Dr. Weili Yang is a principle investigator of Guangdong-Hongkong-Macau Institute of CNS Regeneration (GHMICR) at Jinan University. She obtained her Ph.D. from Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences in December, 2016. In 2017, she performed her postdoctoral research in Dr. Xiao-Jiang Li’s lab in Jinan University and then she moved to University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) as a visiting scholar. In 2018, she performed her postdoctoral research at the Department of Human Genetics at Emory University and then she joined GHMICR in September of 2019. Dr. Weili Yang’s research is focused on elucidating the molecularmechanism of neurodegenerativedisease, such as Parkinson’s Disease using non-human primate models and mouse models. In the past years, Dr. Weili Yang participated in establishing the first functional gene knockout monkey of DMD disease, the first PINK1 KO monkey model of Parkinson’s Disease in the world using TALEN and CRISPR/Cas9. Using PINK1 KO monkey model, they found PINK1 expression is abundantly expressed in the primate brains and that knocking out PINK1 in the monkey brain can lead to severe neurodegeneration. However, loss of PINK1 in rodent models does not show overt neurodegeneration. Currently, they aim to investigate how the loss of PINK1 function causes neurodegeneration in the primate brain. Another research focus is exploring the functions of Parkin by using CRISPR/Cas9-induced Parkin KO monkey models. She has published papers on high impact journals including Cell Research, Journal of Neuroscience, Molecular Neurodegeneration, Cell stem cell, Human Molecular Genetic and Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience.
1. Yang W, Liu Y, Tu Z, Xiao C, Yan S, Ma X, Guo X, Chen X, Yin P, Yang Z, Jiang T, Li, S, Qin C, Li XJ. CRISPR/Cas9-mediated PINK1 deletion leads to neurodegeneration in rhesus monkeys. Cell Res. 29(4):334-336, 2019.
2. Yang W,Li S, Li XJ.A CRISPR monkey model unravels a unique function of PINK1 in primate brains.Mol Neurodegener. 14(1):17, 2019.
3. Yang W, Wang G, Wang C, Guo X, Yin P, Gao J, Tu Z, Wang Z, Wu J, Hu X, Li S, Li XJ. Mutant Alphα-Synuclein Causes Age-Dependent Neuropathology in Monkey Brain, J Neurosci., 35: 8345-58, 2015.
4. Yang W, Tu Z, Sun Q, Li XJ. CRISPR/Cas9: Implications for Modeling and Therapy of Neurodegenerative Diseases, Front. Mol. Neurosci., 9:30, 2016.
5.Yang W, Zhang Y, Yang J, Tan L, Yang K. Potential anti-osteoporosis effect of biodegradable magnesium implanted in STZ-induced diabetic rats. J Biomed Mater Res A. 99, 386-94, 2011.
6. Tu Z*, Yang W*（co-first author）, Yan S*, Yin A, Gao J, Liu X, Zheng Y, Zheng J, Li Z, Yang S, Li, SH, Guo X and Li X- J. Promoting Cas9 degradation reduces mosaic mutations in non-human primate embryos. Sci Rep. 7: 42081, 2017.
7. Chen Y*, Zheng Y*, Kang Y*, Yang W*（co-first author） , Niu Y, Guo X, Tu Z, Si C, Wang H, Xing R, Pu X, Yang SH, Li S, Ji W, Li XJ. Functional disruption of the dystrophin gene in Rhesus Monkey Using CRISPR/Cas9. Hum. Mol. Genet. 24, 3764-74, 2015.
8. Tu Z, Yang W, Yan S, Guo X, Li XJ*.CRISPR/Cas9: a powerful genetic engineering tool for establishing large animal models of neurodegenerative diseases. Mol Neurodegener. 10:35, 2015.
9. Li XJ, Tu Z, Yang W, Li S. CRISPR: Established Editor of Human Embryos? Cell Stem Cell. 21(3):295-296, 2017.
10. Yin P, Guo X, Yang W, Yan S, Yang S, Zhao T, Sun Q, Liu Y, Li S, Li XJ. Caspase-4 mediates cytoplasmic accumulation of TDP-43 in the primate brains. Acta Neuropathol. 137(6):919-937, 2019.
11. Yan S, Tu Z, Liu Z, Fan N, Yang H, Yang S, Yang W, Zhao Y, Ouyang Z, Lai C,Yang H, Li L, Liu Q, Shi H, Xu G, Zhao H, Wei H, Pei Z, Li S, Lai L, Li XJ. A Huntingtin Knockin Pig Model Recapitulates Features of Selective Neurodegeneration in Huntington's Disease. Cell. 173(4):989-1002, 2018.
12. Yang S, Yang HM, Chang RB Yang Y, Yin P, Yang W, Huang SS Geartig, MA, Li SH, Li XJ. MANF regulates hypothalamic control of food intake and body weight. Nature Commun, 18;8(1):579, 2017.
13. Zhao H, Tu ZC, Xu HJ, Yan S, Yan HH, Zheng YH, Yang W, Zheng JH, Li ZJ, Tian R, Lu YM Gao XY, Jiang YH, Li X-J. Zhang YQ. Altered neurogenesis and disrupted expression of synaptic proteins in SHANK3 deficient non-human primate prefrontal cortex. Cell Res, 27(10):1293-1297. 2017.
14. Niu Y, Guo X, Chen Y, Wang C, Gao J, Yang W, Kang Y, Si W, Wang H, Yang SH, Li S, Ji W, Li XJ. Early Parkinson's disease symptoms in α-synuclein transgenic monkeys. Hum. Mol. Genet. 24, 2308-17, 2015.
