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
- Zhang, Y, Zhao, C, Wei, B, Li, L, Nie, P, Liu, J et al.. Total Synthesis and Structural Revision of (-)-Garvensintriol. J Nat Prod. 2026; :. doi: 10.1021/acs.jnatprod.6c00456. PubMed PMID:42233247 .
- Liu, Y, Liu, Y, Zhang, E, Xie, W, Zhang, Y, Luo, JL et al.. Augmenting Ultrafast Hot Electron Injection from Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance via an AlGaN/GaN Interlayer for Ta3N5-Based Efficient Water Splitting. ACS Nano. 2026; :. doi: 10.1021/acsnano.6c03342. PubMed PMID:42233245 .
- Zhou, X, Shi, J, Ma, Y, Zhang, Y, Li, X, Peng, B et al.. A Multiomics Study Exploring Biomarkers of Toxicity Induced by Silica Nanoparticles on BEAS-2B Cells. J Proteome Res. 2026; :. doi: 10.1021/acs.jproteome.5c01119. PubMed PMID:42233238 .
- Qiu, X, Yi, D, Zuo, X, Zhu, Q, Zhang, Y. Pd-Catalyzed Vinylic C-H Funtionalization for the Synthesis of 1,4-Disilylated 1,3-Dienes. Org Lett. 2026; :. doi: 10.1021/acs.orglett.6c01878. PubMed PMID:42233215 .
- Cheng, C, Tong, M, Hu, Y, Gao, Q, Zuo, H, Zhang, Y et al.. Regional heterogeneity of spatial-temporal characteristics and meteorological-environmental driving factors of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome in China. One Health. 2026;22 :101454. doi: 10.1016/j.onehlt.2026.101454. PubMed PMID:42233161 PubMed Central PMC13223968.