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. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. 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.
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.