Wei Zhu, PhD

Appointments

Assistant Scientist, Musculoskeletal Integrity Program, Hospital for Special Surgery

Assistant Professor, Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Weill Cornell Medical College

 

Selected Publications

Naobumi Hosogane, Zhiping Huang, Bernard A Rawlins, Xia Liu, Oheneba Boachie-Adjei, Adele L. Boskey, Wei Zhu. Stromal derived factor-1 regulates bone morphogenic protein 2- induced osteogenic differentiation of primary mesenchymal stem cells. The International Journal of Biochemistry and Cell Biology 2010. March 31. In press.

Wei Zhu, Bernard A Rawlins, Oheneba Boachie-Adjei, Baruch Frenkel, Adele L. Boskey, Lionel B. Ivashkiv, Carl P. Blobel. A novel regulatory role of SDF-1 signaling in BMP2-induced osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal C2C12 cells. The Journal of Biological Chemistry 2007. 282(26):18676-85.

Wei Zhu, Jaehon Kim, Bernard A Rawlins, Oheneba Boachie-Adjei, Ronald G Crystal, Chisa Hidaka. Noggin regulation of bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) 2/7 heterodimer activity in vitro. Bone. 2006. 39(1): 61-71.

Hidaka C, Cunningham ME, Rodeo SA, Maher SA, Zhu W. Modern biologics used in orthopaedic surgery. Current Opinion on Rheumatology. 2006. 18(1):74-9.

Wei Zhu, Bernard A Rawlins, Oheneba Boachie-Adjei, Elizabeth Myers, Jun Arimizu, Eugene Choi, Jay R Lieberman, Ronald G Crystal, Chisa Hidaka. Combination bone morphogenetic protein-2 and –7 gene therapy enhances osteoblastic differentiation and spine fusion. The Journal of Bone and Mineral Research 2004.19(12):2021-32.

Wei Zhu, George AC Murrell, Jiahao Lin, Edith M Gardiner, Ashish D Diwan. Localization of nitric oxide synthases during fracture healing. The Journal of Bone and Mineral Research 2002.17(8): 1470-1477.

Wei Zhu, Ashish D Diwan, Jiahao Lin, George AC Murrell. Nitric oxide synthase isoforms during fracture healing. The Journal of Bone and Mineral Research 2001.16 (3): 535-540.

Ashish D Diwan, Min X Wang, Daniel Jang, Wei Zhu, George AC Murrell. Nitric oxide modulates fracture healing. The Journal of Bone and Mineral Research 2000.15(2): 342-351.

For more publications, please see the PubMed listing.  

Research Description

Our long-term goal is to develop novel therapeutic strategies and methods to improve bone repair and regeneration for patients who suffer from fracture, trauma, arthritis, genetic or cancer-related bone defects. We focus on investigating molecular and cellular mechanisms that govern osteogenic differentiation and bone formation. Our major interested areas are:

1. Elucidation of molecular signaling that directs the commitment of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) into an osteogenic pathway. Ongoing investigations include the crosstalk between bone morphogenic protein 2 (BMP2) and stromal derived factor-1 (SDF-1) signaling pathways for promoting the differentiation of MSCs into bone-producing osteoblasts.
2. Identification and characterization of signaling pathways that control the bone development and growth. Ongoing investigations include the use of rigorous genetic approaches and transgenic mouse models to delineate the role of SDF-1/CXCR4 pathway in bone formation.