Overview

Dr. Wu’s research program has concentrated on examining secondary injury processes following traumatic spinal cord/brain injury (SCI/TBI) and pharmacological/gene therapeutic interventions for SCI/TBI. Her lab is particularly interested in studying pathological mechanisms including disruption of autophagy and lysosomal pathway, microglial Hv1 channel, NOX2, extracellular vesicles (EVs), astrocytic TrkB.T1, and their contribution to neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration in both acute CNS trauma and aging conditions including chronic SCI/TBI and Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia (AD/ADRD). She aims to understand the cellular and molecular mechanisms of functional recovery after CNS trauma and to develop potential therapeutic strategies. In addition, Dr. Wu’s group works to understand better the pathogenesis of general anesthesia (GA)/post-operation affecting the brain and systemically. Dr. Wu’s research, which capitalizes on powerful cutting-edge technologies to address mechanistic questions on neurotrauma and GA, is currently supported by several R01 level NIH programs. 

Topics of Focus: 

•  The function and mechanisms of autophagy in SCI
•  Inflammatory mechanisms underlying olfactory dysfunction in prognosis of TBI progression to dementia
•  Mechanism of inflammatory-related brain dysfunction after SCI
•  Role of EVs after CNS Injury: Mechanisms and Modulation
•  Mechanisms and intervention of GA-caused olfactory deficit and its progression to late cognitive impairment
• Targeting cGAS pathway improves functional recovery after CNS injury

Team Members:

Yun Li, PhD
Research Associate
yun.li@som.umaryland.edu
(410) 706-5762

Hui Li, MD
Research Assitant
huili@som.umaryland.edu
(401) 706-5775

 

Zhuofan Lei, PhD.
Post-Doc Fellow
zlei@som.umaryland.edu
(410) 706-5762

Shahana Wilson
Laboratory Helper
shahana.wilson@som.umaryland.edu
(410) 706-3418

Hyehyun Hwang, MS
Research Assistant
hyehyun.hwang@som.umaryland.edu
(410) 706-3418

Michele Robinson
Business Services Specialist
michele.robinson@som.umaryland.edu
(410) 706-3419

Publications:

• Lei Z, Krishnamachary B, Khan NZ, Ji Y, Li Y, Li H, Brunner K, Faden AI, Jones JW, Wu J. Spinal cord injury disrupts plasma extracellular vesicles cargoes leading to neuroinflammation in the brain and neurological dysfunction in aged male mice. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity. 2024 Aug, 120: 584-603. PMID: 38986724.
• Ritzel RM, Li Y, Jiao Y, Doran SJ, Khan N, Henry RJ, Brunner K, Loane DJ, Faden AI, Szeto G, Wu J. Bi-directional neuro-immune dysfunction after chronic experimental brain injury. Journal of Neuroinflammation. 2024 Apr 5;21(1):83. PMID: 38581043.
• Li Y, Khan N, Ritzel RM, Lei Z, Allen S, Faden AI, Wu J. Sexually dimorphic extracellular vesicle responses after chronic spinal cord injury are associated with neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration in the brain. Journal of Neuroinflammation. 2023, Aug 31;20(1):197. PMID: 37653491.
• Liu X, Lei Z, Gilhooly D, He J, Li Y, Ritzel RM, Li H, Wu L-J, Liu S, Wu J. Traumatic brain injury-induced inflammatory changes in the olfactory bulb disrupt neuronal networks leading to olfactory dysfunction. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity. 2023 Nov:114:22-45. Epub 2023 Aug 7. PMID: 37557959.
• Ritzel RM, Li Y, Jiao Y, Lei Z, Doran S, He J, Shahror RA, Henry RJ, Khan R, Tan C, Liu S, Stoica BA, Faden AI, Szeto G, Loane DJ, Wu J. Brain injury accelerates the onset of a reversible age-related microglial phenotype associated with inflammatory neurodegeneration. Science Advances. 2023 Mar 10;9(10): eadd1101. PMID: 36888713.

Contact

Contact