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
- Guo, YF, Niu, XX, Li, L, Chen, Y, Liu, Y, Guo, C et al.. HBsAg Quantification-Based Models for Predicting Hepatocellular Carcinoma Risk in Nucleos(t)ide Analogs-Experienced Patients With Chronic Hepatitis B: The HBsAg-HCC Score. Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2026; :. doi: 10.1111/apt.70652. PubMed PMID:41933428 .
- Chi, D, Chu, H, Nie, J, Zhang, Y, Wang, F, Ding, J et al.. SPARC upregulation mediates podocyte injury in Alport syndrome mice. BMC Nephrol. 2026; :. doi: 10.1186/s12882-026-04934-w. PubMed PMID:41933297 .
- Song, Y, Zhang, Y, Wang, J, Fei, K, Xu, G, Wang, T et al.. Neoadjuvant Combination Therapy with Tyrosine Kinase and Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors in Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer: A Single-Center, Real-World Experience. Ann Surg Oncol. 2026; :. doi: 10.1245/s10434-026-19139-6. PubMed PMID:41933241 .
- Xiang, J, Wang, T, Tian, S, Li, J, Luo, M, Wang, Y et al.. Aberrant amino acid-sensing promotes immunotherapy resistance via the inflammatory cytokine-ZBTB5-mTORC1 axis. Nat Cell Biol. 2026; :. doi: 10.1038/s41556-026-01926-8. PubMed PMID:41933211 .
- Zhang, Y. Universal restoration of medical images. Nat Comput Sci. 2026; :. doi: 10.1038/s43588-026-00975-1. PubMed PMID:41933188 .