Zhang, Ye, Ph.D.

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

1. Liu, X, Zhang, Y, Su, H, Zhang, B, Zhao, F, Zhang, H et al.. Genome-wide identification of the C2-domain abscisic acid-related (CAR) protein family in Rosaceae and functional characterization of PbrCAR1 in pear pollen tube growth. Planta. 2025;262 (3):55. doi: 10.1007/s00425-025-04764-4. PubMed PMID:40663236 .
2. de Oliveira, NK, Marques, MM, Zhang, Y, Jeske, N, Zindel Deboni, MC. Neuronal cells' calcium influx modulates in response to 940 nm laser irradiation. Lasers Med Sci. 2025;40 (1):316. doi: 10.1007/s10103-025-04573-x. PubMed PMID:40663213 .
3. Zheng, K, Zhou, W, Yang, J, Zhang, Y, Jiang, C, Xie, A et al.. [¹⁸F]AlF-NOTA-FAPI-04 PET/CT improves detection of subcentimeter recurrent lesions in differentiated thyroid cancer. Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging. 2025; :. doi: 10.1007/s00259-025-07433-6. PubMed PMID:40663160 .
4. Luo, Z, Feng, A, Tyurin, A, Cui, Q, Rita, K, Xie, Z et al.. Testosterone, sex hormone-binding globulin, and fracture risk in men: evidence from observational and Mendelian randomization analyses. Osteoporos Int. 2025; :. doi: 10.1007/s00198-025-07620-z. PubMed PMID:40663115 .
5. Wu, D, Wang, Y, Han, X, Gao, H, Zhang, Y, Lou, H et al.. Neutrophil/Lymphocyte Ratio and Monocyte/Lymphocyte Ratio Concerning Renal Injury in Patients with Lupus Nephritis. Clin Lab. 2025;71 (7):. doi: 10.7754/Clin.Lab.2025.241217. PubMed PMID:40663085 .

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