Location:
Hongsheng Wang, Ph.D., Principle Investigator
Email：whshsj@shsmu.edu.cn
Research：Somatosensory-emotion interaction and mental illness
Educations
2014-2020 Case Western Reserve University/Medical College of Georgia， PhD
2010-2013 Yantai University/Beijing Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology，Master’s
2005-2009 Yantai University， Bachelor’s
Work Experience
2024.01-present Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Songjiang Research Institute, Assistant Professor
2020.08-2023.12 Case Western Reserve University, Department of Neurosciences, Postdoc
The PI
Hongsheng graduated with a Ph.D. from Case Western Reserve University in the United States in 2020 and started the postdoctoral training at the same institution since then. In January 2024, he joined the Songjiang Research Institute of Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine as a principal investigator. He was selected as a Shanghai Youth Leading Talent (Overseas) and is a member of the Society for Neuroscience in the United States, serving as a reviewer for journals such as Cell & Bioscience. His research findings have been published in prestigious journals such as Neuron, PNAS, Molecular Psychiatry, Nature Communications, and the Journal of Neuroscience, among others. For details, please see http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6977-3181 OR https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=ZfMA9fIAAAAJ&hl=en
Hongsheng Wang
Somatic sensations (or somatosensations, refers to pain, touch, and itch perception through the skin) not only serve as self-protection and homeostatic mechanisms in the body, but also closely interact with higher-level emotional and social activities. Events such as accidentally pinching one's hand, receiving affection from loved ones, handshakes, and hugs all influence emotions and social interactions. Similarly, different emotional states such as happiness/sadness or being in a lively/social versus solitary setting also affect pain and touch perception. In addition to the "core" symptoms of emotions and social interactions in depression and autism, there are often abnormalities in somatosensations (such as pain perception in depression or extreme sensitivity to physical contact in autistic kids).
We focus on abnormalities in pain and touch perception in psychiatric disorders and their impact on emotional & social behaviors. Our aim is to explore the mechanisms underlying their interaction and to develop new interventions for depression and autism based on somatosensations that evoke positive emotional / social effects (such as "pleasant touch"). Our team has established a comprehensive technical platform integrating in vivo and ex vivo electrophysiology, in vivo calcium imaging, optogenetics, circuit tracing, gene editing, and behavioral analysis to do the job.
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Xiaochuan Zou
Email:zouxc2024@163.com
Research Direction:Animal behavior
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Cong Zhou
Email:1518078710@qq.com
Research Direction:Movement and sensation of spinal cord injury
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Yinli Zheng
Email:yinli110800@163.com
Research Direction:Dynamic changes in chronic pain neural circuit
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Meng Li
Email:lm_kiz@163.com
Research Direction:Emotion-somatosensory interaction neural circuit
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Wang H, Chen W, Dong Z, Xing G, Cui W, Yao L, Zou WJ, Robinson HL, Bian Y, Liu Z, Zhao K, Luo B, Gao N, Zhang H, Ren X, Yu Z, Meixiong J, Xiong WC, Mei L. A novel spinal neuron connection for heat sensation. Neuron. 2022 Jul 20;110(14):2315-2333.e6.
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Wang H, Cui W, Chen W, Liu F, Dong Z, Xing G, Luo B, Gao N, Zou WJ, Zhao K, Zhang H, Ren X, Yu Z, Robinson HL, Liu Z, Xiong WC, Mei L. The laterodorsal tegmentum-ventral tegmental area circuit controls depression-like behaviors by activating ErbB4 in DA neurons. Mol Psychiatry. 2023 Mar;28(3):1027-1045.
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Wang H, Liu F, Chen W, Sun X, Cui W, Dong Z, Zhao K, Zhang H, Li H, Xing G, Fei E, Pan BX, Li BM, Xiong WC, Mei L. Genetic recovery of ErbB4 in adulthood partially restores brain functions in null mice. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2018 Dec 18;115(51):13105-13110.
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Cao R, Chen P, Wang H, Jing H, Zhang H, Xing G, Luo B, Pan J, Yu Z, Xiong WC, Mei L. Intrafusal-fiber LRP4 for muscle spindle formation and maintenance in adult and aged animals. Nat Commun. 2023 Feb 10;14(1):744.
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Gao N, Liu Z, Wang H, Shen C, Dong Z, Cui W, Xiong WC, Mei L. Deficiency of Cullin 3, a Protein Encoded by a Schizophrenia and Autism Risk Gene, Impairs Behaviors by Enhancing the Excitability of Ventral Tegmental Area (VTA) DA Neurons. J Neurosci. 2023 Sep 6;43(36):6249-6267.
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Wang H, Xiong WC, Mei L. Excessive mitophagy for anxiety. Neuron. 2021 Dec 1;109(23):3715-3716.