Wei Wang, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, TIMBR, Assistant Investigator, NIBS, Beijing, China

Home page:https://killifishlab.com/

Education

2014    Ph.D. in Biology, The University of Alabama, USA

2009    M.S. in Genetics, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, China

2006    B.S. in Biology and B.E. minor in Computer Science and Technology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, China.

Experience

2021-Present    Assistant Professor, TIMBR, Assistant Investigator, NIBS, Beijing, China

2014-2021    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

Research

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.

Publications

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 Biology32, 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.Science369, (10.1126/science.aaz3090).

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

Research Highlights inNature 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. Cell54, 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.Science367, 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.Nature571, 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.Cell173, 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 open2, 18-29.

9.Wang, W., Yoder, J.H., 2012. Hox-mediated regulation of doublesex sculpts sex-specific abdomen morphology in Drosophila.Dev Dyn241, 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 A108, 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)