Personal Profile
Wang Jichang, Professor at Sun Yat-sen University, an outstanding scholar of the "Yixian Scholars Program", a recipient of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, and the person in charge of a National Key R & D Program project.
He completed his undergraduate and master's studies at Nanjing Medical University and obtained his Ph.D. in Natural Sciences (Dr. rer. nat.) with the highest honor grade (summa cum laude) from the Free University of Berlin, Germany. He then conducted research on human pluripotent stem cells and gene therapy at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in Germany. In 2017, he returned to China and was hired by Sun Yat-sen University.
He is currently engaged in research on stem cells, human embryonic development, and xenogeneic organ regeneration. Some of his research results have been published in academic journals such as Nature, Cell Stem Cell, PNAS, Trends in Microbiology, Nature Protocols, Cell Reports, Nucleic Acids Research, and Genome Biology. He has received funding from the National Key R & D Program and the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars. He was selected for the National High-level Talent Introduction Program (2017), the Guangdong "Pearl River Talent Plan" for Innovative and Entrepreneurial Teams (2017), and has received awards such as the Best Paper Award of the German Stem Cell Research Society, as well as the title of Helmholtz Postdoctoral Fellow awarded by the Helmholtz Association of Germany.
Research Directions
Our research group focuses on organ regeneration research. From the perspective of species evolution, we aim to decipher the mechanisms of embryonic development, with the ultimate goal of cultivating functional human tissues and organs within mammals to address the significant medical challenge of organ shortage for transplantation. Currently, our research mainly focuses on the following three directions:
- Organogenesis Mechanism: We utilize stem cell-derived "artificial embryo" models to simulate and reproduce the process of human life generation and development in the laboratory. By doing so, we aim to elucidate the regulatory mechanisms of organogenesis, with the hope of providing innovative strategies for improving assisted reproductive technologies and the clinical diagnosis and treatment of developmental diseases such as birth defects.
- Xenogeneic Organ Regeneration: We investigate the key barriers and regulatory mechanisms of mammalian xenogeneic chimerism and develop efficient human-animal xenogeneic chimera techniques. Our goal is to cultivate functional human tissue organs within large animals (such as pigs) for organ transplantation.
- Primate Brain Development: Leveraging our group's unique stem cell resources and xenogeneic chimera techniques, combined with brain organoid models, we explore the molecular mechanisms of brain development and evolution in primates and other species. Our aim is to provide theoretical bases and intervention strategies for the clinical diagnosis and treatment of human developmental brain diseases.
Members of the Research Group
- Associate Professor: Yang Mingzhu
- Postdoctoral Fellows: Yu Xiu, Qu Yuliang, Zhou Zhimin (Joint Supervisor), Liang Shiqi (Joint Supervisor)
- Doctoral Students: Chen Manqi (2020 cohort), Jiang Dongmei (2023 cohort), Tang Shiyi (2023 cohort), Zhang Mengya (2024 cohort), Guo Tianxu (2024 cohort), Xu Huilin (2023 cohort, Joint Training)
- Master's Students: Zhou Changlei (2022 cohort), Su Zezhong (2023 cohort), Li Zhenyao (2024 cohort)
- Research Assistants: Lantianyang
- Clinical Medicine (Eight-year Program): Hu Yuxuan (2021 cohort), Zhang Gexin (2021 cohort), Zhang Zhiyu (2023 cohort), Chen Zhongzheng (2023 cohort)
- Basic Medicine (Strong Foundation Program): Shi Shuman (2023 cohort), Liu Zitong (2023 cohort)
Academic Achievements
(I) Overview of Academic Achievements
We have systematically elucidated the epigenetic mechanisms by which species-specific endogenous retroviruses regulate the developmental potential of early embryos and stem cells, revealing the evolutionary patterns of the epigenetic regulatory networks during mammalian early embryonic development. This provides new insights into overcoming the chimeric barriers of human stem cells in animal embryos (Nature 2014, Cell Stem Cell 2022a, Trends Microbiol 2023, PNAS 2024, Genome Biol 2024). We have also established a new type of stem cell that resembles early embryos, with stronger chimeric and developmental potential, providing more optimal "seed stem cells" for human-animal xenogeneic chimera research. Moreover, using these pluripotent stem cells, we have prepared high-fidelity "artificial embryos", offering a novel model and strategy for mammalian embryonic development research (Cell Stem Cell 2022b, Nat Protoc 2016, Cell Rep 2022/2023).
(II) Representative Papers
(# co-first author; *co-corresponding author)
Research Papers：
7. Niannian Li#, Kairang Jin#, Bin Liu#, Mingzhu Yang#, PanPan Shi, Dai Heng, Jichang Wang*, Lin Liu*. Single-cell 3D genome structure reveals distinct human pluripotent states. Genome Biol. 2024;25:122
6. Xuhui Kong#, Ruiqi Li#, Manqi Chen#, Rongyan Zheng, Jichang Wang, Chuanbo Sun*, Yuliang Qu*. Endogenous retrovirus HERVH-derived lncRNAUCA1 controls human trophoblast development. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2024;121(12):e2318176121.
5. Chenglei Tian#, Jing Wang#, Xiaoying Ye#, Jiyu Chen#, Rongyan Zheng#, Hanwen Yu, Jie Li, Guoxing Yin, Linlin Liu, Nannan Zhao, Guofeng Feng, Zhengmao Zhu, Jichang Wang*, Guoping Fan* and Lin Liu*. ESCs culture conditions impact the tumor appearance in vivo. Cell Rep. 2023;42:112645.
4. Hanwen Yu#, Manqi Chen#, Yuanlang Hu#, Songbang Ou#, Xiu Yu, Shiqi Liang, Niannian Li, Mingzhu Yang, Xuhui Kong, Chuanbo Sun, Shiqi Jia, Qingxue Zhang, Lin Liu, Laurence D Hurst, Ruiqi Li#,*, Wenjun Wang*, Jichang Wang*. Dynamic reprogramming of H3K9me3 at hominoid-specific retrotransposons during human preimplantation development. Cell Stem Cell, 2022;29(7):1031-1050.
3. Xiu Yu#, Shiqi Liang#, Manqi Chen#, Hanwen Yu, Ruiqi Li, Xuhui Kong, Ruirui Guo, Rongyan Zheng, Zsuzsanna Izsvak, Chuanbo Sun*, Mingzhu Yang#,*, Jichang Wang*. Recapitulating early human development with 8C-like cells. Cell Rep, 2022;39(12):110994.
2. Mingzhu Yang#, Hanwen Yu#, Xiu Yu#, Shiqi Liang#, Yuanlang Hu, Yuxin Luo, Zsuzsanna Izsvák, Chuanbo Sun*, Jichang Wang*. Chemical-induced chromatin remodeling reprograms mouse ESCs to totipotent-like stem cells. Cell Stem Cell. 2022; 29:400-418.
1. Jichang Wang#, Gangcai Xie#, Manvedra Singh, Avazeh T. Ghanbarian, Tamás Raskó, Attila Szvetnik, Huiqiang Cai, Daniel Besser, Alessandro Prigione, Nina V. Fuchs, Gerald G. Schumann, Wei Chen, Matthew C. Lorincz, Zoltán Ivics, Laurence D. Hurst*, Zsuzsanna Izsvák*. Primate-specific endogenous retrovirus driven transcription defines naïve-like stem cells. Nature. 2014; 516(7531): 405-409.
Reviews and Comments:
4. Jichang Wang*, Xinyi Lu*, Weiqi Zhang*, Guanghui Liu*. Endogenous retroviruses in development and health. Trends Microbiol. 2023 (invited review)
3. Yuliang Qu, Jichang Wang*. Awakening of ancient retrovirus: a new sign of aging in humans? Sci China Life Sci. 2023;66(6):1454-1455.
2. Yuliang Qu, Zsuzsanna Izsvák, Jichang Wang*. Retrotransposon: A Versatile Player in Human Preimplantation Development and Health. Life Med. 2023;1(2): lnac041.
1. Zsuzsanna Izsvák*, Jichang Wang, Manvendra Singh, Dixie L. Mager, Laurence D. Hurst. Pluripotency and the endogenous retrovirus HERVH: Conflict or serendipity? BioEssays. 2016; 38(1): 109-117. (Invited review)
(III) Patents
- Wang Jichang et al., A culture medium and induction method for inducing pluripotent-like stem cells in mice (ZL202210113952.9);
- Wang Jichang, A culture medium for inducing pluripotent-like stem cells in humans and its application (ZL202210703883.7)
Research Projects
- National Key R & D Program "Stem Cell Research and Organ Repair" Key Special Project (December 2024 - November 2027, Project Leader)
- National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, Early Embryonic Development and the Construction of Its In Vitro Models (January 2024 - December 2028, Project Leader)
- Basic Research Business Fee of Central Universities - Major Project Cultivation and Emerging Interdisciplinary Discipline Cultivation Plan Project (January 2024 - December 2026, Project Leader)
- General Project of the National Natural Science Foundation (January 2023 - December 2026, Project Leader)
- General Project of the Guangdong Provincial Natural Science Foundation (January 2021 - December 2023, Project Leader)
- Basic Research Business Fee of Central Universities - Key Cultivation Project for Young Teachers (2019 - 2020, Project Leader)
- General Project of the National Natural Science Foundation (January 2019 - December 2022, Project Leader)
- National Key R & D Program "Stem Cells and Translational Research" Key Special Project (July 2018 - December 2022, Task Leader)
- National Key R & D Program "Stem Cells and Translational Research" Key Special Project (July 2018 - December 2022, Academic Core Member)
- National High-level Talent Introduction Program for Young Scholars (January 2017 - December 2020, Project Leader)
- Guangdong "Pearl River Talent Plan" for Innovative and Entrepreneurial Teams (August 2017 - July 2022, Core Backbone)
- Research Startup Fund for Introduced Talents of Sun Yat-sen University (2017 - 2020, Project Leader)
- Helmholtz Postdoc Programme (2015 - 2017, 300,000 euros, PI)
Awards and Honors
- National Scholarship for Outstanding Self-funded Overseas Students (2014)
- "Best Paper of the Year" Award of the German Stem Cell Society (2015)
- Helmholtz Postdoc Fellow (2015)
