Wei Xu, Ph.D. Associate Professor Endowed Title Louise W. Kahn Scholar in Biomedical Research School Medical School Department Neuroscience Graduate Programs Neuroscience Biography Download Curriculum Vitae Dr. Xu obtained Ph.D. at University of Southern California in 2008, where he worked with Dr. Michel Baudry studying the interaction between glutamate receptors and calpain and its implications in brain functions. He then conducted postdoctoral research with Dr. Tom Südhof at HHMI and Stanford University where he started to develop molecular tools for exploring brain circuits and used the tools to address questions related to memory. He joined the department of Neuroscience at UT Southwestern in Dec. 2014. Dr. Xu is interested in the neuronal mechanisms underlying the basic cognitive processes. He focuses on the circuit level with the goal of bridging cellular and synaptic phenomena to high-level brain functions. The specific questions include the encoding, retrieval and generalization of memories and the brain’s executive control over the selection of behavioral programs. Research Interest Brain Connectivity Generalization of memory Neuronal mechanisms underlying psychosis Technology development Publications Featured Publications Brain-wide circuit-specific targeting of astrocytes. Thompson A, Arano R, Saleem U, Preciado R, Munoz L, Nelson I, Ramos K, Kim Y, Li Y, Xu W, Cell Rep Methods 2023 Nov 100653 Directed stepwise tracing of polysynaptic neuronal circuits with replication-deficient pseudorabies virus. Du W, Li E, Guo J, Arano R, Kim Y, Chen YT, Thompson A, Oh SJ, Samuel A, Li Y, Oyibo HK, Xu W, Cell Rep Methods 2023 Jun 3 6 100506 Anterograde transneuronal tracing and genetic control with engineered yellow fever vaccine YFV-17D. Li E, Guo J, Oh SJ, Luo Y, Oliveros HC, Du W, Arano R, Kim Y, Chen YT, Eitson J, Lin DT, Li Y, Roberts T, Schoggins JW, Xu W, Nat Methods 2021 Nov A neural circuit for memory specificity and generalization. Xu W, Südhof TC Science 2013 Mar 339 6125 1290-5 Distinct neuronal coding schemes in memory revealed by selective erasure of fast synchronous synaptic transmission. Xu W, Morishita W, Buckmaster PS, Pang ZP, Malenka RC, Südhof TC Neuron 2012 Mar 73 5 990-1001 Inhibitory hippocampus-medial septum projection controls locomotion and exploratory behavior. Chen YT, Arano R, Guo J, Saleem U, Li Y, Xu W, Front Synaptic Neurosci 2023 15 1042858 Dysfunction of parvalbumin neurons in the cerebellar nuclei produces an action tremor. Zhou M, Melin MD, Xu W, Südhof TC, J Clin Invest 2020 10 130 10 5142-5156 A central amygdala to zona incerta projection is required for acquisition and remote recall of conditioned fear memory. Zhou M, Liu Z, Melin MD, Ng YH, Xu W, Südhof TC Nat. Neurosci. 2018 Nov 21 11 1515-1519 Postsynaptic synaptotagmins mediate AMPA receptor exocytosis during LTP. Wu D, Bacaj T, Morishita W, Goswami D, Arendt KL, Xu W, Chen L, Malenka RC, Südhof TC Nature 2017 Mar Synaptotagmin-1- and Synaptotagmin-7-Dependent Fusion Mechanisms Target Synaptic Vesicles to Kinetically Distinct Endocytic Pathways. Li YC, Chanaday NL, Xu W, Kavalali ET Neuron 2016 Dec Results 1-10 of 27 1 2 3 Next Last Books Featured Books Methods for in vivo Gene Manipulation.. In Charney & Nestler's Neurobiology of Mental Illness (2017) Monteggia, Lisa M., and Wei Xu. (2017). Oxford University Press Honors & Awards K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award, NIH (2013) Professional Associations/Affiliations American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) (2008) Society for Neuroscience (2003)
