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Zhenwei Wu

Postdoctoral Scholar, Chemical Engineering

Contact Info
Mail Code: 4300
zwwu@stanford.edu

BioI thrive to understand the roles of lysosomes in physiological and pathological conditions. Lysosomes are both degradation compartment and metabolic controlling hub, and dysregulation of lysosomal functions are frequently implicated in a vast number of diseases including neurodegenerative diseases, however, the systematic knowledge of the molecular mechanism by which lysosomal contributes to these diseases is lacking. Ion channels are the primary mediators of neuronal activity, defects in neuronal ion channel activity are linked with many kinds of neurodegenerative diseases. Interestingly, besides typical ion channels that are involved in the neuronal activity, defects in lysosomal ion channels, such as TRPML1, CLN7 and CLC-7 are also implicated in neuropathy. My previous work as Ph.D student in University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center focused on regulation of lysosomal function by ion channels and metabolites. I discovered a mechanism of lysosomal Na+ channel regulate mTORC1 activation by regulating lysosomal amino acid accumulation. I also discovered role of glutamine in controlling lysosomal degradation capacity. In the meantime, I developed novel methods to isolate organelles. My ultimate research goal is to understand the key developmental pathways and how alterations in gene sequences and expression contribute to human disease, therefore, I am pursuing independent academic researcher as my career goal. Starting Feb 2022, I work with Dr. Monther Abu-Remaileh at Stanford University on role of lysosomes in neurodegenerative diseases. I use genetics, chemical biology and omics approaches to study lysosome function under various physiological and pathological conditions, especially age-associated neurodegenerative disorders, and monogenic neurodegenerative lysosome storage diseases. In Stanford, I aim to integrate ionic regulation, metabolomic regulation and functional proteomic regulation to systematically understand the biology of lysosome in physiological conditions and pathological conditions.