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
- Li, J, Li, DH, Guo, QQ, Zhang, J, Zhu, XJ, Liu, YH et al.. Efficacy and Safety of Vonoprazan-Based Dual Therapies With Different Antibiotics Versus Bismuth-Containing Quadruple Therapy for Helicobacter pylori Eradication: A Prospective, Four-Arm, Randomized Controlled Trial. Helicobacter. 2026;31 (3):e70132. doi: 10.1111/hel.70132. PubMed PMID:42141850 .
- Zhou, Y, Zhu, Y, Li, S, He, Z, Zhang, Y, Wang, Z et al.. A Bidirectional Association Between Helicobacter pylori Infection and Hyperlipidemia: Clinical Evidence and Mechanistic Insights. Helicobacter. 2026;31 (3):e70135. doi: 10.1111/hel.70135. PubMed PMID:42141844 .
- Sun, S, Wang, R, Sardans, J, Bi, M, Zhang, Y, Fan, X et al.. Nitrogen-Driven Acidification and Microbial Shifts Contribute to a Breakdown in Carbon-Phosphorus Trade in the Rhizosphere. Glob Chang Biol. 2026;32 (5):e70924. doi: 10.1111/gcb.70924. PubMed PMID:42141824 .
- Zhang, Y, Zhao, Y, Yang, Q, Lu, P, Ren, Z, Wang, X et al.. 1 nm-Level Solid Electrolyte Interphase on Coal-Based Hard Carbon Enables Superior Sodium Storage. Adv Mater. 2026; :e73153. doi: 10.1002/adma.73153. PubMed PMID:42141747 .
- Liu, X, Zhao, Y, Wan, CY, Zhang, Y, Liu, J. Renormalization-inspired effective field neural networks for scalable modeling of classical and quantum many-body systems. Phys Rev E. 2026;113 (4):L043302. doi: 10.1103/zmrt-3jsm. PubMed PMID:42141633 .