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, Chen, B, Hébert, ET, DeFina, LF, Leonard, D, Barlow, CE et al.. Associations of physical activity, sedentary behavior, and sleep patterns with cognitive function among middle-aged and older adults. J Act Sedentary Sleep Behav. 2025;4 (1):9. doi: 10.1186/s44167-025-00079-7. PubMed PMID:40537879 .
- Hu, H, Wang, W, Chang, Z, Wang, S, Zhang, Y, Zou, L et al.. Age-specific serum calcium levels in healthy individuals from the Xing'an League: a descriptive study. J Health Popul Nutr. 2025;44 (1):209. doi: 10.1186/s41043-025-00954-8. PubMed PMID:40537857 .
- Zhang, M, Zeng, J, Ge, Y, Chen, W, Feng, K, Cheng, A et al.. Risk factors and prognosis of post-surgical acute kidney injury in elderly patients based on the MIMIC-IV database. Eur J Med Res. 2025;30 (1):491. doi: 10.1186/s40001-025-02762-6. PubMed PMID:40537854 .
- Ke, Y, Zheng, J, Zhang, J, Tang, D, Yang, Q, Zhao, H et al.. Phosphorylation-stabilized CRTC1 cooperates with CBP and androgen receptor to transactivate AMH expression and drive polycystic ovary syndrome. Biol Direct. 2025;20 (1):71. doi: 10.1186/s13062-025-00665-4. PubMed PMID:40537816 .
- Zhang, Y, Zhou, Z, Liu, N, Wang, J, Guo, Q, You, Y et al.. Curcumin-loaded PLGA microparticles integrated with ZnO/GelMA hydrogel microneedles for infectious wound healing and reduction of hypertrophic scars. J Nanobiotechnology. 2025;23 (1):455. doi: 10.1186/s12951-025-03534-4. PubMed PMID:40537815 .