Long-Jun Wu

Dr. Wu's research mainly focuses on neuroimmune interaction in health and disease. Particularly, he is interested in studying the role of microglia, the highly dynamic immune cells in the central nervous system, in clinically relevant pathologies such as epilepsy, neuropathic pain, neurodegeneration, and autoimmune neurology. Dr. Wu and his team use advanced genetic tools along with a combination of two-photon imaging, electrophysiology, electroencephalography, molecular biology techniques and awake-behavioral studies in rodent models. His group recently uncovered the molecular mechanism underlying microglial sensing and regulation of neuronal activities in normal and diseased brain (Liu et al. Nat Neurosci, 2019; Xie et al., Nat Neurosci, 2022; Haruwaka et al., Nat Neurosci, 2024; Umpierre et al., Neuron, in press). The current research in Dr Wu's laboratory include: (1) Microglia-synapse interaction; (2) Microglial TREM2 function; (3) Microglial calcium signaling; (4) Microglia-T cells interaction; (5) Monocytes infiltration and function. By understanding the cross talk between nervous system and immune system, the long-term vision of Dr. Wu's research is to identify neuroimmune mechanisms and microglia-specific targets to treat neurological disorders and neurodegeneration.