Prof. Gong Chen
gongchen@jnu.edu.cn
020-85220870
Dr. Gong Chen was former Professor and Verne M. Willaman Chair in Life Sciences at Penn State University till 2019. Since January 2020, Dr. Chen joined Jinan University in Guangzhou, China, leading a Brain Repair Center to develop neuroregenerative gene therapy to treat neurodegenerative disorders. Dr. Chen pioneered an innovative in vivo reprogramming technology, converting reactive glial cells directly into functional neurons in situ in adult mammalian brains, including non-human primate models. Dr. Chen and his team published a series of articles on NeuroD1-based gene therapy, laying solid foundation for a potential disruptive therapy using internal glial cells for functional neural repair. Dr. Chen also developed a chemical reprogramming technology, using a cocktail of small molecules to convert human glial cells into functional neurons, paving the way for a potential drug therapy for neural regeneration and repair. Dr. Chen has over 160 patent applications with 40 patents issued world-wide.
Our Brain Repair Center currently has 5 junior PIs, and close to 50 members including postdoctoral fellows, PhD students, master students, and research technicians. Our research centers on in vivo astrocyte-to-neuron conversion technology and covers broad neurological disorders such as stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, epilepsy, glioma, brain injury, spinal cord injury, ALS, and retinal diseases. Our research goal is to develop innovative medicinal drugs to treat millions of patients worldwide who are suffering from debilitating neurological disorders.
BS, Fudan University, 1987
PhD, Shanghai Institute of Physiology, CAS, 1993
Postdoc Fellow, Yale University, 1994-1997
Postdoc Fellow, Stanford University, 1997-2001
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS （2010-2021）
1. 1. Zheng J, Li T, Qi S, Qin B, Yu J, Chen G. Neuroregenerative gene therapy to treat temporal lobe epilepsy in a rat model. Prog Neurobiol. 2021 Nov 28;208:102198. doi: 10.1016/j.pneurobio.2021.102198.
2. 2. Wang T, Liao JC, Wang X, Wang QS, Wan KY, Yang YY, He Q, Zhang JX, Chen G, Li W. Unexpected BrdU inhibition on astrocyte-to-neuron conversion. Neural Regen Res. 2021 December, ePub. doi: 10.4103/1673-5374.325747. PMID: 34916438.
3. 3. Chen G. In vivo confusion over in vivo conversion. Mol Ther. 2021 Nov 3;29(11):3097-3098. doi: 10.1016/j.ymthe. 2021.10.017. Epub 2021 Oct 25.
4. 4. Wang X, Pei Z, Hossain A, Bai Y, Chen G. Transcription factor-based gene therapy to treat glioblastoma through direct neuronal conversion. Cancer Biol Med. 2021 Mar 23;18(3):860-74. doi: 10.20892/j.issn.2095-3941.2020.0499. Online ahead of print.
5. 5. Xiang Z, Xu L, Liu M, Wang Q, Li W, Lei W, Chen G. Lineage tracing of direct astrocyte-to-neuron conversion in the mouse cortex. Neural Regen Res. 2021 Apr;16(4):750-756. doi: 10.4103/1673-5374.295925.
6. 6. Wang H, Xu L, Lai C, Hou K, Chen J, Guo Y, Sambangi A, Swaminathan S, Xie C, Wu Z, Chen G. Region-specific distribution of Olig2-expressing astrocytes in adult mouse brain and spinal cord. Mol Brain. 2021 Feb 17;14(1):36. doi: 10.1186/s13041-021-00747-0.
7. 7. Yu Tang, Qiuyu Wu, Mang Gao, Esther Ryu, Zifei Pei, Samuel T Kissinger, Yuchen Chen, Abhinav K Rao, Zongqin Xiang, Tao Wang, Wen Li, Gong Chen, Alexander A Chubykin. Restoration of visual function and cortical connectivity after ischemic injury through NeuroD1-mediated gene therapy. Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology, 9:1-17. 18 Aug 2021. DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2021.720078
8. 8. 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. Gene therapy conversion of striatal astrocytes into GABAergic neurons in mouse models of Huntington’s disease. Nature Communications, 2020, 11(1105):1-18.
9. 9.. Lei Zhang, Zhuofan Lei, Ziyuan Guo, Zifei Pei, Yuchen Chen, Fengyu Zhang, Alice Cai, Gabriel Mok, Grace Lee, Vishal Swaminathan, Fan Wang, Yuting Bai, and Gong Chen. Development of Neuroregenerative Gene Therapy to Reverse Glial Scar Tissue Back To Neuron-Enriched Tissue. Frontiers Cell Neurosci., 14:1-19. Published: 05 Nov 2020. (doi: 10.3389/fncel.2020.594170).
10 . Long-Jiao Ge, Fu-Han Yang, Wen Li, Tao Wang, Yu Lin, Jie Feng, Nan-Hui Chen, Min Jiang, Jian-Hong Wang, Xin-Tian Hu, Gong Chen. In Vivo Neuroregeneration to Treat Ischemic Stroke Through NeuroD1 AAV-Based Gene Therapy in Adult Non-Human Primates. Frontiers Cell Develop Biol, 8:1-21, 05 Nov 2020. DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2020.590008
1 11. Yu-Chen Chen, Ning-Xin Ma, Zi-Fei Pei, Zheng Wu, Fabricio H. Do-Monte, Susan Keefe, Emma Yellin, Miranda S. Chen, Jiu-Chao Yin, Grace Lee, Angélica Minier- Toribio, Yi Hu, Yu-Ting Bai, Kathryn Lee, Gregory J. Quirk, Gong Chen. (2019) A NeuroD1 AAV-Based Gene Therapy For Functional Brain Repair After Ischemic Injury Through In Vivo Astrocyte-To-Neuron Conversion. Molecular Therapy, 28:1-18. Sept. 6, 2019 online published.
News Press: https://scienmag.com/gene-therapy-helps-functional-recovery-after-stroke/
Highlighted by NIH Director’s Blog:
1. 12. Brendan Puls, Yan Ding, Fengyu Zhang, Mengjie Pan, Zhuofan Lei, Zifei Pei, Mei Jiang, Yuting Bai, Cody Forsyth, Morgan Metzger, Tanvi Rana, Lei Zhang, Xiaoyun Ding, Matthew Keefe, Alice Cai, Austin Redilla, Michael Lai, Kevin He, Hedong Li, and Gong Chen. Regeneration of functional neurons after spinal cord injury via in situ NeuroD1-mediated astrocyte-to-neuron conversion. Frontiers Cell Develop Biol, 8:1-18. Published: Dec. 16, 2020. (doi: 10.3389/fcell.2020.591883)
2. 13. Liu MH,Li W, Zheng JJ, Xu YG, He Q, Chen G. Differential neuronal reprogramming of astrocytes in the grey matter and white matter. Neural Regen Res. 2020 Feb;15(2):342-351.
3. 14. Muhua Lai, Mengjie Pan, Longjiao Ge, Jingmin Liu, Junyao Deng, Xianghai Wang, Lixia Lia, Jinkun Wen, Dandan Tan, Haowen Zhang, Xiaofang Hua, Lanya Fu,
Yizhou Xu, Zhenlin Li, Xiaozhong Qiu, Gong Chen, Jiasong Guo. NeuroD1 overexpression in spinal neurons accelerates axonal regeneration after sciatic nerve injury. Experimental Neurology. 2020-05．DOI: 10.1016/j.expneurol.2020.113215
4. 15. Jian Chen, Binbin Dong, Xiaoyi Feng, Dongyun Jiang, Gong Chen, Cheng Long, Li Yang. Aberrant mPFC GABAergic synaptic transmission and fear behavior in neuroligin-2 R215H knock-in mice. Brain Research. 2020-03. DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2020.146671
5. 16. Lei W, Li W, Ge L, Chen G. Non-engineered and Engineered Adult Neurogenesis in Mammalian Brains. Front Neurosci. 2019 Feb 21;13:131.
17. Yin, J.C., Zhang, L., Ma, N.X., Wang, Y., Lee, G., Hou, X.Y., Lei, Z.F., Zhang, F.Y., Dong, F.P., Wu, G.Y., and Chen, G. (2019) Chemical Conversion of Human Fetal Astrocytes into Neurons through Modulation of Multiple
1. Signaling Pathways. Stem Cell Reports, Feb. 7, 2019, online publication. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stemcr.2019.01.003
News press: https://science.psu.edu/news-and-events/2019-news/Chen2-2019
1. 18. Zheng Wu, Qingwei Huo, Liang Ren, Fengping Dong, Mengyang Feng, Yue Wang, Yuting Bai, Bernhard Lüscher, Sheng-Tian Li, Guan-Lei Wang, Cheng Long, Yun Wang, Gangyi Wu & Gong Chen. (2019).Gluconate suppresses seizure activity in developing brains by inhibiting CLC-3 chloride channels. Molecular Brain, Volume 12, Article #: 50 (2019).
News press: https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-05/ps-ndc051519.php
19. Ning-Xin Ma, Jiu-Chao Yin, Gong Chen. Transcriptome analysis of small molecule-mediated astrocyte-to-neuron reprogramming. Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology, 7:1-17. Published: May 31, 2019. (DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2019.00082)
3. 20. Zhou L, Tang X, Li X, Bai Y, Buxbaum JN, Chen G (2019) Identification of transthyretin as a novel interacting partner for the δ subunit of GABAA receptors. PLoS ONE 14(1): e0210094. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0210094
4. 21. Dong-Yun Jiang, Zheng Wu, Cody Tieu Forsyth, Yi Hu, Siu-Pok Yee, and Gong Chen. (2018) GABAergic deficits and schizophrenia-like behaviors in a mouse model carrying patient-derived neuroligin-2 R215H mutation. Molecular Brain (2018) 11:31 (https://doi.org/10.1186/s13041-018-0375-6)
22. Yue Wang, Zheng Wu, Yu-Ting Bai, Gang-Yi Wu and Gong Chen. (2017) Gad67 haploinsufficiency reduces amyloid pathology and rescues olfactory memory deficits in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease. Molecular Neurodegeneration, 12: 73. (https://doi.org/10.1186/s13024-017-0213-9)
23. Hedong Li and Gong Chen. (2016) In vivo reprogramming for CNS repair: Regenerating neurons from endogenous glial cells. Neuron, 91:728-738. (Invited review)
7. 24. Xin Tang, Julie Kim, Li Zhou, Eric Wengert, Lei Zhang, Zheng Wu, Cassiano Carromeu, Alysson R. Muotri, Maria C. N. Marchetto, Fred H. Gage, and Gong Chen. (2016) KCC2 rescues functional deficits in human neurons derived from patients with Rett syndrome. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. Epub: 2016 Jan 5.
1. 25. Zou D, Chen L, Deng D, Jiang D, Dong F, McSweeney C, Zhou Y, Liu L, Chen G, Wu Y, Mao Y. (2016) DREADD in parvalbumin interneurons of the dentate gyrus modulates anxiety, social interaction and memory extinction. Curr Mol Med. 16:91-102.
26. Casey L Kilpatrick, Shoko Murakami, Mengyang Feng, Xia Wu, Rachnanjali Lal,
Gong Chen, Keyong Du, and Bernhard Luscher. ( 2016) Dissociation of Golgi-Associated DHHC-Type Zinc Finger Protein (GODZ) and Sertoli Cell Gene with a Zinc Finger Domain-β (SERZ-β)-Mediated Palmitoylation by Loss of Function Analyses in Knockout Mice. J Biol Chem, ePub Nov. 2016.
3. 27. Lei Zhang, Jiu-Chao Yin, Hana Yeh, Ning-Xin Ma, Grace Lee, Xiangyun Amy Chen, Yanming Wang, Li Lin, Li Chen, Peng Jin, Gang-Yi Wu* and Gong Chen*. (2015) Small Molecules Efficiently Reprogram Human Astroglial Cells into Functional Neurons. Cell Stem Cell, 17:1-13, E-Pub on Oct. 15, 2015.
The article: http://www.cell.com/cell-stem-cell/pdf/S1934-5909(15)00419-1.pdf
News press: http://science.psu.edu/news-and-events/2015-news/Chen10-2015
28. Chen G, Wernig M, Berninger B, Nakafuku M, Parmar M, Zhang CL. (2015) In Vivo Reprogramming for Brain and Spinal Cord Repair. eNeuro. 2015 Nov 9; 2(5). (Review)
5. 29. Wu Z; Foster AC; Staubli U; Wu X; Sun C; Tang X; Li YX; Chen G. (2015) Effects of 3-aminoglutarate, a silent false transmitter for glutamate neurons, on synaptic transmission and epileptiform activity. Neuropharmacology. 2015; 97:95-103.
6. 30. Ziyuan Guo, Lei Zhang, Zheng Wu, Yuchen Chen, Fan Wang, and Gong Chen. (2014) In vivo direct reprogramming reactive glial cells into functional neurons after brain injury and in an Alzheimer’s disease model. Cell Stem Cell, 14: 188-202. E-pub Dec. 19, 2013. Selected as BEST of 2014 article by Cell Stem Cell in 2015.
Nature Highlight: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v505/n7482/full/505134b.html
Cell Stem Cell preview: http://www.cell.com/cell-stem-cell/abstract/S1934-5909(14)00011-3
News press: http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-12-brain-injury-alzheimer-disease.html
1. 31. Zheng Wu, Ziyuan Guo, Marla Gearing, and 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.
News press: http://medicalxpress.com/news/2014-06-alzheimer-memory-deficit-excessive-inhibition.html
32. Zhexing Wen*, Ha Nam Nguyen*, Ziyuan Guo*, Matthew Lalli, Xinyuan Wang, Yijing Su, Nam-Shik Kim, Ki-Jun Yoon, Jaehoon Shin, Ce Zhang, Georgia Makri, David Nauen, Humei Yu, Cheng-Hsuan Chiang, Nadine Yoritomo, Kozo Kaibuchi, Christopher Ross, Jizhong Zou, Kimberly Christian, Linzhao Cheng, Russell Magolis, Gong Chen, Kenneth Kosik, Elmer Guzman, Hongjun Song, and Guo-li Ming. Synaptic dysregulation in a human iPS cell model of mental disorders. Nature, 515(7527):414-8. doi: 10.1038/nature13716. Epub 2014 Aug 17.
News press: http://neurosciencenews.com/synaptic-growth-disc1-neurodevelopment-1224/
33. Xin Tang, Li Zhou, Alecia M. Wagner, Maria C.N. Marchetto, Alysson R. Muotri, Fred H. Gage, and Gong Chen. (2013) Astroglial cells regulate the developmental timeline of human neurons differentiated from induced pluripotent stem cells. Stem Cell Research, 11(2):743-757. Cover article. Ranked as the most downloaded article in the journal website immediately after publication.
News press: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/06/130606141130.htm
4. 34. Chicheng Sun, Lei Zhang, and Gong Chen. (2013) An unexpected role of neuroligin-2 in regulating KCC2 and GABA functional switch. Mol Brain, 6:23. (Ranking as the most highly accessed article)
5. 35. Xia Wu, Lanting Huang, Zheng Wu, Ce Zhang, Dongyun Jiang, Yuting Bai, Yun Wang, and Gong Chen. (2013) Homeostatic competition between phasic and tonic inhibition. J. Biol. Chem. 288(35):25053-65.
6. 36. Yajie Sun, Zheng Wu, Shuzhen Kong, Dongyun Jiang, Anar Pitre, Yun Wang, and GongChen. (2013) Regulation of epileptiform activity by two distinct subtypes of extrasynaptic GABAA receptors. Mol Brain, 6:21.
7. 37. Wang R, McGrath BC, Kopp RF, Roe MW, Tang X, Chen G, Cavener DR. (2013) Insulin secretion and Ca2+ dynamics in β-cells are regulated by PERK eIF2α kinase in concert with calcineurin. J Biol Chem, 2013 Nov 22; 288(47):33824-36. doi: 10.1074/jbc.M113.503664. Epub 2013 Oct 10.
8. 38. A. Alachkar, D. Jiang, M. Harrison, Y. Zhou, G. Chen, and Y. Mao. (2013) An EJC Factor RBM8a Regulates Anxiety Behaviors. Current Molecular Medicine, 13, 1-13.
9. 39. Wu X, Wu Z, 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): p. 27417-27430. [Selected as “Paper of the week” by Editors].
Press release: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/08/120808093854.htm
40. Joseph Cichon, Chi-Cheng Sun, Ben Chen, Min Jiang, Xiangyun Amy Chen, Yajie Sun, Yun Wang, and Gong Chen. (2012) Cofilin Aggregation Blocks Intracellular Trafficking and Induces Synaptic Loss. J Biol Chem, 287 (6): 3919–3929.
41. Kristen Brennand, Anthony Simone, Jessica Jou, Chelsea Gelboin-Burkhart, Ngoc Tran, Sarah Sangar, Yan Li, Yangling Mu, Gong Chen, Diana Yu, Shane McCarthy, Jonathan Sebat, Fred H. Gage. (2011). Modeling schizophrenia using human induced pluripotent stem cells. Nature, 473(7346): 221-225. Press release and news coverage:
http://science.psu.edu/news-and-events/2011-news/Chen4-2011
http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110413/full/news.2011.232.html
42. Chicheng Sun, Min-Chih Cheng, Rosie Qin, Ding-Lieh Liao, Tzu-Ting Chen, Farn-Jong Koong, Gong Chen*, Chia-Hsiang Chen*. (2011). Identification and functional characterization of rare mutations of the neuroligin-2 gene (NLGN2) associated with schizophrenia. Human Molecular Genetics, 20(15): 3042–3051. (* corresponding author)
13. 43. Yazhou Sun, Yaqiong Wang, Yi Hu, Gong Chen, Hong Ma. (2011). Comparative analysis of neural transcriptomes and functional implication of unannotated intronic expression. BMC Genomics, 2011 Oct 10;12:494.
44 44. Yanjie Fan, Xin Tang, Eric Vitriol, Gong Chen, and James Q. Zheng. (2011). Actin Capping Protein is required for Dendritic Spine Development and Synapse Formation. Journal of Neuroscience, 31(28): 10228-33.
45 45. Maria C. N. Marchetto, Cassiano Carromeu, Allan Acab, Diana Yu, Gene Yeo, Yangling Mu, Gong Chen, Fred H. Gage & Alysson R. Muotri. (2010). A model for neural development and treatment of Rett Syndrome using human induced pluripotent stem cells. Cell, 143:527-539. Press release and news coverage:
http://science.psu.edu/news-and-events/2010-news/Chen11-2010
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40134442#.ULD71-S5NpU
46. Jiaping Gu, Chi Wai Lee, Yanjie Fan, Daniel Komlos, Xin Tang, Chicheng Sun, Kuai Yu, H. Criss Hartzell, Gong Chen, James R. Bamburg, and James Q. Zheng. (2010). ADF/Cofilin-Mediated Actin Dynamics Regulate AMPA Receptor Trafficking during Synaptic Plasticity. Nature Neuroscience, 13: 1208–1215.
