Basic Information

Email Address

• Email Address

  go.quan.8wkyoto-u.ac.jp

Academic Degree

• 25 Mar. 2010

  北海道大学修士（水産学）
• 22 Mar. 2013

  総合研究大学院大学博士（理学）

Academic Resume (Undergraduate School/Majors)

• 上海海洋大学, 生物科学学部生物技術専攻, 卒業

Research History

• From Oct. 2023, To Present

  JST さきがけ研究者 兼任
• From Apr. 2023, To Present

  Kyoto University, Graduate School of Medicine, 特任講師
• From Oct. 2021, To Mar. 2023

  RIKEN, 非対称細胞分裂研究室
• From Apr. 2018, To Sep. 2021

  RIKEN, 非対称細胞分裂研究室, SPDR
• From May 2017, To Apr. 2018

  RIKEN, 非対称細胞分裂研究室, 研究員
• From May 2015, To Apr. 2017

  RIKEN, CDB, JSPS外国人特別研究員
• From Apr. 2013, To May 2015

  National Institute of Genetics, National Institute of Genetics

Profile

• Profile

  During my third year of university, I had an internship in Mr. Shinji Adachi's laboratory at Hokkaido University. I observed the process of fertilized sturgeon eggs from cleavage to hatching with my mentors (and, of course, ate a lot of caviar), and became interested in the wonder and beauty of developmental biology. After completing my graduation thesis and master's thesis (on sex-determining sequences in the brain and gonads of fish), I gave up on fish as a model organism because CRISPER/CAS9 was not yet available at that time, and I realized that I could not simply edit the genome to validate my theory.
   
  During my PhD, I studied mouse genetics under Dr. Yumiko Saga (National Institute of Genetics). I focused on sex determination in germ cells, but in Saga's lab, there were many different teams working on different topics such as lungs, hearts, and body segments. Therefore, I understood the importance of studying development systematically rather than focusing on one tissue or organ.
   
  During my postdoctoral period until now, I have been studying neural stem cell fate determination and cerebral cortex development in the laboratory of Dr. Fumio Matsuzaki (RIKEN). Now my research theme is time. Each organism has its own time, and the time required for their development is different, as is their life span. What determines biological time? This question has plagued biologists until recently, with the advancement of DNA sequencing and all the new technologies that have come out of the world that have made it possible to answer this question. I now have two main research themes, one is the study of temporal scaling mechanisms during development using mouse, ferret, and human cerebral cortex as models, since they possess different developmental times. (The development of the cerebral cortex is basically the same, in the order of producing deep-layer neurons, upper-layer neurons and glia, but the time required varies greatly.) With this topic, I would like to not only find the clock that can represent the developmental time of an animal, but I would also like to know if the difference in developmental time would have an effect on the complexity of the organ. Another topic is the effect of changes in translation mechanisms during aging on the fate of neural stem cells. In addition, the length of developmental time also seems to link with the length of lifespan, and whether there is any connection between them is also a question worth pondering.

ID,URL

• ORCID ID

  0000-0001-9622-5367

• J-Global ID

  202001000606481280

• Researcher number

  60812766

• External link

  https://www.homepage-of-quan-wu.com

researchmap URL

• https://researchmap.jp/quanwu

Research

Research Interests

• the relationship of RNA modification and translation
• Neurogenesis
• Epigenetics
• Evolutional developmental biology

Research Areas

• Life sciences, Molecular biology
• Life sciences, Developmental biology

Papers

• Epigenetic–metabolic axis in the temporal scaling of mammalian cortical neurogenesis across species

  Quan Wu; Charlotte Manser; Taeko Suetsugu; Ryo Yoshida; Hideya Sakaguchi; Yoichi Nabeshima; Hiroshi Kiyonari; Ruben Perez-Carrasco; Fumio Matsuzaki

  BioRxiv, Sep. 2025, Lead author, Corresponding author

  
• Truncated radial glia as a common precursor in the late corticogenesis of gyrencephalic mammals. eLife 2023

  Merve Bilgic; Quan Wu; Taeko Suetsugu; Yuji Tsunekawa; Atsunori Sitamukai; Mitsutaka Kadota; Osamu Nishimura; Shigehiro Kuraku; Fumio Matsuzaki

  eLife, 19 Sep. 2023, Peer-reviewed, Corresponding author

  
• Selective translation of epigenetic modifiers affects the temporal pattern and differentiation of neural stem cells

  Quan Wu; Yuichi Shichino; Takaya Abe; Taeko Suetsugu; Ayaka Omori; Hiroshi Kiyonari; Shintaro Iwasaki; Fumio Matsuzaki

  Nature Communications, Jan. 2022, Peer-reviewed, Lead author, Corresponding author

  
• Notch1 and Notch2 collaboratively maintain radial glial cells in mouse neurogenesis

  Shun Mase; Atsunori Shitamukai; Quan Wu; Mitsuru Morimoto; Thomas Gridley; Fumio Matsuzaki

  Neuroscience Research, Dec. 2020, Peer-reviewed

  
• Sexual Fate Change of XX Germ Cells Caused by the Deletion of SMAD4 and STRA8 Independent of Somatic Sex Reprogramming.

  Quan Wu; Kurumi Fukuda; Yuzuru Kato; Zhi Zhou; Chu-Xia Deng; Yumiko Saga

  PLoS biology, Sep. 2016, Peer-reviewed

  
• RNA Binding Protein Nanos2 Organizes Post-transcriptional Buffering System to Retain Primitive State of Mouse Spermatogonial Stem Cells.

  Zhi Zhou; Takayuki Shirakawa; Kazuyuki Ohbo; Aiko Sada; Quan Wu; Kazuteru Hasegawa; Rie Saba; Yumiko Saga

  Developmental cell, 06 Jul. 2015, Peer-reviewed

  
• SMAD2 and p38 signaling pathways act in concert to determine XY primordial germ cell fate in mice.

  Quan Wu; Kurumi Fukuda; Michael Weinstein; Jonathan M Graff; Yumiko Saga

  Development (Cambridge, England), 01 Feb. 2015, Peer-reviewed

  
• CYP26B1 promotes male germ cell differentiation by suppressing STRA8-dependent meiotic and STRA8-independent mitotic pathways.

  Rie Saba; Quan Wu; Yumiko Saga

  Developmental biology, 15 May 2014, Peer-reviewed

  
• Nodal/activin signaling promotes male germ cell fate and suppresses female programming in somatic cells.

  Quan Wu; Kohei Kanata; Rie Saba; Chu-Xia Deng; Hiroshi Hamada; Yumiko Saga

  Development (Cambridge, England), 15 Jan. 2013, Peer-reviewed

  
• Expression patterns of gonadotropin hormones and their receptors during early sexual differentiation in Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus.

  Hongwei Yan; Shigeho Ijiri; Quan Wu; Tohru Kobayashi; Shuang Li; Taro Nakaseko; Shinji Adachi; Yoshitaka Nagahama

  Biology of reproduction, Nov. 2012, Peer-reviewed

  

Misc.

• Selective translation of epigenetic modifiers drives the developmental clock of neural stem cells

  呉泉; 七野悠一; 岩崎信太郎; 松崎文雄

  日本分子生物学会年会プログラム・要旨集(Web), 2020

  

Awards

• 30 Mar. 2012

  SOKENDAI President’s Award(総合研究大学院大学)
• 30 Mar. 2013

  SOKENDAI Research Award(総合研究大学院大学)
• 10 May 2018

  The best poster award (International Society for Developmental Neuroscience)

External funds: Kakenhi

• 脳の拡大化を支配する時間スケーリング機構を解く

  Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)

  Basic Section 44020:Developmental biology-related

  Institute of Physical and Chemical Research

  呉 泉

  From 01 Apr. 2023, To 31 Mar. 2026, Granted

  神経発生;神経幹細胞

  https://kaken.nii.ac.jp/grant/KAKENHI-PROJECT-23K05787/
• Functional analysis of an RNA methyltransferase in regulation of neural stem cell fate

  Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists

  Basic Section 44020:Developmental biology-related

  Institute of Physical and Chemical Research

  Quan Wu

  From 01 Apr. 2018, To 31 Mar. 2021, Project Closed

  neural stem cell;rRNA methylation;epigenetics;translational regulation;RNA modificaiton;Brain development;Temporal patterning;RNA methltransferase;Single cell analysis;Brain Development;RNA Methylation;Neural Stem Cell

  https://kaken.nii.ac.jp/grant/KAKENHI-PROJECT-18K14722/

Education

Teaching subject(s)

• From 01 Apr. 2024, To 31 Mar. 2025

  Cellular & Molecular Mechanisms in Neural Development and Regeneration

  1035, Spring, Graduate School of Biostudies, 1