Qiong (Annabel) Wang, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Department of Molecular & Cellular Endocrinology
Research Area
Pathogenesis and Treatment of Obesity, Type 2 Diabetes and Related Metabolic Syndromes.
Research Teams
Qiong Wang, Ph.D., joined the Diabetes & Metabolism Research Institute at City of Hope as an associate professor in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology. She comes to City of Hope after her postdoctoral training in Dr. Philipp Scherer’s laboratory at the Touchstone Diabetes Center at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, where she studied adipose tissue physiology.
During her postdoctoral training, Dr. Wang focused on using in vivo models to track adipogenesis, the process of cell differentiation by which preadipocytes become adipocytes, during adipose tissue development and remodeling. She further studied the requirement of key adipogenic transcription factors C/EBPα and PPARγ at various stages of adipogenesis in vivo. Her study showed that different fat depots undergo adipogenesis in distinct time frames both during development and through adulthood. She also unraveled a surprising diversity of transcriptional signals required at various stages of adipogenesis, opening up new possibilities for the selective stage- and location-specific interventions of adipogenesis.
Dr. Wang completed her Ph.D. training in Dr. Yong Liu laboratory at the Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, the Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Sciences. Her graduate study focused on identifying novel targets in the liver for the treatment of obesity and insulin resistance.
Duarte Cancer Center
1500 East Duarte Road
Duarte, CA 91010
Duarte, CA 91010
2003-2009, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, CHINA
1999-2003
Xinjiang University, Xinjiang, CHINA
2009-2015, Touchstone Diabetes Center, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX
The main interest of the Wang laboratory is to better understand the molecular mechanisms that regulate the dynamics of adipogenesis in different fat depots on various occasions. The research efforts are devoted to the pathogenesis and treatment of obesity, type 2 diabetes and related metabolic syndromes.
The Wang laboratory is currently working on two projects: 1) the molecular mechanisms that regulate the dramatic adipose tissue remodeling in the mammary gland, and how dysregulation of this remodeling contributes to whole body metabolic disorders and breast cancer, and 2) brown adipocyte heterogeneity, and how this heterogeneity remodels the energy-burning capacity of brown adipose tissue.
The Wang laboratory is currently working on two projects: 1) the molecular mechanisms that regulate the dramatic adipose tissue remodeling in the mammary gland, and how dysregulation of this remodeling contributes to whole body metabolic disorders and breast cancer, and 2) brown adipocyte heterogeneity, and how this heterogeneity remodels the energy-burning capacity of brown adipose tissue.
2015, Keystone Symposia Scholarship, Keystone Symposia on Molecular and Cellular Biology
2015, Young Investigator Travel Grant Award, American Diabetes Association
2011-2015, American Diabetes Association Mentor-Based Postdoctoral Fellowship Award
2009, Chinese Academy of Sciences Dean Award, the Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Sciences
2008, Excellent Yong Physiologist Reward, International Union of Physiological Sciences
- Song A, Dai W, Jang MJ, Medrano L, Li Z, Zhao H, Shao M, Tan J, Li A, Ning T, Miller MM, Armstrong B, Huss JM, Zhu Y, Liu Y, Gradinaru V, Wu X, Jiang L, Scherer PE, Wang QA. Low- and high-thermogenic brown adipocyte subpopulations coexist in murine adipose tissue. J Clin Invest. 2020 Jan 2;130(1):247-257.
- Wang Z, Ning T, Song A, Rutter J, Wang QA#, Jiang L#. Chronic cold exposure enhances glucose oxidation in brown adipose tissue. EMBO reports 2020 Nov 5;21(11):e50085. (#Corresponding author)
- Shao M*, Wang QA*, Song A, Vishvanath L, Busbuso NC, Scherer PE, Gupta RK. Cellular Origins of Beige Fat Cells Revisited. Diabetes. 2019 Oct;68(10):1874-1885. (*equal contribution)
- Zhang Z, Shao M, Hepler C, Zi Z, Zhao S, An YA, Zhu Y, Ghaben AL, Wang MY, Li N, Onodera T, Joffin N, Crewe C, Zhu Q, Vishvanath L, Kumar A, Xing C, Wang QA, Gautron L, Deng Y, Gordillo R, Kruglikov I, Kusminski CM, Gupta RK, Scherer PE. Dermal adipose tissue has high plasticity and undergoes reversible dedifferentiation in mice. J Clin Invest. 2019;129(12):5327-42.
- Wang QA#*, Song A*, Chen W, Schwalie PC, Zhang F, Vishvanath L, Jiang L, Ye R, Shao M, Tao C, Gupta RK, Deplancke B, Scherer PE#. Reversible De-differentiation of Mature White Adipocytes into Preadipocyte-like Precursors during Lactation. Cell Metab. 2018 Aug 7;28(2):282-288.e3.
- Wang QA, Zhang F, Jiang L, Ye R, An Y, Shao M, Tao C, Gupta RK, Scherer PE. Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor γ and Its Role in Adipocyte Homeostasis and Thiazolidinedione-Mediated Insulin Sensitization. Mol Cell Biol. 2018 May 15;38(10)
- Zhang F, Hao G, Shao M, Nham K, An Y, Wang Q, Zhu Y, Kusminski CM, Hassan G, Gupta RK, Zhai Q, Sun X, Scherer PE, Oz OK. An Adipose Tissue Atlas: An Image-Guided Identification of Human-like BAT and Beige Depots in Rodents. Cell Metab. 2018;27(1):252-62.e3.
- Shao M, Ishibashi J, Kusminski CM, Wang QA, Hepler C, Vishvanath L, MacPherson KA, Spurgin SB, Sun K, Holland WL, Seale P, Gupta RK. Zfp423 Maintains White Adipocyte Identity through Suppression of the Beige Cell Thermogenic Gene Program. Cell Metab. 2016 Jun 14;23(6):1167-1184.
- Vishvanath L, MacPherson KA, Hepler C, Wang QA, Shao M, Spurgin SB, Wang MY, Kusminski CM, Morley TS, Gupta RK. Pdgfrβ+ Mural Preadipocytes Contribute to Adipocyte Hyperplasia Induced by High-Fat-Diet Feeding and Prolonged Cold Exposure in Adult Mice. Cell Metab. 2016 Feb 9;23(2):350-9.
- Wang QA, Tao C, Jiang L, Shao M, Ye R, Zhu Y, Gordillo R, Ali A, Lian Y, Holland WL, Gupta RK, Scherer PE. Distinct regulatory mechanisms governing embryonic versus adult adipocyte maturation. Nat Cell Biol. 2015 Sep;17(9):1099-111.
- Ye R, Wang QA, Tao C, Vishvanath L, Shao M, McDonald JG, Gupta RK, Scherer PE. Impact of tamoxifen on adipocyte lineage tracing: Inducer of adipogenesis and prolonged nuclear translocation of Cre recombinase. Molecular Metabolism. 4(11):771-8. doi: 10.1016/j.molmet.2015.08.004.
- Wernstedt AI, Tao C, Morley TS, Wang QA, Delgado F, Wang ZV, Scherer PE. Adipocyte inflammation is essential for healthy adipose tissue expansion and remodeling. Cell Metab. 2014 Jul;20(1):103-18.
- Wang QA, Tao C, Gupta RK, Scherer PE. Tracking adipogenesis during white adipose tissue development, expansion and regeneration. Nat Med. 2013 Oct;19(10):1338-44.
- Deficiency in hepatic ATP-citrate lyase affects VLDL-triglyceride mobilization and liver fatty acid composition in mice. Wang Q, Li S, Jiang L, Zhou Y, Li Z, Shao M, Li W, Liu Y. Journal of Lipid Research. 2010; 51(9):2516-26.
- Abrogation of hepatic ATP-citrate lyase protects against fatty liver and ameliorates hyperglycemia in leptin receptor-deficient mice. Wang Q, Jiang L, Wang J, Li S, Yu Y, You J, Zeng R, Gao X, Rui L, Li W, Liu Y. Hepatology (Baltimore, Md.). 2009; 49(4):1166-75.
To view more of Dr. Qiong (Annabel) Wang's publications, view NBCI publications here.