Zack Wang, PhD

Professional Titles

• Director, Ross Flow Cytometry Core Facility

Primary Academic Title

Associate Professor of Medicine

Background

Centers and Institutes

Cell Engineering, Institute for

Contact for Research Inquiries

720 Rutland Avenue
Ross Research Building, Room 1029
Baltimore, MD 21205

Phone: (410) 614-0041
zwang51@jhmi.edu

Research Interests

EphB4-ephrinB2 signaling in stem cell differentiation, Hematopoietic development of pluripotent stem cells, Molecular regulation of vascular differentiation from human ES and iPS cells

Lab Website

Zack Wang Lab

• The Wang lab focuses on the signals that direct the differentiation of pluripotent stem cells, including embryonic stem cells and induced-pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, into hematopoietic and cardiovascular cells. Pluripotent stem cells hold great potential for regenerative medicine. A significant effort in the lab is underway to generate hematopoietic cells, such as megakaryocytes and platelets, from human iPS cells. Recently, Wang's team established a system to characterize the common precursors of hematopoietic and endothelial cells (hemogenic endothelial cells) in human pluripotent stem cells. By transplanting endothelial cells derived from human pluripotent cells into immunodeficient mice, his researcher team showed these cells form functional blood vessels. Therefore, it is possible that endothelial cells from patient-specific iPS cells could provide a cellular source for vascular regeneration in ischemic tissue. The team also investigates the niche function of endothelial cells in regulating cardiomyocyte development from pluripotent stem cells.

Core Facility

Ross Flow Cytometry

Research Summary

The long-term research goal of the Wang laboratory is to understand the molecular mechanisms that regulate cardiovascular and hematopoietic differentiation of pluripotent stem cells (PSCs), including embryonic stem (ES) cells and induced-pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. Pluripotent stem cells hold great potential for regenerative medicine, and gene therapy. Defining the molecular links between differentiation outcomes will provide important information for designing rational methods of stem cell manipulation.  

PubMed

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/zack.wang.1/bibliography/public/

Selected Publications

• Bai H, Gao Y, Hoyle DL, Cheng T, Wang ZZ. Suppression of Transforming Growth Factor-β Signaling Delays Cellular Senescence and Preserves the Function of Endothelial Cells Derived from Human Pluripotent Stem Cells. Stem Cells Transl Med. 2017 Feb;6(2):589-600. doi: 10.5966/sctm.2016-0089. Epub 2016 Sep 20. PubMed PMID: 28191769; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5442820

• Kruse RL, Huang Y, Lee A, Zhu X, Shrestha R, Laeyendecker O, Littlefield K, Pekosz A, Bloch EM, Tobian AAR, Wang ZZ. A Hemagglutination-Based Semiquantitative Test for Point-of-Care Determination of SARS-CoV-2 Antibody Levels. J Clin Microbiol. 2021 Nov 18;59(12):e0118621. doi: 10.1128/JCM.01186-21. Epub 2021 Sep 1. PubMed PMID: 34469185; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8601214

• Shen J, Lyu C, Zhu Y, Feng Z, Zhang S, Hoyle DL, Ji G, Brodsky RA, Cheng T, Wang ZZ. Defining early hematopoietic-fated primitive streak specification of human pluripotent stem cells by the orchestrated balance of Wnt, activin, and BMP signaling. J Cell Physiol. 2019 Feb 10;. doi: 10.1002/jcp.28272. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 30740687; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6689260

• Shen J, Xu Y, Zhang S, Lyu S, Huo Y, Zhu Y, Tang K, Mou J, Li X, Hoyle DL, Wang M, Wang J, Li X, Wang ZZ, Cheng T. Single-cell transcriptome of early hematopoiesis guides arterial endothelial-enhanced functional T cell generation from human PSCs. Sci Adv. 2021 Sep 3;7(36):eabi9787. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abi9787. Epub 2021 Sep 3. PubMed PMID: 34516916; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8442917

• Shen J, Zhu Y, Lyu C, Feng Z, Lyu S, Zhao Y, Hoyle DL, Ji G, Miao W, Zhang X, Cheng L, Brodsky RA, Cheng T, Wang ZZ. Sequential cellular niches control the generation of enucleated erythrocytes from human pluripotent stem cells. Haematologica. 2020;105(2):e48-e51. doi: 10.3324/haematol.2018.211664. Print 2020. PubMed PMID: 31197070; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7012464.