Research Areas
By integrating high-throughput in vivo Perturb-seq with single-cell multi-omics technologies, the laboratory systematically investigates gene functions in vivo under physiological and pathological conditions. A major goal is to identify novel therapeutic targets for aging and aging-related diseases, including neurodegenerative and metabolic disorders, and to develop precision intervention strategies.
Main research directions:
(1) Development and optimization of high-throughput in vivo Perturb-seq platforms;
(2) Construction of in vivo functional atlases of genes under physiological and pathological conditions;
(3) High-throughput discovery of therapeutic targets for aging and aging-related diseases, and development of targeted intervention strategies.

Brief Biography
2026.08-Present: Professor and Principal Investigator, Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, CAS, Shanghai, China
2021.08-2026.07: Postdoctoral Fellow, Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, CAS, Shanghai, China
2018.05-2020.04: Visiting Student, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
2014.09-2021.06: Ph.D., Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science, CAS, Shanghai, China
2010.09-2014.06: B.S., Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, China

Selected Publications (#Co-1st Author, *Corresponding Author)

1. Liansheng Zhang#, Qi Ma#, Xiangrui Kong#, Weijuan Zou#, Bo Wang#, Bin Wu#, Shicheng Cai, Tao Bai, Runlin Tan, Ziji Dai, Xingyu Liu, Zhiheng Jia, Meimei Zhang, Tianwen Li, Yuanyi Zheng*, Xinde Hu*, Jianrong Wu*, Zhengzheng Xu*, Haibo Zhou*. Mapping transcription factor functions in astrocytes using in vivo gain-of-function Perturb-seq. Science 2026;392(6796):eadw2156. doi:10.1126/science.adw2156
2. Liansheng Zhang#,*, Xiangrui Kong#, Qi Ma#, Xinde Hu#,*, Shicheng Cai#, Bo Wang#, Weijuan Zou, Tao Bai, Meimei Zhang, Liu Fan, Runlin Tan, Ziji Dai, Zhiheng Jia, Tianwen Li, Xingyu Liu, Huatai Xu, Jianrong Wu, Yuanyi Zheng, Zhengzheng Xu*, Haibo Zhou*. Linking GWAS risk genes to transcriptional features of major depressive disorder via in vivo Perturb-seq. Nature Genetics 2026. doi:10.1038/s41588-026-02638-3
3. Liansheng Zhang#,*, Zhengzheng Xu#, Zhiheng Jia#, Shicheng Cai#, Qiang Wu, Xingyu Liu, Xinde Hu, Tao Bai, Yongyu Chen, Tianwen Li, Zhen Liu, Bin Wu, Jianhong Zhu, Haibo Zhou*. Modulating mTOR-dependent astrocyte substate transitions to alleviate neurodegeneration. Nature Aging 2025;5(3):468-485. doi:10.1038/s43587-024-00792-z.
4. Liansheng Zhang#, Zhiheng Jia#, Qiang Wu#, Tao Bai, Bo Wang, Xinde Hu, Tianwen Li, Xingyu Liu, Jiqiang Fu, Yuelei Chen, Xiaoyan Ding, Zhen Liu, Zhengzheng Xu*, Haibo Zhou*. Alleviating symptoms of neurodegenerative disorders by astrocyte-specific overexpression of TMEM164 in mice. Nature Metabolism 2023;5(10):1787-1802. doi:10.1038/s42255-023-00887-8.
5. Liansheng Zhang, Yun Qian, Jie Li, Xuan Zhou, He Xu, Jie Yan, Jialing Xiang, Xiang Yuan, Beicheng Sun, Sangram S Sisodia, Yong-Hui Jiang, Xiaohua Cao, Naihe Jing*, Anning Lin*. BAD-mediated neuronal apoptosis and neuroinflammation contribute to Alzheimer's disease pathology. iScience 2021;24(9):102942. doi:10.1016/j.isci.2021.102942.
6. Liansheng Zhang#,*, Jie Li#, Anning Lin*. Assessment of neurodegeneration and neuronal loss in aged 5XFAD mice. STAR Protocols 2021;2(4):100915. doi:10.1016/j.xpro.2021.100915.
7. Tianwen Li#, Liansheng Zhang#, Peng Wang#, Jingyu Yu#, Junjie Zhong#, Qisheng Tang, Tongming Zhu, Kezhu Chen, Fengshi Li, Pengjie Hong, Jiachen Wei, Xicai Sun, Guangchao Ji, Bin Song*, Jianhong Zhu*. Extracellular vesicles from neural stem cells safeguard neurons in intracerebral hemorrhage by suppressing reactive astrocyte neurotoxicity. Cell Reports 2024;43(10):114854. doi:10.1016/j.celrep.2024.114854.
8. Tianwen Li#, Liansheng Zhang#, Tao Lu#, Tongming Zhu#, Canbin Feng, Ni Gao, Fei Liu, Jingyu Yu, Kezhu Chen, Junjie Zhong, Qisheng Tang, Quan Zhang, Xiangyang Deng, Junwei Ren, Jun Zeng, Haibo Zhou*, Jianhong Zhu*. Engineered extracellular vesicle-delivered CRISPR/CasRx as a novel RNA editing tool. Advanced Science 2023;10(10):e2206517. doi:10.1002/advs.202206517.
9. Jie Li#, Liansheng Zhang#, Yongwei Zheng, Rui Shao, Qianqian Liang, Weida Yu, Hongyan Wang, Weiguo Zou, Demin Wang, Jialing Xiang, Anning Lin*. BAD inactivation exacerbates rheumatoid arthritis pathology by promoting survival of sublining macrophages. eLife 2020;9:e56309. doi:10.7554/eLife.56309.
10. Jie Li#, Jie Li#, Jing Cao#, ShenShen Shang#, Liansheng Zhang, Fei Gao, Jiqiang Fu, Hongyu Chen, Guizhong Cui, Haoyuan Wu, Xiaolong Wang*, Alfonso Martinez-Arias*, Qiang Sun*, Zhen Liu*. Modelling late gastrulation in stem cell-derived monkey embryo models. Nature 2026;649(8095):161-172. doi:10.1038/s41586-025-09831-0.
11. Jing Cao#, Wenjuan Li#, Jie Li#, Md Abdul Mazid#, Chunyang Li#, Yu Jiang#, Wenqi Jia, Liang Wu, Zhaodi Liao, Shiyu Sun, Weixiang Song, Jiqiang Fu, Yan Wang, Yong Lu, Yuting Xu, Yanhong Nie, Xinyan Bian, Changshan Gao, Xiaotong Zhang, Liansheng Zhang, Shenshen Shang, Yunpan Li, Lixin Fu, Hao Liu, Junjian Lai, Yang Wang, Yue Yuan, Xin Jin, Yan Li, Chuanyu Li, Yiwei Lai, Xuyang Shi, Patrick H Maxwell, Xun Xu, Longqi Liu, Muming Poo, Xiaolong Wang, Qiang Sun*, Miguel A Esteban*, Zhen Liu*. Live birth of chimeric monkey with high contribution from embryonic stem cells. Cell 2023;186(23):4996-5014.e24. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2023.10.005.
12. Jie Li#, Qingyuan Zhu#, Jing Cao#, Ying Liu#, Yong Lu#, Yining Sun, Qian Li, Yiming Huang, Shenshen Shang, Xinyan Bian, Chunyang Li, Liansheng Zhang, Yan Wang, Yanhong Nie, Jiqiang Fu, Wenjuan Li, Md Abdul Mazid, Yu Jiang, Wenqi Jia, Xiaolong Wang, Yidi Sun, Miguel A Esteban, Qiang Sun*, Fan Zhou*, Zhen Liu*. Cynomolgus monkey embryo model captures gastrulation and early pregnancy. Cell Stem Cell 2023;30(4):362-377.e7. doi:10.1016/j.stem.2023.03.009.
13. Anliang Xia#, Wenwen Yuan#, Qiang Wang#, Jianbo Xu#, Yayun Gu, Liansheng Zhang, Chen Chen, Zhangding Wang, Di Wu, Qifeng He, Weiwei Yu, Fei Wang, Cailin Xue, Yan Zhang, Guojian Bao, Xuewen Tao, Siyuan Liu, Shouyu Wang*, Zhibin Hu*, Beicheng Sun*. The cancer-testis lncRNA lnc-CTHCC promotes hepatocellular carcinogenesis by binding hnRNP K and activating YAP1 transcription. Nature Cancer 2022;3(2):203-218. doi:10.1038/s43018-021-00315-4.
14. Wenjie Zhang#, Guangyan Zhangyuan#, Fei Wang#, Kangpeng Jin, Haiyuan Shen, Liansheng Zhang, Xiang Yuan, Jincheng Wang, Haitian Zhang, Weiwei Yu, Ruyi Huang, Xiaoliang Xu, Yin Yin, Guisheng Zhong, Anning Lin*, Beicheng Sun*. The zinc finger protein Miz1 suppresses liver tumorigenesis by restricting hepatocyte-driven macrophage activation and inflammation. Immunity 2021;54(6):1168-1185.e8. doi:10.1016/j.immuni.2021.04.027.