Dr. Nengwei Hu

Dr. Nengwei Hu

Assistant Professor, Pharmacology & Therapeutics

3531896 1566

Biography

Dr Nengwei Hu graduated with a first class honours degree in Medicine and a PhD in Neurophysiology in 2005 from Sun Yat-sen University. He started his postdoctoral training at Trinity College Dublin in 2005 and advanced to the position of Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Pharmacology & Therapeutics at TCD in 2013. His research focused on synaptic dysfunction mechanisms and novel therapeutic targets for neurodegenerative diseases, with a particular emphasis on Alzheimer's disease. Dr Hu began his role as an Assistant Professor in the Discipline of Pharmacology & Therapeutics in January 2024.

Publications and Further Research Outputs

  • O'Riordan KJ, Hu NW, Rowan MJ, Physiological activation of mGlu5 receptors supports the ion channel function of NMDA receptors in hippocampal LTD induction in vivo, Scientific Reports, 8, (1), 2018, p4391Journal Article, 2018, DOI , TARA - Full Text
  • Hu NW, Corbett GT, Moore S, Klyubin I, O"Malley TT, Walsh DM, Livesey FJ, Rowan MJ, Extracellular forms of Aß and tau from iPSC models of Alzheimer's disease disrupt synaptic plasticity, Cell Reports, 23, (7), 2018, p1932-1938Journal Article, 2018, DOI , TARA - Full Text
  • Ondrejcak T, Hu N.-W, Qi Y, Klyubin I, Corbett G.T, Fraser G, Perkinton M.S, Walsh D.M, Billinton A, Rowan M.J, Soluble tau aggregates inhibit synaptic long-term depression and amyloid ß-facilitated LTD in vivo, Neurobiology of Disease, 127, 2019, p582 - 590Journal Article, 2019, DOI
  • Hu Z, Yu P, Zhang Y, Yang Y, Zhu M, Qin S, Xu JT, Duan D, Wu Y, Wang D, Rowan MJ and Hu NW, Inhibition of the ISR abrogates mGluR5-dependent long-term depression and spatial memory deficits in a rat model of Alzheimer's disease, Translational Psychiatry, 12, (1), 2022Journal Article, 2022, DOI
  • Qi Y, Klyubin I, Ondrejcak T, Hu NW, Rowan Mj, Enduring glucocorticoid-evoked exacerbation of synaptic plasticity disruption in male rats modelling early Alzheimer's disease amyloidosis, Neuropsychopharmacology, 46, (12), 2021, p2170 - 2179Journal Article, 2021, DOI
  • Qi, Y. and Klyubin, I. and Hu, N.-W. and Ondrejcak, T. and Rowan, M.J., Pre-plaque Aß-Mediated Impairment of Synaptic Depotentiation in a Transgenic Rat Model of Alzheimer's Disease Amyloidosis, Frontiers in Neuroscience, 13, (861), 2019Journal Article, 2019, DOI
  • Yin Yang, Tomas Ondrejcak, Neng-Wei Hu, Sadia Islam, Eugene O'Rourke, Richard Reilly, Colm Cunningham, Michael Rowan, Igor Klyubin, Gamma-patterned sensory stimulation reverses synaptic plasticity deficits in rat models of early Alzheimer's disease, European Journal of Neuroscience, 58, (6), 2023, p3402 - 3411Journal Article, 2023, DOI
  • Zhang Y, Yang Y, Hu Z, Zhu M, Qin S, Yu P, Li B, Xu J, Ondrejcak T, Klyubin I and Rowan MJ, Hu NW, Long-term depression-inducing low frequency stimulation enhances p-Tau181 and p-Tau217 in an age-dependent manner in live rats, Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, 89, (1), 2022, p335--350Journal Article, 2022, DOI
  • Zhang T, Wu Y, Hu Z, Xing W, Lv K, Wang D, Hu NW, Small molecule ISRIB reduces susceptibility to postinfarct atrial fibrillation in rats via inhibition of integrated stress responses, Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, 378, (3), 2021, p197 - 206Journal Article, 2021, DOI
  • Klyubin I, Ondrejcak T, Hu NW, Rowan MJ, Glucocorticoids, synaptic plasticity and Alzheimer's disease, Current Opinion in Endocrine and Metabolic Research, 25, 2022, p100365Journal Article, 2022, DOI
  • Ondrejcak T, Klyubin I, Hu NW, O'Malley TT, Corbett GT, Winters R, Perkinton MS, Billinton A, Prenderville JA, Walsh DM, Rowan MJ, Tau and amyloid ß protein in patient-derived aqueous brain extracts act concomitantly to disrupt LTP in vivo, The Journal of Neuroscience, 43, (32), 2023, p5870--5879Journal Article, 2023, DOI
  • Hu Z, Ondrejcak T, Yu P, Zhang Y, Yang Y, Klyubin I, Rowan MJ, Kennelly SP, Hu NW, Do tau-synaptic long-term depression interactions in the hippocampus play a pivotal role in the progression of Alzheimer's disease?, Neural Regeneration Research, 18, (6), 2023, p1213-1219Journal Article, 2023, DOI
  • O'Riordan KJ, Hu NW, Rowan MJ, Aß Facilitates LTD at Schaffer Collateral Synapses Preferentially in the Left Hippocampus., Cell reports, 22, (8), 2018, p2053 - 2065Journal Article, 2018, DOI
  • Wang D, Wu Y, Wang A, Chen Y, Zhang T, Hu NW, Electrocardiogram Changes of Donepezil Administration in Elderly Patients with Ischemic Heart Disease, Cardiology research and practice, 2018Journal Article, 2018, DOI
  • Zhu H, Sun X, Wang D, Hu NW, Zhang Y., Doxycycline ameliorates aggregation of collagen and atrial natriuretic peptide in murine post-infarction heart, European journal of pharmacology, 2015Journal Article, 2015, DOI
  • Qi Y, Klyubin I, Harney SC, Hu N, Cullen WK, Grant MK, Steffen J, Wilson EN, Do Carmo S, Remy S, Fuhrmann M, Ashe KH, Cuello AC, Rowan MJ, Longitudinal testing of hippocampal plasticity reveals the onset and maintenance of endogenous human Aß-induced synaptic dysfunction in individual freely behaving pre-plaque transgenic rats: rapid reversal by anti-Aß agents, Acta neuropathologica communications, 2014Journal Article, 2014, DOI
  • Hu NW, Nicoll AJ, Zhang D, Mably AJ, O'Malley T, Purro SA, Terry C, Collinge J, Walsh DM, Rowan MJ, mGlu5 receptors and cellular prion protein mediate amyloid-ß-facilitated synaptic long-term depression in vivo, Nature communications, 4, (5), 2014, p3374Journal Article, 2014, DOI
  • Hu XD, Ge YX, Hu NW, Zhang HM, Zhou LJ, Zhang T, Li WM, Han YF, Liu XG, Diazepam inhibits the induction and maintenance of LTP of C-fiber evoked field potentials in spinal dorsal horn of rats, Neuropharmacology, 50, (2), 2006, p238 - 244Journal Article, 2006, DOI
  • Ge YX, Xin WJ, Hu NW, Zhang T, Xu JT, Liu XG, Clonidine depresses LTP of C-fiber evoked field potentials in spinal dorsal horn via NO-cGMP pathway, Brain research, 1118, (1), 2006, p58 - 65Journal Article, 2006, DOI
  • Hu XD, Hu NW, Xin WJ, Zhou LJ, Zhang T, Liu XG, Inhibition of protein tyrosine kinases attenuated abeta-fiber-evoked synaptic transmission in spinal dorsal horn of rats with sciatic nerve transection, Journal of pharmacological sciences, 102, (1), 2006, p64 - 71Journal Article, 2006, DOI
  • Yang HW, Zhou LJ, Hu NW, Xin WJ, Liu XG, Activation of spinal d1/d5 receptors induces late-phase LTP of C-fiber-evoked field potentials in rat spinal dorsal horn, Journal of Neurophysiology, 94, (2), 2005, p961 - 967Journal Article, 2005, DOI
  • Hu NW, Zhang HM, Hu XD, Li MT, Zhang T, Zhou LJ, Liu XG, Protein synthesis inhibition blocks the late-phase LTP of C-fiber evoked field potentials in rat spinal dorsal horn, Journal of Neurophysiology, 89, (5), 2003, p2354 - 2359Journal Article, 2003, DOI
  • Liu YL, Zhou LJ, Hu NW, Xu JT, Wu CY, Zhang T, Li YY, Liu XG, Tumor necrosis factor-alpha induces long-term potentiation of C-fiber evoked field potentials in spinal dorsal horn in rats with nerve injury: the role of NF-kappa B, JNK and p38 MAPK, Neuropharmacology, 52, (3), 2007, p708 - 715Journal Article, 2007, DOI
  • Ondrejcak T, Klyubin I, Hu NW, Yang Y, Zhang Q, Rodriguez BJ and Rowan MJ, Rapidly reversible persistent long-term potentiation inhibition by patient-derived brain tau and amyloid ß proteins, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, (379), 2024, p20230234Journal Article, 2024, DOI
  • Wu Y, Hu Z, Wang D, Lv K, Hu NW, Resiniferatoxin reduces ventricular arrhythmias in heart failure via selectively blunting cardiac sympathetic afferenc projection into spinal cord in rats, European Journal of Pharmacology, 15, 2020, p867:172836Journal Article, 2020, DOI
  • Neng-Wei Hu, Tomas Ondrejcak, Igor Klyubin, Yin Yang, Dominic M. Walsh, Frederick J. Livesey, and Michael J. Rowan, Patient-derived tau and amyloid-ß facilitate long-term depression in vivo: role of tumor necrosis factor alpha and the integrated stress response, Brain Communications, 2024, p10.1093/braincomms/fcae333Journal Article, 2024, DOI , TARA - Full Text
  • Hu, NW, Smith, IM, Walsh, DM, Rowan, MJ, Soluble amyloid-ß peptides potently disrupt hippocampal synaptic plasticity in the absence of cerebrovascular dysfunction in vivo, Brain, 131, (9), 2008, p2414 - 2424Journal Article, 2008, DOI
  • Ondrejcak T, Klyubin I, Hu NW, Barry AE, Cullen WK, Rowan MJ, Alzheimer's disease amyloid ß-protein and synaptic function, NeuroMolecular Medicine, 12, (1), 2010, p13 - 26Journal Article, 2010, DOI
  • Rowan, M.J., Klyubin, I., Wang, Q., Hu, N.W., Anwyl, R., Synaptic memory mechanisms: Alzheimer's disease amyloid ß-peptide-induced dysfunction, Biochemical Society Transactions, 35, (5), 2007, p1219-1223Journal Article, 2007, DOI
  • Hu NW, Klyubin I, Anwyl R, Rowan MJ, GluN2B subunit-containing NMDA receptor antagonists prevent Abeta-mediated synaptic plasticity disruption in vivo, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 106, (48), 2009, p20504 - 20509Journal Article, 2009, TARA - Full Text
  • Hu NW, Ondrejcak T, Rowan MJ, Glutamate receptors in preclinical research on Alzheimer's disease: update on recent advances, Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior, 100, (4), 2012, p855 - 862Journal Article, 2012, TARA - Full Text
  • Klyubin I, Cullen WK, Hu NW, Rowan MJ, Alzheimer's disease Aß assemblies mediating rapid disruption of synaptic plasticity and memory., Molecular brain, 5, 2012, p25Journal Article, 2012, DOI , TARA - Full Text
  • Qi YJ, Hu NW, Rowan MJ, Switching off LTP: mGlu and NMDA receptor-dependent novelty exploration-induced depotentiation in the rat hippocampus., Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991), 23, (4), 2013, p932 - 939Journal Article, 2013, DOI , TARA - Full Text
  • Nengwei Hu, Synaptotoxicity of Aß-tau and treatment strategies for Alzheimer's disease, Annual Conference of Chinese Association for Physiological Sciences, 2020Conference Paper

Research Expertise

Our research focuses on synaptic dysfunction mechanisms and novel therapeutic targets for Alzheimer's disease (AD). Having reported that amyloid ß dimer is the smallest form to cause synaptic plasticity disruption (Brain, 2008), we subsequently discovered that glutamate receptor subtypes, particularly GluN2B (PNAS, 2009) and mGluR5 (Nat Commun, 2014) are potential therapeutic targets for AD. Recently, we found that tau from AD patient cells also disrupts synaptic plasticity, providing a better understanding of AD pathophysiology (Cell Rep, 2018a). Apart from that, we developed stimulation protocols to reliably induce long-term depression of synaptic transmission in hippocampus in vivo (Nat Commun, 2014; Cell Rep, 2018b; Sci Rep, 2018; Neurobiol Dis, 2019; Transl Psychiatry, 2022; J Alzheimers Dis, 2022). This development enables researchers to study the two major forms of neuroplasticity, long-term potentiation and long-term depression at glutamatergic synapses, providing an in vivo means to uncover cellular and molecular processes underlying learning and memory in health and disease. Having previously reported that amyloid ß facilitates hippocampal long-term depression (Nat Commun, 2014; Cell Rep, 2018b; Transl Psychiatry, 2022), my group recently discovered that hippocampal long-term depression but not long-term potentiation triggers tau phosphorylation in live rats under the condition of ageing (J Alzheimers Dis, 2022) or amyloid ß treatment (AD/PD2023 poster). Our ongoing study is focusing on: 1. Age and activity dependent Aß-tau interactions; 2. The physiological or pathological role of phospho-tau promoted by long-term depression and related behaviour.

Medical, health and life sciences, Clinical and health psychology, Pharmacology and pharmaceutical sciences, Neurosciences,

Recognition

  • Member of the Dementia Research Network Ireland (DRNI) Steering Committee today
  • Member of the Alzheimer's Association International Society today
  • Member of Chinese Neuroscience Society today
  • Reviewer of National Natural Science Foundation of China 2018 - today
  • Reviewer of Alzheimer's Research UK (Research Fellowship Project) 2022
  • Associate Editor of Journal of Alzheimer's Disease 2022 - 2023
  • Associate Editor of Frontiers in Neuroscience 2020 - today