Weiquan Zhu, Ph.D.

My research interests are on vascular stability and its relationship to disease. I have a broad background in molecular biology, biochemistry, and cell biology, as well as specific expertise in signaling cascades that are required for studying essential cellular responses in vascular biology and pathology. I conducted my postdoctoral training with Dr. Dean Y. Li at the University of Utah, where I studied the function of the small GTPase ARF6 and the protective role of ARF6 inhibition in animal models of sepsis and arthritis. This work led to two first-author publications: 1) the discovery that the interleukin receptor activates a MYD88-ARNO-ARF6 cascade to disrupt vascular stability and how these effects are central to inflammatory arthritis (Nature, 2012) and 2) the first indication that Slit-Robo can serve as a target to blunt the cytokine storm associated with sepsis and influenza (Sci. Transl. Med., 2010).

As an independent investigator, I have expanded my research into new areas, such as the nexus between inflammation, infection and immune-related diseases. My laboratory’s research focuses on examining whether ARF6 activation acts as a common convergence point to regulate multiple inflammatory and angiogenic pathways and determining whether blocking ARF6 activation promotes vascular stability and can be used as a novel strategy to treat sepsis, cytokine storm related syndromes, and vascular eye disease. We published an article in The Journal of Clinical Investigation (JCI, 2017), which shows that ARF6 inhibition stabilizes the blood-retina barrier and reduces debilitating sequelae in several ocular inflammatory disease-related animal models. This work has triggered our interest in determining whether ARF6 inhibition would have similar efficacy in maintaining blood-CNS barrier (BCNSB) function under pathological conditions in CNS and in maintaining alveolar-capillary barrier function under pathological conditions of infection-induced ARDS. My long-term goal is to have these basic science discoveries translated into therapeutics that can be used in the clinic.

Global Impact