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Scientist Profile

Weilan Ye

Principal Scientist: Molecular Biology
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"Time and again, Genentech is proven to be the industry leader. This is a place where creative minds have a good chance to transform medicine."
 

I came to Genentech as a postdoc in October 1995 to work on neural development and neural degenerative diseases. I enjoyed the dynamic and stimulating scientific environment so much that I decided to stay as a scientist, beginning in November 1999, and started a small research program focusing on vascular development.

 
 
My Focus

We are interested in understanding how vascular endothelial cells are orchestrated to form a functional tubular network after the initial angiogenic induction. A better knowledge of this complex process may lead to the development of new treatment strategies for diseases associated with abnormal vascular growth.

To that end, my group carried out a molecular screen based on expression patterns and we identified a significant number of novel factors that are abundantly expressed in the developing vasculatures. We are now carrying out functional analysis of these factors using several in vivo and in vitro systems, including zebrafish knockdown, mouse knockout, organ culture, and xenograft tumor models.

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Publications & Recognition
  • TSPAN12 Regulates Retinal Vascular Development by Promoting Norrin- but Not Wnt-Induced FZD4/B-Catenin Signaling
  • Cell 2009 Oct 16; 139 (2): 299-311
  • Junge HJ, Yang S, Burton JB, Paes K, Shu X, French DM, Costa M, Rice DS, Ye W
  • View Abstract on PubMed
  • Kinome siRNA screen identifies regulators of ciliogenesis and hedgehog signal transduction
  • Science Signal 2008 Sep 30; 1(39): ra7
  • Evangelista M, Lim TY, Lee J, Parker L, Ashique A, Peterson AS, Ye W, Davis DP, de Sauvage FJ
  • View Abstract on PubMed
  • Effects of an anti-VEGF-A monoclonal antibody on laser-induced choroidal neovascularization in mice: optimizing methods to quantify vascular changes
  • Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 2008 Mar; 49(3): 1178-83
  • Campa C, Kasman I, Ye W, Lee WP, Fuh G, Ferrera N
  • View Abstract on PubMed
 
View All Publications & Recognition
 
  • University of Pittsburgh, Molecular, Cellular, Developmental Biology Program, Department of Biological Sciences
  • Ph.D.
  • 1995
  • University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), Biophysics
  • B.S
  • 1988
Publications & Recognition
  • TSPAN12 Regulates Retinal Vascular Development by Promoting Norrin- but Not Wnt-Induced FZD4/B-Catenin Signaling
  • Cell 2009 Oct 16; 139 (2): 299-311
  • Junge HJ, Yang S, Burton JB, Paes K, Shu X, French DM, Costa M, Rice DS, Ye W
  • View Abstract on PubMed
  • Kinome siRNA screen identifies regulators of ciliogenesis and hedgehog signal transduction
  • Science Signal 2008 Sep 30; 1(39): ra7
  • Evangelista M, Lim TY, Lee J, Parker L, Ashique A, Peterson AS, Ye W, Davis DP, de Sauvage FJ
  • View Abstract on PubMed
  • Effects of an anti-VEGF-A monoclonal antibody on laser-induced choroidal neovascularization in mice: optimizing methods to quantify vascular changes
  • Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 2008 Mar; 49(3): 1178-83
  • Campa C, Kasman I, Ye W, Lee WP, Fuh G, Ferrera N
  • View Abstract on PubMed
  • Egfl7 knockdown causes defects in the extension and junctional arrangements of endothelial cells during zebrafish vasculogenesis
  • Dev Dyn 2008 Mar; 237(3): 580-91
  • De Maziere A, Parker L, Van Dijk S, Ye W, Klumperman J
  • View Abstract on PubMed
  • EGFL7 regulates the collective migration of endothelial cells by restricting their spatial distribution
  • Development 2007 Aug; 134(16): 2913-23. Epub 2007 Jul 11
  • Schmidt M, Paes K, De Maziere A, Smyczek T, Yang S, Gray A, French D, Kasman I, Klumperman J, Rice DS, Ye W
  • View Abstract on PubMed
  • The role of Egfl7 in vascular morphogenesis
  • Novartis Found Symp 2007; 283: 18-28; discussion 28-36, 238-41
  • Schmidt M, De Maziere A, Smyczek T, Gray A, Parker L, Filvaroff E, French D, van Dijk S, Klumperman J, Ye W
  • View Abstract on PubMed
  • Loss of Hspa9b in zebrafish recapitulates the ineffective hematopoiesis of the myelodysplastic syndrome
  • Blood 2005 May 1; 105(9): 3528-34. Epub 2005 Jan 13
  • Craven SE, French D, Ye W, de Sauvage F, Rosenthal A
  • View Abstract on PubMed
  • The endothelial-cell-derived secreted factor Egfl7 regulates vascular tube formation
  • Nature 2004 Apr 15; 428(6984): 754-8
  • Parker LH, Schmidt M, Jin SW, Gray AM, Beis D, Pham T, Frantz G, Palmieri S, Hillan K, Stainier DY, De Sauvage FJ, Ye W
  • View Abstract on PubMed
  • Gata2 specifies serotonergic neurons downstream of sonic hedgehog
  • Development 2004 Mar; 131(5): 1165-73
  • Craven SE, Lim KC, Ye W, Engel JD, de Sauvage F, Rosenthal A
  • View Abstract on PubMed
  • Hedgehog signaling and embryonic development
  • Handbook of Cellular Signaling 2004; 2: 793-798
  • Merchant M, Ye W, de Sauvage FJ
  • Hepatocytes express nerve growth factor during liver injury: evidence for paracrine regulation of hepatic stellate cell apoptosis
  • Am J Pathol 2003 Nov; 163(5): 1849-58
  • Oakley F, Trim N, Constandinou CM, Ye W, Gray AM, Frantz G, Hillan K, Kendall T, Benyon RC, Mann DA, Iredale JP
  • View Abstract on PubMed
  • Distinct regulators control the expression of the mid-hindbrain organizer signal FGF8
  • Nat Neurosci 2001 Dec; 4(12): 1175-81
  • Ye W, Bouchard M, Stone D, Liu X, Vella F, Lee J, Nakamura H, Ang SL, Busslinger M, Rosenthal A
  • View Abstract on PubMed
  • The seven-transmembrane receptor smoothened cell-autonomously induces multiple ventral cell types
  • Nat Neurosci 2000 Jan; 3(1): 41-6
  • Hynes M, Ye W, Wang K, Stone D, Murone M, Sauvage F, Rosenthal A
  • View Abstract on PubMed
  • Characterization of the human suppressor of fused, a negative regulator of the zinc-finger transcription factor Gli
  • J Cell Sci 1999 Dec; 112 (Pt 23): 4437-48
  • Stone DM, Murone M, Luoh S, Ye W, Armanini MP, Gurney A, Phillips H, Brush J, Goddard A, de Sauvage FJ, Rosenthal A
  • View Abstract on PubMed
  • FGF and Shh signals control dopaminergic and serotonergic cell fate in the anterior neural plate
  • Cell 1998 May 29; 93(5): 755-66
  • Ye W, Shimamura K, Rubenstein JL, Hynes MA, Rosenthal A
  • View Abstract on PubMed
  • Bacterially expressed F1-20/AP-3 assembles clathrin into cages with a narrow size distribution: implications for the regulation of quantal size during neurotransmission
  • J Neurosci Res 1995 May 1; 41(1): 15-26
  • Ye W, Lafer EM
  • View Abstract on PubMed
  • Clathrin binding and assembly activities of expressed domains of the synapse-specific clathrin assembly protein AP-3
  • J Biol Chem 1995 May 5; 270(18): 10933-9
  • Ye W, Lafer EM
  • View Abstract on PubMed
  • Inhibition of clathrin assembly by high affinity binding of specific inositol polyphosphates to the synapse-specific clathrin assembly protein AP-3
  • J Biol Chem 1995 Jan 27; 270(4): 1564-8
  • Ye W, Ali N, Bembenek ME, Shears SB, Lafer EM
  • View Abstract on PubMed
  • The properties of motion perception in Strabismic and Anisometropic Amblyopia
  • Research in Strabismus and Amblyopia 1988; 3(1): 21-9
  • Ye W, Xue J, Shou T
  • Loss of hspa9b in zebrafish implicates mitochondrial dysfunction in myelodysplastic syndromes
  • In press 2004
  • Craven, SE, D. French, W. Ye, FJ de Sauvage, A. Rosenthal
  • Hedgehog signaling and embryonic development
  • In: Bradshaw RA, Dennis EA, editors. Handbook of cell signaling. New York: Academic Press, 2004. v. 2, p. 793-98
  • Merchant, M, W. Ye, F de Sauvage
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Ellen Filvaroff, Senior Scientist and Alex Avardo, Receipent of Free Medicine From the Genentech® Access to Care Foundation, on the cover of Genentech's 2006 Annual Report.