Wei Wang, Ph.D. - Scientists&Research - 北京生命科学研究所

Wei Wang, Ph.D.

Assistant Investigator, NIBS, Beijing，China

Email: wangwei@nibs.ac.cn

Home page: https://killifishlab.com/

Ph.D. in Biology, The University of Alabama, USA

M.S. in Genetics, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, China

B.S. in Biology and B.E. minor in Computer Science and Technology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, China.

2021-Present National Institute of Biological Sciences, Beijing, China
Assistant Investigator, National Institute of Biological Sciences, Beijing, China

2014-2021年 Stowers Institute for Medical Research and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Kansas City, USA
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Stowers Institute for Medical Research and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Kansas City, USA

Regeneration has long attracted biomedical interest because of the potential of replacing damaged organs with new ones. However, why some lower vertebrates (e.g., fish and salamanders) regenerate extensively while others such as mammals regenerate poorly is not well understood. Further, the ability to regenerate damaged organs displays progressive decline during aging, leading to reduced quality of life in old animals. How the regenerative capacities are lost during evolution and aging is still a long-standing question in biology. Powered with a new genetic model, the African killifish Nothobranchius furzeri, the Wang Lab is interested in identifying molecular mechanisms of regenerative capacities that can be targeted to help humans rebuild damaged and aged organs. Our current research will focus on, but not limited to, the following areas:

(1) The molecular basis of spinal cord regeneration.

(2) Evolution of regenerative capacities in vertebrates.

(3) Regeneration and Rejuvenation.

Research articles:

1. Zhang, JQ., Zhou YQ., Yue, W., Zhu ZS., Wu XL., Yu, S., Shen QY., Pan Q., Xu, WJ., Zhang, R., Wu, XJ., Li, XM., Li, YY, Li, YX., Wang, Y., Peng, S., Zhang, SQ., Lei, AM., Ding, XB., Yang, F., Chen, XQ., Li, N.#, Liao, MZ.#, Wang, W. #, Hua, JL#, 2022. Super-enhancers conserved within placental mammals maintain stem cell pluripotency, Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 119 (40) e2204716119. (# Corresponding Authors)

2. Xiong, SL., Wang, W., Kenzior, A., Olsen, L., Krishnan, J., Persons, J., Medley, K., Peuß, R., Wang, YF., Chen, SY., Zhang, N., Thomas, N., Miles, JM., Sánchez Alvarado, A., Rohner, N., 2022, Enhanced lipogenesis through Pparg helps cavefish adapt to food scarcity, Current Biology 32, 1–9.

3. Wang, W., Hu, C.-K., Zeng, A., Alegre, D., Hu, D., Gotting, K., Ortega Granillo, A., Wang, Y., Robb, S., Schnittker, R., Zhang, S., Alegre, D., Li, H., Ross, E., Zhang, N., Brunet, A., Sánchez Alvarado, A., 2020. Changes in regeneration-responsive enhancers shape regenerative capacities in vertebrates. Science 369, (10.1126/science.aaz3090).

Research Highlights in Nature: Why some animals have the power of regeneration. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02529-5

Research Highlights in Nature Reviews Genetics: Enhancing regeneration.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41576-020-00290-z

4. Kushawah G., Hernandez-Huertas L., Abugattas-Nuñez del Prado J., Martinez-Morales J.R., DeVore M.L., Hassan H., Moreno-Sanchez I., Tomas-Gallardo L., Diaz-Moscoso A., Monges D.C.; Guelfo J.R., Theune W.C., Brannan E.O., Wang W., Corbin T.J., Moran A.M., Sánchez Alvarado A., Málaga-Trillo E., Takacs C.M., Bazzini A.; Moreno-Mateos M., 2020. CRISPR-Cas13d induces efficient mRNA knock-down in animal embryos, Dev. Cell 54, 1–13.

5. Hu, C.K., Wang, W., Brind'Amour, J., Singh, P.P., Reeves, G.A., Lorincz, M.C., Alvarado, A.S., Brunet, A., 2020. Vertebrate diapause preserves organisms long term through Polycomb complex members. Science 367, 870-874.

6. Cao, C., Lemaire, L.A., Wang, W., Yoon, P.H., Choi, Y.A., Parsons, L.R., Matese, J.C., Wang, W., Levine, M., Chen, K., 2019. Comprehensive single-cell transcriptome lineages of a proto-vertebrate. Nature 571, 349-354.

7. Zeng, A., Li, H., Guo, L., Gao, X., McKinney, S., Wang, Y., Yu, Z., Park, J., Semerad, C., Ross, E., Cheng, L.C., Davies, E., Lei, K., Wang, W., Perera, A., Hall, K., Peak, A., Box, A., Sanchez Alvarado, A., 2018. Prospectively Isolated Tetraspanin(+) Neoblasts Are Adult Pluripotent Stem Cells Underlying Planaria Regeneration. Cell 173, 1593-1608 e1520.

8. Wang, W., Tindell, N., Yan, S., Yoder, J.H., 2013. Homeotic functions of the Teashirt transcription factor during adult Drosophila development. Biology open 2, 18-29.

9. Wang, W., Yoder, J.H., 2012. Hox-mediated regulation of doublesex sculpts sex-specific abdomen morphology in Drosophila. Dev Dyn 241, 1076-1090.

10. Wang, W., Kidd, B.J., Carroll, S.B., Yoder, J.H., 2011. Sexually dimorphic regulation of the Wingless morphogen controls sex-specific segment number in Drosophila. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 108, 11139-11144.

11. Wang, W., Yoder, J.H., 2011. Drosophila pupal abdomen immunohistochemistry. J. Vis. Exp. (56), e3139, doi:10.3791/3139

Book chapters and Protocols:

1. Wei Wang #, Nicolas Rohner #, and Yongfu Wang #. Book Series: Emerging Model Organisms, Neuromethods, volume 194, In press (https://link.springer.com/book/9781071628744). (# Corresponding Editors).

2. Ortega Granillo, A., Schnittker, R., Wang, W #. and Alvarado, A.S#. (2021). Quantifying cell proliferation through immunofluorescence on whole-mount and cryosectioned regenerating caudal fins in African killifish. Bio-protocol. bio-protocol.org/prep1480. (# Corresponding Authors)