Hongwei Yu, MD

Assistant Professor

Contact Information

hyu@mcw.edu

Biography

Education

MD, Binzhou Medical College, Binzhou, China
MS, Shandong University Medical School, Jinan, China
Postdoctoral training, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC

Research Interests

1. Gene and molecular therapy for chronic pain

Dorsal Root Ganglionic Field Stimulation Relieves Spontaneous and Induced Neuropathic Pain in Rats.

(Pan B, Yu H, Fischer GJ, Kramer JM, Hogan QH.) J Pain. 2016 12;17(12):1349-1358.
HMG-CoA synthase isoenzymes 1 and 2 localize to satellite glial cells in dorsal root ganglia and are differentially regulated by peripheral nerve injury.

(Wang F, Xiang H, Fischer G, Liu Z, Dupont MJ, Hogan QH, Yu H.) Brain Res. 2016 12 01;1652:62-70.
Peripheral nerve injury induces loss of nociceptive neuron-specific Gαi-interacting protein in neuropathic pain rat.

(Liu Z, Wang F, Fischer G, Hogan QH, Yu H.) Mol Pain. 2016;12.
AAV-Mediated Gene Transfer to Dorsal Root Ganglion.

(Yu H, Fischer G, Hogan QH.) Methods Mol Biol. 2016;1382:251-61.
CaMKII Controls Whether Touch Is Painful.

(Yu H, Pan B, Weyer A, Wu HE, Meng J, Fischer G, Vilceanu D, Light AR, Stucky C, Rice FL, Hudmon A, Hogan Q.) J Neurosci. 2015 Oct 21;35(42):14086-102.
Regulation of voltage-gated Ca(2+) currents by Ca(2+)/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II in resting sensory neurons.

(Kostic S, Pan B, Guo Y, Yu H, Sapunar D, Kwok WM, Hudmon A, Wu HE, Hogan QH.) Mol Cell Neurosci. 2014 Sep;62:10-8.
Desmosterol in brain is elevated because DHCR24 needs REST for Robust Expression but REST is poorly expressed.

(Tint GS, Pan L, Shang Q, Sharpe LJ, Brown AJ, Li M, Yu H.) Dev Neurosci. 2014;36(2):132-42.
Sustained relief of neuropathic pain by AAV-targeted expression of CBD3 peptide in rat dorsal root ganglion.

(Fischer G, Pan B, Vilceanu D, Hogan QH, Yu H.) Gene Ther. 2014 Jan;21(1):44-51.
Intraganglionic AAV6 results in efficient and long-term gene transfer to peripheral sensory nervous system in adult rats.

(Yu H, Fischer G, Ferhatovic L, Fan F, Light AR, Weihrauch D, Sapunar D, Nakai H, Park F, Hogan QH.) PLoS One. 2013;8(4):e61266.
Ca²⁺-dependent regulation of Ca²⁺ currents in rat primary afferent neurons: role of CaMKII and the effect of injury.

(Tang Q, Bangaru ML, Kostic S, Pan B, Wu HE, Koopmeiners AS, Yu H, Fischer GJ, McCallum JB, Kwok WM, Hudmon A, Hogan QH.) J Neurosci. 2012 Aug 22;32(34):11737-49.
Lentiviral gene transfer into the dorsal root ganglion of adult rats.

(Yu H, Fischer G, Jia G, Reiser J, Park F, Hogan QH.) Mol Pain. 2011 Aug 23;7:63.
Direct injection into the dorsal root ganglion: technical, behavioral, and histological observations.

(Fischer G, Kostic S, Nakai H, Park F, Sapunar D, Yu H, Hogan Q.) J Neurosci Methods. 2011 Jul 15;199(1):43-55.

Our research focuses are on designing, cloning, production, and application of recombinant adeno-associated viral (AAV) vectors to manipulate genes of interests in vivo in the peripheral sensory nervous system for studying pain molecular mechanism and for treating chronic pain. Directed by Dr. Quinn Hogan, we have successfully developed AAV vectors for mechanistic research and translational development. These AAV vectors have high transduction efficiency for all sensory neuron subtypes or have selective tropism to large-sized Aβ low-threshold mechanoreceptors when delivered into dorsal root ganglia (DRG) in rodent. We have recently defined a novel strategy, AAV-encoded interfering peptide aptamers (AAV-iPAs), for reversing pain by modulating the pain interactome in the peripheral nervous system. We have demonstrated the efficacy of AAV-iPAs approach using iPA targeting various TRP and voltage-gated calcium channels. We are also developing other AAV systems (AAV-targeted Optogenetics, AAV-siRNA in vivo gene knockdown, and vectors that can reconstitute transgene across synaptic partners in the first sensory synapses).

Satellite glial cells (SGCs) wrapping the primary sensory neurons together compose of unique anatomical and functional sensory units in the DRG. We recently develop a SGC-specific AAV vector (sgcAAV) that is effective in providing SGC-selective transgene expression following intraganglionic sgcAAV delivery in adult rats, and we also developed a microglia-specific AAV vector (mgAAV) by using the promoter of Iba1 gene that is a canonical microglial marker. These glial cell-targeting AAV strategies should prove useful for the development of gene expression systems targeting SGC and microglial signaling for chronic pain. We have also established a dual AAV strategy using two AAV vectors enabling efficient expression of transgenes selectively in neurons versus SGCs.

Yu Hongwei, MD