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Qingjun Wang
Assistant Professor
B.S. University of Science & Technology of China
Ph.D. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Postdoc. The Rockefeller University

Office: B149 BBSRB
Phone: 859.323.5335

Overview ▪ Recent Highlights ▪ Funding ▪ Recent Publications ▪ PubMed

Positions Available
Postdoctoral fellow, technician and graduate student positions are available to study the molecular mechanism of autophagy and neurodegeneration in mammals, utilizing an integrated approach that combines mouse genetics, proteomics and cell biology. We have ongoing research targeting (i) all key steps of the mammalian autophagy pathway including signaling and regulation, (ii) roles of autophagy in the healthy brain and that undergoes neurodegeneration, and (iii) roles of autophagy in other human diseases such as cancer. We are seeking highly motivated individuals with desirable experience in one of the following fields: molecular biology, mouse genetics, cell biology, and neurobiology. Interested personnel please send statement of interest and curriculum vitae to qingjun.wang@uky.edu.

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What: Autophagy is a lysosomal degradation pathway that sequesters portions of the cytoplasm into de novo generated double-membraned vesicular structures called autophagosomes and subsequently delivers autophagosomes to lysosomes, forming autolysosomes. It is one of the two major degradation pathways in eukaryote cells. In mammals, autophagy is ubiquitous in different cell types and tissues.

Why: Autophagy degrades long-lived proteins, protein aggregates, and damaged or excess organelles, thus is generally considered a pro-survival mechanism for maintaining cellular homeostasis and for the quality control of proteins and organelles. Paradoxically, unrestrained autophagy leads to cell death. Hence, autophagy must be tightly regulated. Deregulation of autophagy has been implicated in a broad spectrum of human diseases including cancer, infection, liver disease, myopathy and neurodegeneration. Despite the clear importance of autophagy in health and disease, we are yet to discover the molecular machinery comprising the mammalian autophagy pathway, the molecular mechanism of how this machinery functions, and the roles of autophagy in health and disease.

How: We take an integrated approach that combines mouse genetics, proteomics and cell biology. We first identify novel protein-protein interactions in the mammalian autophagy pathway directly from living animals and subsequently determine the functions of these novel interactors. The underlying rationale is that, mammalian autophagy is mediated through a tightly-regulated and context-dependent protein-protein interaction network, most components of which is unknown; once we determine whom each autophagy protein interacts with and where, when and how these interactions occur, we can achieve a better understanding of the mammalian autophagy pathway and its role in normal physiology and pathological states.

Ongoing Research in the lab targets (i) all key steps of the mammalian autophagy pathway including signaling and regulation, (ii) roles of autophagy in the healthy brain and that undergoes neurodegeneration, and (iii) roles of autophagy in other human diseases such as cancer. We are also interested in applying the integrated approaches to tackle the etiology of neurodegenerative disorders.

Recent Publications

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1. Zhong Y, Wang QJ, Yue Z  (2009). Atg14L and Rubicon: Yin and yang of Beclin 1-mediated autophagy control. Autophagy 5(6):890-891. (520KB PDF)

2. Zhong Y*, Wang QJ*, Li X, Yan Y, Backer JM, Chait BT, Heintz N, Yue Z (2009) Distinct regulation of autophagic activity by Atg14L and Rubicon associated with Beclin 1-phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase complex. Nat Cell Biol 11:468-476 (*Equal contributors; cited 2 times via Web of Science). (3.68MB PDF)


3. Yue Z, Holstein GR, Chait BT, Wang QJ (2009) Using genetic mouse models to study the biology and pathology of autophagy in the central nervous system. In D Klionsky, ed., Methods Enzymol Vol. 453 “Autophagy: Higher Eukaryotes mammalian and clinical”, p159-180. (1.67MB PDF)


4. Yue Z, Wang QJ, Komatsu M (2008) Neuronal autophagy: Going the distance to the axon. Autophagy 4(1):94-96. (110KB PDF)


5. Fenyo D, Wang QJ, DeGrasse JA, Padovan JC, Cadene M, Chait BT (2007) MALDI sample preparation: the ultra thin layer method. J Visualized Experiments 3:192. (85KB PDF) (Video linked @ http://www.jove.com/index/Details.stp?ID=192, viewed 7168 times)


6. Komatsu M*, Wang QJ*, Holstein GR, Friedrich Jr VL, Iwata JI, Kominami E, Chait BT, Tanaka K, Yue Z (2007) Essential role for autophagy protein Atg7 in the maintenance of axonal homeostasis and the prevention of axonal degeneration. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 104(36):14489-14494 (*Equal contributors; direct submission; cited 33 times via Web of Science). (4.53MB PDF)


7. Wang QJ, Ding Y, Kohtz DS, Mizushima N, Cristea IM, Rout MP, Chait BT, Zhong Y, Heintz N, Yue Z (2006) Induction of autophagy in axonal dystrophy and degeneration. J Neurosci 26(31):8057-8068 (Cited 55 times via Web of Science). (1.45MB PDF)