Education:

1998-2002 B.S., School of Life Sciences, Peking University

2003-2009 Ph.D. in Genetics, University of California, Davis

Professional Positions:

2010-2011 Postdoctoral Fellow, University of California, San Francisco, USA

2011-2013 Associate investigator, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

2013-2004 Associate investigator, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China

2024-now Associate investigator, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China

Research Areas:

Cellular genetics and neurodevelopment. Using advanced techniques such as super-resolution live imaging, conditional gene editing and bioinformatics to study cell division patterns, mechanisms of cell differentiation and regulatory mechanisms in the development of neural progenitors.

Selected Publications:

(1)Xie Z, Chai Y*, Zhu Z, Shen Z, Guo Z, Zhao Z, Xiao L, Du Z, Ou G, Li W*. Vacuolar H(+)-ATPase determines daughter cell fates through asymmetric segregation of the nucleosome remodeling and deacetylase complex. eLife. 2024; 12: RP89032.

(2)Shen Z, Guo Z, Ou G, Li W*. Inhibition of the chromatin remodeling factor NURF rescued sterility by a clinic variant of NuRD. Molecular Biology of the Cell, 2024,35(ar13): 1-9.

(3)Chai Y#, Tian D#, Zhu Z, Jiang Y, Huang S, Wu D, Ou G, Li W*. Wnt signaling polarizes cortical actin polymerization to increase daughter cell asymmetry. Cell Discovery. 2022, 8(1) .

(4)Xie C, Jiang Y, Huang S, Li W*, Ou G*. Actin Filament Debranching Regulates Cell Polarity during Cell Migration and Asymmetric Cell Division. Proceedings of the National Academy of the Sciences of the United States of America. 2021. 118(37). (*Correspondence author)

(5)Jia R, Chai Y, Xie C, Liu G, Zhu Z, Huang K, Li W*, Ou G*. The spectrin-based membrane skeleton is asymmetric and remodels during neural development in C. elegans. J Cell Sci. 2020. 133(15). (*Correspondence author)

(6)Li W#, Li M, Ou G*.COVID‐19, cilia, and smell. The FEBS Journal. 2020, 287(17): 3672-3676.

(7)Wu D, Chai Y, Zhu Z, Li W, Ou G, Li W*. CED-10-WASP-Arp2/3 signaling axis regulates apoptotic cell corpse engulfment in C. elegans. Dev Biol. 2017;428(1):215-223

(8)Li W^* and Ou G. The Application of Somatic CRISPR-Cas9 to Conditional Genome Editing in Caenorhabditis elegans. Genesis. 2016; 54(4): p. 170-81.

(9)Yi P, Li W^*, Ou G^*. The application of transcription activator-like effector nucleases for genome editing in C. elegans. Methods. 2014; 68(3):389-96.

(10)Cheng Z, Yi P, Wang X, Chai Y, Feng G, Yang Y, Liang X, Zhu Z, Li W^*, Ou G^*. Conditional targeted genome editing using somatically expressed TALENs in C. elegans. Nature Biotechnology. 2013; 31(10):934-7. (*Correspondence author)

(11)Li W#, Stuurman N. and Ou G. Chromophore-Assisted Laser Inactivation in Neural Development. Neuroscience Bulletin. 2012; 28(4):333-41.

(12)Chai Y#, Li W#, Feng G, Yang Y, Wang X and Ou G. Live Imaging of Cellular Dynamics during C. elegans Postembryonic Development. Nature Protocols. 2012; 7(12):2090-102.

(13)Li W#, Zou W^†, Yang Y^†, Chai Y^†, Chen B, Cheng S, Tian D, Wang X, Vale RD and Ou G. Autophagy genes function sequentially to promote apoptotic cell corpse degradation in the engulfing cell. Journal of Cell Biology. 2012; 197(1):27-35.

(14)Li W#, DeBella LR, Guven-Ozkan T, Lin R, and Rose LS. An eIF4E-binding protein regulates katanin protein levels in C. elegans embryos. Journal of Cell Biology. 2009; 187:33-42.