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, Y, Zhang, Y, Hu, M, Li, YH, Cao, XH. [Retracted] Carnosic acid alleviates brain injury through NF‑κB‑regulated inflammation and Caspase‑3‑associated apoptosis in high fat‑induced mouse models. Mol Med Rep. 2026;34 (2):. doi: 10.3892/mmr.2026.13925. PubMed PMID:42246155 .
- Yan, K, Jiang, Y, Wang, R, Xu, W, Guo, J, Gao, H et al.. A fast convolution-based method for microdosimetric comparison of ²²⁵Ac, ²¹¹At, ¹⁷⁷Lu and ¹⁶¹Tb at the cell cluster scale. Phys Med Biol. 2026; :. doi: 10.1088/1361-6560/ae7892. PubMed PMID:42246136 .
- Wei, S, Gao, X, Zhang, X, Liu, C, Zhang, Y. Carrier-Doping-Tunable Ferroelectricity and Ferromagnetism in Elemental T-Pentasilicene. J Phys Condens Matter. 2026; :. doi: 10.1088/1361-648X/ae786e. PubMed PMID:42246134 .
- Guo, X, Zhou, S, Zhang, Y, Hao, W, Pang, L, Wang, J et al.. A novel deep learning network for small bowel ulcerative lesion detection and differential diagnosis on double-balloon endoscopy images. Biomed Phys Eng Express. 2026; :. doi: 10.1088/2057-1976/ae7805. PubMed PMID:42246080 .
- Li, Z, Ma, B, Wei, Z, Zhou, Z, Yang, L, Chen, J et al.. Analysis of suitable areas for Phlebotomus chinensis as vector of visceral leishmaniasis-China. Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2026;16 :1846723. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2026.1846723. PubMed PMID:42246007 PubMed Central PMC13230004.