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
- Wang, J, Gao, M, Zhao, Y, Shi, B, Wu, X, Zhang, Y et al.. Comparison of dental implant placement accuracy between robotic and static or dynamic computer-assisted surgeries: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Med Oral Patol Oral Cir Bucal. 2025; :. doi: 10.4317/medoral.27132. PubMed PMID:41108766 .
- Xue, G, Lu, J, Sun, ZT, Hu, C, Liu, R, Lu, C et al.. Li Atomic Diffusivity: A Key Descriptor for Critical Current Density and Cycling Stability in Alloy Anodes for All-Solid-State Lithium Batteries. J Am Chem Soc. 2025; :. doi: 10.1021/jacs.5c12252. PubMed PMID:41108739 .
- Ni, HF, Pan, L, Du, CH, Xu, LC, Lou, JC, Liu, PG et al.. Proton Alloying in an Organic-Inorganic Hybrid Material Enables Unusual Dynamic Birefringence and Martensitic Actuation. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2025; :e202518937. doi: 10.1002/anie.202518937. PubMed PMID:41108662 .
- Liu, Z, Wang, Y, Zhang, Y, Yang, N, Yang, Y. Characterizing Infrared Spectra of OH-·(H2O)2and OH-·(H2O)3 with Constrained Nuclear-Electronic Orbital Molecular Dynamics. J Phys Chem A. 2025; :. doi: 10.1021/acs.jpca.5c04334. PubMed PMID:41108635 .
- Li, D, Wang, T, Zhao, R, Wang, W, Zhang, Y, Long, A et al.. The extract of dendrobium Coelonin inhibits PIH induced by AFR CO2 fractional laser combined with UV-B. Photochem Photobiol Sci. 2025; :. doi: 10.1007/s43630-025-00795-8. PubMed PMID:41108468 .