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, A, Zhang, Y, Xu, X, Kong, J, Gu, J. Multi-Field Synergy for Orchestrating Filler Angles in Polyimide Aerogels with Switchable Electromagnetic Interference Shielding. Adv Mater. 2026; :e73267. doi: 10.1002/adma.73267. PubMed PMID:42068195 .
- Li, H, Zhang, Y, Ren, G, Tian, Y, Chai, Y, Wang, X et al.. Extraction of Acoustic Features via Empirical Wavelet Transform to Determine Stenosis Degree of the Left Anterior Descending Artery Based on the Diastolic Heart Sounds of 75 Participants. Ann Noninvasive Electrocardiol. 2026;31 (3):e70195. doi: 10.1111/anec.70195. PubMed PMID:42068141 .
- Wang, L, Cao, Y, Ren, Y, Zhang, Y, Wang, L. Different Immune Cells Modified With Chimeric Antigen Receptors Are Being Applied to Ovarian Cancer: Which Is the Most Effective?. Cancer Med. 2026;15 (5):e71897. doi: 10.1002/cam4.71897. PubMed PMID:42068103 .
- Yuan, D, Liao, H, Zhang, Y, Wang, Z, Han, Y, Zhang, D et al.. Neurochemically informed network control theory reveals energetic dysregulation of altered brain state dynamics in obsessive-compulsive disorder. Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2026; :. doi: 10.1111/pcn.70069. PubMed PMID:42068096 .
- Zhang, Y, Tong, T, Hou, B, Yu, T, Su, P, Yu, J et al.. Predicting Prognosis for Gastric Cancer Patients Receiving Neoadjuvant Treatment With Body Composition-Based Deep Learning. Cancer Med. 2026;15 (5):e71886. doi: 10.1002/cam4.71886. PubMed PMID:42068095 .