026.116253. PubMed PMID:41581242 .
- Zhang, Y, Mei, Z, Lin, X, Tang, Z, Ji, Y, Wang, D et al.. Determination of Nucleation Process and Spherical Micelle Growth by Time-Resolved SAXS During PISA: Evidence from Liquid Crystalline Spherical Nanoparticles. Small. 2026; :e14671. doi: 10.1002/smll.202514671. PubMed PMID:41581192 .
- Zhang, K, Lv, L, Chen, Y, Lin, S, Long, Y, Gao, J et al.. Nanocomposite Cellulose Membranes for High-Performance Water Evaporation Electricity Generation. Small. 2026; :e13753. doi: 10.1002/smll.202513753. PubMed PMID:41581182 .
- Li, F, He, E, Jiao, Y, Yang, S, Wang, J, Wang, H et al.. A New Metalgel Current Collector for Simultaneous Rapid and Stable Zinc Electrochemistry. Small. 2026; :e14260. doi: 10.1002/smll.202514260. PubMed PMID:41581172 .