Academic Affiliation
Department of Ophthalmology,
Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics,
Department of Developmental Biology,
McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Education & Training
- University of Notre Dame Post-doc 2002-2003 Developmental biology.
- Harvard Medical School/MEEI, Boston Post-doc 1998-2002 Developmental biology
- SUNY/Buffalo Ph.D. 1993-1998 Cell Biology
Representative Publications
- X. Wei, J. Samarabandu, R.S. Devdhar, A. Siegel. R. Acharya, R. Berezney. (1998) Segregation of transcription and replication sites into higher order domains. Science. 281:1502-1505. DOI: 10.1126/science.281.5382.1502
- M. Patturajan*, X. Wei *, R. Berezney, J. L. Corden. (1998). A nuclear matrix protein interacts with the phosphorylated C-terminal domain of RNA polymerase II. Molecular and Cellular Biology. 18:2406-2415. * The first two authors contributed equally to this work. DOI: 10.1126/science.281.5382.1502
- X. Wei, S. Somanathan, J. Samarabandu and R. Berezney. (1999). Three-dimensional visualization of transcription sites and their association with splicing factor-rich nuclear speckles. Journal of Cell Biology 146:543-558. DOI: 10.1083/jcb.146.3.54
- X. Wei, and J. Malicki. (2002). nagie oko, encoding a MAGUK-family protein, is essential for cellular patterning of the retina. Nature Genetics. 31:150-157. DOI: 10.1038/ng883
- J. Zou, K. Lathrop, M. Sun, X. Wei. (2008) Intact RPE maintained by Nok is essential for retinal epithelial polarity and cellular patterning in zebrafish. Journal of Neuroscience. 28(50):13684 –13695. DOI: JNEUROSCI.4333-08.2008
- X. Yang, J. Zou, D. Hyde, L. Davidson, and X. Wei. (2009) Stepwise maturation of apicobasal polarity of the neuroepithelium is essential for vertebrate neurulation. Journal of Neuroscience. 29:11426-11440. JNEUROSCI.2009
- J. Zou, X. Wang, and X. Wei. (2012) Crb apical polarity proteins maintain zebrafish retinal cone mosaics via intercellular binding of their extracellular domains. Developmental Cell. 22, 1261–1274. DOI: devcel.2012.03.007
- W. Fang, C. Guo, X. Wei. (2017) Rainbow Enhancers Regulate Restrictive Transcription in Teleost Green, Red, and Blue Cones. Journal of Neuroscience. 37(11):2834-2848. A cover story. DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3421-16.2017
- C. Guo, J. Zou, Y. Wen, W. Fang, DB. Stolz, M. Sun, X. Wei. (2018) Apical Cell-Cell Adhesions Reconcile Symmetry and Asymmetry in Zebrafish Neurulation. iScience. 3:63-85. A cover story. DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2018.04.007
- C. Guo, C. Deveau, C. Zhang, R. Nelson, X. Wei. (2020) Zebrafish Crb1, Localizing Uniquely to the Cell Membranes around Cone Photoreceptor Axonemes, Alleviates Light Damage to Photoreceptors and Modulates Cones' Light Responsiveness. Journal of Neuroscience. 40(37):7065-7079. A cover story. DOI: JNEUROSCI.0497-20.2020
- L. Zhang, X. Wei. (2022) The Roles of Par3, Par6, and aPKC Polarity Proteins in Normal Neurodevelopment and in Neurodegenerative and Neuropsychiatric Disorders. Journal of Neuroscience. 15;42(24):4774-4793. JNEUROSCI.2022
- L. Zhang, X. Wei. (2022) Orientational cell adhesions (OCAs) for tissue morphogenesis. Trends in Cell Biology. 32(12): 975-978. DOI: 10.1016/j.tcb.2022.07.002
- L. Zhang, X. Wei. (2023) Stepwise modulation of apical orientational cell adhesions for vertebrate neurulation. Biological Reviews (Cambridge Philosophical Society) 2023 Aug 3. DOI: 10.1111/brv.13006
- L. Zhang, X. Wei. (2023) SynCAMs in Normal Vertebrate Neural Development and Neuropsychiatric Disorders: from the Perspective of the OCAs. Molecular Neurobiology. Aug 22. DOI: 10.1007/s12035-023-03579-2
Research Interest Summary
Research Interests
Lab Personnel
Multicellular organisms arrange cells in special patterns to form distinct structures through a set of developmental instructions that we do not fully understand. In my laboratory, we use the zebrafish retina as a model system to study the molecular mechanisms underlying cellular pattern formation in the central nervous system.
The vertebrate retina develops from a single sheet of neuroepithelial cells, which later differentiate and reorganize into layered structures during retinal neurogenesis. Each retinal layer is composed of specific neuronal classes and executes distinct functions. The molecular mechanisms that control retinal pattern formation remain largely unknown.
To understand how retinal cells organize, my lab uses a variety of experimental approaches that involve Genetics, Molecular Biology, Cell Biology, Biochemistry, and Developmental Biology. Our research is currently focused on the following areas: epithelial polarity in retinal morphogenesis; cell-cell adhesion in balancing tissue cohesion and cellular mobility; and cell nuclear structure in regulating retinal gene expression.
Research Grants
NIH RO1 EY016099
PI: Xiangyun Wei
Sept 30, 2005 - Aug 31, 2013
Research to Prevent Blindness Lew R. Wasserman Merit Award
PI: Xiangyun Wei
2011