Wanzhong He

Education

• 1998 Ph.D. Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
• 1994 M.S. Mineralogy, China University of Geosciences,Beijing, China
• 1991 B.S. Geology, Chengdu University of Technology,Chengdu, China

Professional Experience

• 2010- Assistant Investigator, National Institute of Biological Sciences, Beijing, China
• 2007-2010 Assistant Professor, Department of Biological Sciences,National University of Singapore, Singapore
• 2004-2007 Postdoctoral research with Dr. Pamela J. Bjorkman, Division of Biology, HHMI & California Institute of Technology, California, USA
• 1999-2004 Postdoctoral research with Dr. David L. Stokes, Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine, New York University Medical Center, New York, USA
• 1998-1999 Postdoctoral research with Dr. Jose-Maria Carazo,Centro Nacional de Biotecnologia -C.S.I.C., Madrid,Spain

Research Description

Our major interest is focused on the development of cellular electron tomography platform technology and its applications in biomedical research. Cellular electron tomography is an emerging three-dimensional electron microscopy bio-imaging technology, which can be broadly used to dissect the cellular ultrastructures, dynamic events, and precisely locating individual molecule in the rapid-frozen cells at nanometer resolution. Cellular electron tomography platform technology involves rapid-freezing technique, frozen-hydrated thin sectioning technique, freeze-substitution fixation, gene technology, protein labeling / genetic tagging and the corresponding detection techniques, cryo-electron microscopy and computer imaging processing techniques. We will initiate a series of biomedical-related cellular electron tomography projects with our newly developed protein labeling/genetic tagging and the corresponding detection techniques. Our current research will focus on the following areas:

1. Developing novel in vivo protein labeling/genetic tagging and the corresponding electron microscopy detection technologies;

2. Dissecting the dynamic molecular events, cellular ultrastructures and the assembling processes of large protein complexes in rapid-immobilized cells;

3. Untangling the dynamic molecular events and the ultrastructures changes that involve in diseases, such as host-microbe interactions;

4. Tracing the precise temporal-spatial distributions of the key proteins involved in embryonic development and stem cell differentiation processes.

Publications

1. Wanzhong He and Jose-Jesus Fernandez, (January 2010) Electron Tomography. In: ENCYCLOPEDIA OF LIFE SCIENCES 2010, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd: Chichester

2. Wanzhong He, Mark S. Ladinsky, Kathryn E. Huey Tubman, Grant Jensen, J. Richard McIntosh, Pamela J. Bjorkman , FcRn-Mediated antibody transport across epithelial cells revealed by electron tomography, Nature, 2008 Sep 25;455(7212):542-546.

3. Morphew M, He W, Bjorkman PJ, McIntosh JR. Silver enhancement of Nanogold particles during freeze substitution for electron microscopy. J Microsc. 2008 May;230(Pt 2):263-7.

4. Wanzhong He, Christine Kivork, Suman Machinani, Mary K. Morphew, Anna M. Gail, Devin B. Tesar, Noreen E. Tiangco, J. Richard McIntosh, Pamela J. Bjorkman, Freeze Substitution-based gold-enlarging technique for EM studies of endocytosed nanogold-labeled ligands, J Struct Biol. 2007 Oct;160(1):103-13.

5. Wanzhong He, Pamela Cowin, David L. Stokes, Untangling Desmosomal Knots with Electron Tomography, Science, 2003 Oct 3;302(5642):109-113.

6. Chen Xu, William J. Rice, Wanzhong He and David L. Stokes, A Structural Model for the Catalytic Cycle of Ca2+-ATPase. Journal of Molecular Biology, vol.316 (2002), 201-211.

7. W. Z. He, J.-M. Carazo and J.-J. Fernandez, A new phase consistency criterion and its application in electron crystallography, Ultramicroscopy85(2000) 73-91.

8.W. Z. He, F. H. LI, H. Chen, K. Kawasaki and T. Oikawa, Image deconvolution for defect crystals in field emission high resolution electron microscopy, Ultramicroscopy 70(1997) 1-11.

1. D. X. HUANG, W. Z. He and F. H. LI, Multi-solution in maximium entropy image deconvolution -- origin and way out,Ultramicroscopy 62(1996) 141-148.