Dr. Zheng Wu is a Principle Investigator in Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Institute of CNS regeneration (GHMICR), Jinan University. He graduated from the School of Life Sciences at Fudan University in 2011, and later joined Pennsylvania State University for postdoctoral training under the supervision of Professor Gong Chen, who is the pioneer of in vivo glia-to-neuron conversion. In August 2016, he was promoted to be a Research Assistant Professor at Penn State. His study is focusing on the pathogenesis and intervention treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease and Huntington’s disease. He has been working on reprogramming glial cells into functional neurons in the brains of living animal to replenish the lost neurons in the diseased brain, and ultimately to achieve the functional improvement in treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. He is currently developing the second-generation of in vivo cell reprogramming technology, which is to convert glial cells into functional neurons while correcting or reducing the expression of disease-related genes inside the brain. In conjunction with his involvement in several funded projects of NIH and Alzheimer Association, he is the author of publications in Nature Communications, Cell Stem Cell and Molecular Neurodegeneration, etc., and the co-inventor of 5 U.S. invention patents.
(1). Hui Wang, Liang Xu, Chuying Lai, Kaiyu Hou, Junliang Chen, Yaowei Guo, Abhijeet Sambangi, Shreya Swaminathan, Chunming Xie*, Zheng Wu*, Gong Chen*. (2021) Region-specific distribution of Olig2-expressing astrocytes in adult mouse brain and spinal cord. Molecular Brian. 2021 Feb 17;14(1):36. (*Co-corresponding author).
(2). Zheng Wu, Matthew Parry, Xiao-Yi Hou, Min-Hui Liu, Hui Wang, Rachel Cain, Zi-Fei Pei, Yu-Chen Chen, Zi-Yuan Guo, Sambangi Abhijeet, Gong Chen. （2020）Gene therapy conversion of striatal astrocytes into GABAergic neurons in mouse models of Huntington’s disease. Nature Communications. Feb 27, 2020
(3). Zheng Wu*, QW Huo*, L Ren, FP Dong, MY Feng, Y Wang, YT Bai, B Lüscher, ST Li, GL Wang, C Long, Y Wang, G Chen. (2019) Gluconate suppresses seizure activity in developing brains by inhibiting CLC-3 chloride channels. Molecular Brian. 2019, 15; 12(1):50. (*Co-first Author)
(4). DY Jiang, Zheng Wu, CT Forsyth, Y Hu, SP Yee, G Chen. (2018) GABAergic deficits and schizophrenia-like behaviors in a mouse model carrying patient-derived neuroligin-2 R215H mutation. Molecular Brian. 2018, 11 (1), 31.
(5). Y Wang, Zheng Wu*, YT Bai, GY Wu*, G Chen*. (2017) Gad67 haploinsufficiency reduces amyloid pathology and rescues olfactory memory deficits in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease. Molecular Neurodegeneration. 2017, 12:73. (*Co-corresponding author).
（6）. L Chen, L Wan, Zheng Wu, W Ren, Y Huang, B Qian, Y Wang. (2017) KCC2 downregulation facilitates epileptic seizures. Scientific Reports. Dec; 7(1):156.
（7）. Tang X, Kim J, Zhou L, Wengert E, Zhang L, Wu Zheng, Carromeu C, Muotri AR, Marchetto MC, Gage FH, Chen G. (2016) KCC2 rescues functional deficits in human neurons derived from patients with Rett syndrome. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. Jan 19; 113(3):751-6.
（8）. Zheng Wu, Alan C. Foster, Ursula Staubli, Xia Wu, Chicheng Sun, Xin Tang, Yong-Xin Li, Gong Chen . (2015) Effects of 3-aminoglutarate, a “silent” false transmitter for glutamate neurons, on synaptic transmission and epileptiform activity. Neuropharmacology. Oct; 97:95-103.
（9）. Zheng Wu, Ziyuan Guo, Marla Gearing, Gong Chen. (2014) Tonic inhibition in dentate gyrus impairs long-term potentiation and memory in an Alzheimer’s disease model. Nature Communications. June 13, 2014.
（10）. Wan L, Liu X, Wu Zheng, Ren W, Kong S, Dargham RA, Cheng L, Wang Y. (2014) Activation of extrasynaptic GABA(A) receptors inhibits cyclothiazide-induced epileptiform activity in hippocampal CA1 neurons. Neurosci Bull. Oct; 30(5):866-76.
（11）. Guo Z, Zhang L, Wu Zheng, Chen Y, Wang F, Chen G. (2014) In Vivo direct reprogramming of reactive glial cells into functional neurons after brain injury and in an Alzheimer’s Disease model. Cell Stem Cell. 14(2):188-202.
（12）. Wu X*, Huang L*, Wu Zheng, Zhang C, Jiang D, Bai Y, Wang Y, Chen G. (2013) Homeostatic competition between phasic and tonic inhibition. J Biol Chem. 288(35):25053-65.
（13）. Yajie Sun*, Zheng Wu*, Shuzhen Kong, Dongyun Jiang, Anar Pitre, Yun Wang, and Gong Chen. (2013) Regulation of epileptiform activity by two distinct subtypes of extrasynaptic GABAA receptors. Mol Brain. 6:21. (*Co-first Author)
（14）. Wu X, Wu Zheng, Ning G, Guo Y, Ali R, Macdonald RL, De Blas AL, Luscher B, Chen G. (2012) gamma-Aminobutyric Acid Type A (GABAA) Receptor Alpha Subunits Play a Direct Role in Synaptic versus Extrasynaptic Targeting. J Biol Chem. 287(33): 27417-27430.
（15）. Qian B, Sun Y, Wu Zheng, Wan L, Chen L, Kong S, Zhang B, Zhang F, Wang ZY, Wang Y. (2011) Epileptiform response of CA1 neurones to convulsant stimulation by cyclothiazide, kainic acid and pentylenetetrazol in anaesthetized rats. Seizure. 20(4):312-9.
（16）. Chen CR, Tan R, Qu WM, Wu Zheng, Wang Y, Urade Y, Huang ZL. (2011) Magnolol, a major bioactive constituent of the bark of Magnolia officinalis, exerts anti-epileptic effects via GABA-benzodiazepine receptor complex in mice, British Journal of Pharmacology. 164(5):1534-46.
（17）. Zheng Wu*, Qi Xu*, Liecheng Wang, et al. (2009) Protective effect of resveratrol against kainate-induced temporal lobe epilepsy in rats. Neurochemical Research. 34(8):1393–1400. (*Co-first Author)
（18）. Zheng Wu, Xu Qi, Dehu Kong, et al. (2008) Temporal lobe epilepsy animal model established by stereotaxic microinjection of kainic acid. Neural Regeneration Research. 3(4), 436-440.
