Stem Cell & Regenerative Medicine Center
University of Wisconsin – Madison

Qiang Chang, PHD

Position title: Associate Professor, Med Genetics / Neurology; Director, Waisman Center

Email: qchang@waisman.wisc.edu

Phone: 608-262-9416

Organ System/Disease Focus:
Neurodevelopmental diseases, Rett Syndrome
Aligned Research Focus:
Basic Stem Cell Science
Qiang Chang

Pubmed

More information:
Research Description:

We use various forms of gene targeting in mouse embryonic stem cells to generate genetically engineered mouse lines. One major focus of our lab is to use these mutant mice as animal models for human diseases, which allows us to study the molecular mechanism of diseases in vivo. In addition, we are beginning to explore the role of DNA methylation-dependent epigenetic regulatory mechanism in adult neurogenesis. Most recently, we have generated disease-specific induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells from several Rett syndrome (RTT) patients. We plan to use these RTT iPS cells as a tissue culture based human model of the disease for understanding its pathogenesis and screening for drugs.

Featured Researcher in Fall 2010 SCRMC Newsletter

Selected References:
  • Zhong, X., Li, H., and Chang, Q. (2012) MeCP2 phosphorylation is required for modulating synaptic scaling through mGluR5. Journal of Neuroscience, 32(37): 12841-12847. PMC3474205.
  • Williams, E.C., Zhong, X., Mohamed, A., Li, R., Liu, Y., Dong, Q., Ananiev, G.E., Mok, J.C., Lin, B.R., Lu, J., Chiao, C., Cherney, R., Li, H., Zhang, S.C., and Chang, Q. (2014) Mutant astrocytes differentiated from Rett syndrome patients-specific iPSCs have adverse effects on wild-type neurons. Human Molecular Genetics, PMCID: PMC4014193
  • Cell cycle-linked MeCP2 phosphorylation modulates adult neurogenesis involving the Notch signaling pathway. Li, H., Zhong, X., Chau, K.F., Santistevan, N.J., Guo, W., Kong, G., Li, X., Kadakia, M., Masliah, J., Chi, J., Jin, P., Zhang, J., Zhao, X. and Chang, Q (2014) Nature Communications, PMCID: PMC4288926
  • Li, R., Dong, Q., Yuan, X., Zeng, X., Gao, Y., Chiao, C., Li, H., Zhao, X., Keles, S., Wang, Z., and Chang, Q. (2016) Misregulation of Alternative Splicing in a Mouse Model of Rett Syndrome. PLoS Genetics, PMCID: PMC4924826
  • Bu, Q., Wang, A., Hamzah, H., Waldman, A., Jiang, K., Dong, Q., Li, R., Kim, J., Turner, D., and Chang, Q. (2017) CREB signaling is involved in Rett syndrome pathogenesis. Journal of Neuroscience, PMCID: in progress.