Qiong (Annabel) Wang Lab

The research in my laboratory focuses on the metabolic and cellular plasticity of adipose tissue in response to physiological, pathophysiological, and aging-related challenges. Our long-term goals are to provide fundamental insights into 1) the metabolic significance of adipocyte and adipocyte progenitor cell plasticity and heterogeneity; 2) mechanisms by which adipocytes communicate with other cell types in response to metabolic cues; and 3) adipose tissue remodeling during aging and age-associated metabolic disorders. Ultimately, our aim is to mitigate pathogenesis and develop effective treatments for chronic metabolic diseases.

We have developed unique and comprehensive mouse models enabling real-time labeling, lineage tracing, inducible knockout, and inducible overexpression. Our lab integrates molecular biology, biochemistry, and histological approaches with state-of-the-art technologies, including comprehensive mouse phenotyping, tissue clearing and 3D imaging, in vivo transplantation combined with 3D imaging of grafts, and single-cell and spatial multi-omics analyses.
 

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• Guan Wang, Gaoyan Li, Anying Song, Yutian Zhao, Jiayu Yu, Yifan Wang, Wenting Dai, Martha Salas, Hanjun Qin, Leonard Medrano, Joan Dow, Aimin Li, Brian Armstrong, Patrick T. Fueger, Hua Yu, Yi Zhu, Mengle Shao, Xiwei Wu, Lei Jiang, Judith Campisi, Xia Yang, Qiong A. Wang. Distinct adipose progenitor cells emerging with age drive active adipogenesis. Science (In press)
• Songzi Liu, Xiaoge Zhang, Xin Yao, Guan Wang, Shijia Huang, Peng Chen, Mingliang Tang, Jie Cai, Zhuyin Wu, Yiliang Zhang, Rongzhi Xu, Kai Liu, Kangmin He, Yan Wang, Lei Jiang, Qiong A. Wang, Liangyou Rui, Jianmiao Liu & Yong Liu. Mammalian IRE1α dynamically and functionally coalesces with stress granules. Nature Cell Biology (2024) doi: 10.1038/s41556-024-01418-7.
• Xing Zhang, Xiaofeng Ding, Chunqing Wang, Que Le, Dandan Wu, Anying Song, Guixiang Huang, Liping Luo, Yan Luo, Xin Yang, Aleyah E. Goins, Sharina P. Desai, Chengrui Qiu, Floyd D. Silva, Lily Elizabeth Feldman, Jianlin Zhou, Michael F. Spafford, Nathan H. Boyd, Eric R. Prossnitz, Xuexian O. Yang, Qiong A. Wang & Meilian Liu. Depletion of JunB increases adipocyte thermogenic capacity and ameliorates diet-induced insulin resistance. Nature Metabolism (2024) doi: 10.1038/s42255-023-00945-1.
• Wenting Dai, Zhichao Wang, Guan Wang, Qiong A Wang, Ralph DeBerardinis, Lei Jiang. FASN deficiency induces a cytosol-to-mitochondria citrate flux to mitigate detachment-induced oxidative stress. Cell Report (2023) Aug 29;42(8):112971. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2023.112971
• Yong Chen, Zhuyin Wu, Shijia Huang, Xiaoxia Wang, Sijia He, Lin Liu, Yurong Hu, Li Chen, Peng Chen, Songzi Liu, Shengqi He, Bo Shan, Ling Zheng, Sheng-Zhong Duan, Zhiyin Song, Lei Jiang, Qiong A Wang, Zhenji Gan, Bao-Liang Song, Jianmiao Liu, Liangyou Rui, Mengle Shao, Yong Liu. Adipocyte IRE1α promotes PGC1α mRNA decay and restrains adaptive thermogenesis. Nature Metabolism (2022) DOI: 10.1038/s42255-022-00631-8
• Wenting Dai, Zhichao Wang, Qiong A Wang, David Chan, Lei Jiang. Metabolic reprogramming of OPA1-deficient cells. Cell Mol Life Sci (2022) DOI: 10.1007/s00018-022-04542-5.
• Eric A Hanse, Min Pan, Wenzhu Liu, Ying Yang, Mari B Ishak Gabra, Thai Q Tran, Xazmin H Lowman, Bryan Ruiz, Qiong A Wang, Mei Kong. The B56α subunit of PP2A is necessary for mesenchymal stem cell commitment to adipocyte. EMBO Reports (2021) Aug 4;22(8):e51910
• Zhichao Wang, Tinglu Ning, Anying Song, Jared Rutter, Qiong A. Wang*, Lei Jiang*. Chronic cold exposure enhances glucose oxidation in brown adipose tissue. EMBO Reports (2020) Nov 5;21(11):e50085 (*Co-corresponding author)
• Wenting Dai, Guan Wang, Jason Chwa, Myung Eun Oh, Tharindumala Abeywardana, Yanzhong Yang, Qiong A Wang, Lei Jiang. Mitochondrial division inhibitor (mdivi-1) decreases oxidative metabolism in cancer. British Journal of Cancer. (2020) Apr;122(9):1288-1297.
• Anying Song, Wenting Dai, Min Jee Jang, Leonard Medrano, Zhuo Li, Hu Zhao, Mengle Shao, Jiayi Tan, Aimin Li, Tinglu Ning, Marcia M. Miller, Brian Armstrong, Janice M. Huss, Yi Zhu, Yong Liu, Viviana Gradinaru, Xiwei Wu, Lei Jiang, Philipp E. Scherer, Qiong A. Wang. Low- and high-thermogenic brown adipocyte subpopulations coexist in murine adipose tissue. Journal of Clinical Investigation. (2020) Jan 2;130(1):247-257. (Highlighted by Journal of Clinical Investigation)
• Mengle Shao*, Qiong A. Wang*, Anying Song, Lavanya Vishvanath, Napoleon C. Busbuso, Philipp E. Scherer, Rana K. Gupta. Cellular Origins of Beige Fat Cells Revisited. Diabetes. (2019) Oct;68(10):1874-1885. (*equal contribution)
• Zhuzhen Zhang, Mengle Shao, Chelsea Hepler, Zhenzhen Zi, Shangang Zhao, Yu A. An, Yi Zhu, Alexandra Ghaben, May-yun Wang, Na Li, Toshiharu Onodera, Nolwenn Joffin, Clair Crewe, Qingzhang Zhu, Lavanya Vishvanath,1 Ashwani Kumar, Chao Xing, Qiong A. Wang, Laurent Gautron, Yingfeng Deng, Ruth Gordillo, Ilja Kruglikov, Christine M. Kusminski, Rana K. Gupta, Philipp E. Scherer. Dermal adipose tissue has high plasticity and undergoes reversible dedifferentiation in mice. Journal of Clinical Investigation. (2019) PMID: 31503545 DOI: 10.1172/JCI130239
• Qiong A. Wang*#, Song Anying#, Wanze Chen, Petra C Schwalie, Fang Zhang, Lavanya Vishvanath, Lei Jiang, Risheng Ye, Mengle Shao, Caroline Tao, Rana K Gupta, Bart Deplancke, Philipp E Scherer*. Reversible De-differentiation of Mammary Adipocytes into Adipose Precursor-like Cells During Lactation. Cell Metabolism. (2018) Aug 7;28(2):282-288.e3. (*Corresponding author; #equal contribution; highlighted by Nature Reviews Endocrinology, Cell Metabolism, The Scientist)

To view the lab's publications, please click below.

Research in the Wang lab focuses on the following areas:

1. The role of adipogenesis in age-related adiposity, adipose tissue dysfunction, and metabolic disorders.
2. The spatiotemporal interactions between mammary adipocytes and epithelial cells during pregnancy, lactation, and involution.
3. Bistable regulation of thermogenic adipocyte cellular heterogeneity and its contribution to the age-associated decline in thermogenesis and cold sensitivity.
4. The impact of pregnancy and lactation on mammary gland aging and metabolic health outcomes.