Wenbiao Chen, Ph.D.

Professor

wenbiao.chen@vanderbilt.edu
Faculty Appointments
Professor of Molecular Physiology & Biophysics
Education
Ph.D., Cell and Developmental Biology, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OregonM.S., Genetics and Cell Biology, Washington State University, Pullman, WashingtonB.S., Biology, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, China
Office Address
8425A MRB IV
TN 0615
Research Description
Pancreatic alpha and beta cells secrete glucagon and insulin respectively to maintain glucose homeostasis. In conditions that impair the signaling of these hormones, alpha and beta cells compensate by increasing their number and augmenting their secretion. Defects in the compensatory responses lead to defects in glucose homeostasis. The molecular mechanisms underlying the compensatory responses remain incompletely understood. The Chen laboratory found that compensatory responses of pancreatic alpha cells and beta cells is conserved in zebrafish, a vertebrate model amenable for live imaging as well as large-scale genetic and chemical screens. We combine genetic, pharmacological, and imaging techniques to identify genes essential for the compensatory responses and to define their roles in diabetes.
Research Keywords
Genetic basis of susceptibility to type 2 diabetes.
Publications
Coate KC, Dai C, Singh A, Stanley J, Covington BA, Bradley A, Oladipupo F, Gong Y, Wisniewski S, Sellick K, Spears E, Poffenberger G, Schornack AMR, Bustabad A, Rodgers T, Dey N, Shultz LD, Greiner DL, Yan H, Powers AC, Chen W, Dean ED. Interruption of glucagon signaling augments islet non-alpha cell proliferation in SLC7A2- and mTOR-dependent manners. Mol Metab [print-electronic]. 2024 Oct 10/20/2024; 102050. PMID: 39433176, PII: S2212-8778(24)00181-9, DOI: 10.1016/j.molmet.2024.102050, ISSN: 2212-8778.

Mashhadi Z, Yin L, Dosoky NS, Chen W, Davies SS. Plaat1l1 controls feeding induced NAPE biosynthesis and contributes to energy balance regulation in zebrafish. Prostaglandins Other Lipid Mediat [print-electronic]. 2024 Oct; 174: 106869. PMID: 38977258, PII: S1098-8823(24)00063-7, DOI: 10.1016/j.prostaglandins.2024.106869, ISSN: 1098-8823.

Coate KC, Dai C, Singh A, Stanley J, Covington BA, Bradley A, Oladipupo F, Gong Y, Wisniewski S, Spears E, Poffenberger G, Bustabad A, Rodgers T, Dey N, Shultz LD, Greiner DL, Yan H, Powers AC, Chen W, Dean ED. Interruption of glucagon signaling augments islet non-alpha cell proliferation in SLC7A2- and mTOR-dependent manners. BioRxiv. 2024 Aug 8/7/2024; PMID: 39149351, PMCID: PMC11326219, PII: 2024.08.06.606926, DOI: 10.1101/2024.08.06.606926, ISSN: 2692-8205.

Kang Q, Jia J, Dean ED, Yuan H, Dai C, Li Z, Jiang F, Zhang XK, Powers AC, Chen W, Li M. ErbB3 is required for hyperaminoacidemia-induced pancreatic a cell hyperplasia. J Biol Chem [print-electronic]. 2024 Aug; 300(8): 107499. PMID: 38944125, PMCID: PMC11326907, PII: S0021-9258(24)02000-3, DOI: 10.1016/j.jbc.2024.107499, ISSN: 1083-351X.

Covington BA, Chen W. Animal Models for Understanding the Mechanisms of Beta Cell Death during Type 2 Diabetes Pathogenesis. Biomedicines. 2024 Feb 2/20/2024; 12(3): PMID: 38540087, PMCID: PMC10967882, PII: biomedicines12030473, DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines12030473, ISSN: 2227-9059.

Spears E, Stanley JE, Shou M, Yin L, Li X, Dai C, Bradley A, Sellick K, Poffenberger G, Coate KC, Shrestha S, Jenkins R, Sloop KW, Wilson KT, Attie AD, Keller MP, Chen W, Powers AC, Dean ED. Pancreatic islet a cell function and proliferation requires the arginine transporter SLC7A2. BioRxiv. 2023 Aug 8/14/2023; PMID: 37645716, PMCID: PMC10461917, PII: 2023.08.10.552656, DOI: 10.1101/2023.08.10.552656, ISSN: 2692-8205.

Yang B, Zhang Y, Yang L, Chen W. Optimized protocol for live imaging of overnutrition-elicited interactions between immune cells and ß cells in zebrafish. STAR Protoc [print-electronic]. 2023 Mar 3/17/2023; 4(1): 102039. PMID: 36853669, PMCID: PMC9860484, PII: S2666-1667(22)00918-2, DOI: 10.1016/j.xpro.2022.102039, ISSN: 2666-1667.

Gong Y, Yang B, Zhang D, Zhang Y, Tang Z, Yang L, Coate KC, Yin L, Covington BA, Patel RS, Siv WA, Sellick K, Shou M, Chang W, Danielle Dean E, Powers AC, Chen W. Hyperaminoacidemia induces pancreatic a cell proliferation via synergism between the mTORC1 and CaSR-Gq signaling pathways. Nat Commun. 2023 Jan 1/16/2023; 14(1): 235. PMID: 36646689, PMCID: PMC9842633, PII: 10.1038/s41467-022-35705-4, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-35705-4, ISSN: 2041-1723.

Yang L, Chen W. Insulin secretion assays in an engineered MIN6 cell line. MethodsX. 2023; 10: 102029. PMID: 36718202, PMCID: PMC9883224, PII: S2215-0161(23)00033-X, DOI: 10.1016/j.mex.2023.102029, ISSN: 2215-0161.

Yang L, Fye MA, Yang B, Tang Z, Zhang Y, Haigh S, Covington BA, Bracey K, Taraska JW, Kaverina I, Qu S, Chen W. Genome-wide CRISPR screen identified a role for commander complex mediated ITGB1 recycling in basal insulin secretion. Mol Metab [print-electronic]. 2022 Sep; 63: 101541. PMID: 35835371, PMCID: PMC9304790, PII: S2212-8778(22)00110-7, DOI: 10.1016/j.molmet.2022.101541, ISSN: 2212-8778.

El-Sammak H, Yang B, Guenther S, Chen W, Marín-Juez R, Stainier DYR. A Vegfc-Emilin2a-Cxcl8a Signaling Axis Required for Zebrafish Cardiac Regeneration. Circ Res [print-electronic]. 2022 Apr; 130(7): 1014-29. PMID: 35264012, PMCID: PMC8976759, DOI: 10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.121.319929, ISSN: 1524-4571.

Yu W, Wang Z, Marshall B, Yoshida Y, Patel R, Cui X, Ball R, Yin L, Kawabata F, Tabata S, Chen W, Kelsh RN, Lauderdale JD, Liu HX. Taste buds are not derived from neural crest in mouse, chicken, and zebrafish. Dev Biol [print-electronic]. 2021 Mar; 471: 76-88. PMID: 33326797, PMCID: PMC7855483, PII: S0012-1606(20)30321-3, DOI: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2020.12.013, ISSN: 1095-564X.

Yang B, Maddison LA, Zaborska KE, Dai C, Yin L, Tang Z, Zang L, Jacobson DA, Powers AC, Chen W. RIPK3-mediated inflammation is a conserved ß cell response to ER stress. Sci Adv [electronic-print]. 2020 Dec; 6(51): PMID: 33355143, PMCID: PMC11206196, PII: 6/51/eabd7272, DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abd7272, ISSN: 2375-2548.

Alexander MR, Schoeder CT, Brown JA, Smart CD, Moth C, Wikswo JP, Capra JA, Meiler J, Chen W, Madhur MS. Predicting susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection based on structural differences in ACE2 across species. FASEB J [print-electronic]. 2020 Dec; 34(12): 15946-60. PMID: 33015868, PMCID: PMC7675292, DOI: 10.1096/fj.202001808R, ISSN: 1530-6860.

Yang B, Covington BA, Chen W. In vivo generation and regeneration of ß cells in zebrafish. Cell Regen. 2020 Jul 7/2/2020; 9(1): 9. PMID: 32613468, PMCID: PMC7329966, PII: 10.1186/s13619-020-00052-6, DOI: 10.1186/s13619-020-00052-6, ISSN: 2045-9769.

Gong Y, Yang B, Chen W. Systematic genome editing of the genes spanning an entire chromosome by CRISPR/Cas9 in a vertebrate-zebrafish (Danio rerio). Sci China Life Sci [print-electronic]. 2020 Jul; 63(7): 1096-7. PMID: 32140907, PMCID: PMC8608268, PII: 10.1007/s11427-020-1639-4, DOI: 10.1007/s11427-020-1639-4, ISSN: 1869-1889.

Elaswad A, Khalil K, Cline D, Page-McCaw P, Chen W, Michel M, Cone R, Dunham R. Microinjection of CRISPR/Cas9 Protein into Channel Catfish, Ictalurus punctatus, Embryos for Gene Editing. J Vis Exp. 2018 Jan 1/20/2018; (131): PMID: 29443028, PMCID: PMC5908666, DOI: 10.3791/56275, ISSN: 1940-087X.

Zang L, Maddison LA, Chen W. Zebrafish as a Model for Obesity and Diabetes. Front Cell Dev Biol. 2018; 6: 91. PMID: 30177968, PMCID: PMC6110173, DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2018.00091, ISSN: 2296-634X.

Dean ED, Li M, Prasad N, Wisniewski SN, Von Deylen A, Spaeth J, Maddison L, Botros A, Sedgeman LR, Bozadjieva N, Ilkayeva O, Coldren A, Poffenberger G, Shostak A, Semich MC, Aamodt KI, Phillips N, Yan H, Bernal-Mizrachi E, Corbin JD, Vickers KC, Levy SE, Dai C, Newgard C, Gu W, Stein R, Chen W, Powers AC. Interrupted Glucagon Signaling Reveals Hepatic a Cell Axis and Role for L-Glutamine in a Cell Proliferation. Cell Metab. 2017 Jun 6/6/2017; 25(6): 1362-1373.e5. PMID: 28591638, PII: S1550-4131(17)30300-5, DOI: 10.1016/j.cmet.2017.05.011, ISSN: 1932-7420.

Maddison LA, Chen W. Modeling Pancreatic Endocrine Cell Adaptation and Diabetes in the Zebrafish. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2017; 8: 9. PMID: 28184214, PMCID: PMC5266698, DOI: 10.3389/fendo.2017.00009, ISSN: 1664-2392.

Sasaki T, Lian S, Khan A, Llop JR, Samuelson AV, Chen W, Klionsky DJ, Kishi S. Autolysosome biogenesis and developmental senescence are regulated by both Spns1 and v-ATPase. Autophagy [print-electronic]. 2016 Nov 11/22/2016; 0. PMID: 27875093, DOI: 10.1080/15548627.2016.1256934, ISSN: 1554-8635.

Li M, Zhao L, Page-McCaw PS, Chen W. Zebrafish Genome Engineering Using the CRISPR-Cas9 System. Trends Genet [print-electronic]. 2016 Nov 11/8/2016; PMID: 27836208, PII: S0168-9525(16)30137-8, DOI: 10.1016/j.tig.2016.10.005, ISSN: 0168-9525.

Michel M, Page-McCaw PS, Chen W, Cone RD. Leptin signaling regulates glucose homeostasis, but not adipostasis, in the zebrafish. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A [print-electronic]. 2016 Mar 3/15/2016; 113(11): 3084-9. PMID: 26903647, PMCID: PMC4801292, PII: 1513212113, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1513212113, ISSN: 1091-6490.

Lin CY, Erkek S, Tong Y, Yin L, Federation AJ, Zapatka M, Haldipur P, Kawauchi D, Risch T, Warnatz HJ, Worst BC, Ju B, Orr BA, Zeid R, Polaski DR, Segura-Wang M, Waszak SM, Jones DT, Kool M, Hovestadt V, Buchhalter I, Sieber L, Johann P, Chavez L, Gröschel S, Ryzhova M, Korshunov A, Chen W, Chizhikov VV, Millen KJ, Amstislavskiy V, Lehrach H, Yaspo ML, Eils R, Lichter P, Korbel JO, Pfister SM, Bradner JE, Northcott PA. Active medulloblastoma enhancers reveal subgroup-specific cellular origins. Nature [print-electronic]. 2016 Feb 2/4/2016; 530(7588): 57-62. PMID: 26814967, PII: nature16546, DOI: 10.1038/nature16546, ISSN: 1476-4687.

Gong Y, Ma Y, Sinyuk M, Loganathan S, Thompson RC, Sarkaria JN, Chen W, Lathia JD, Mobley BC, Clark SW, Wang J. Insulin-mediated signaling promotes proliferation and survival of glioblastoma through Akt activation. Neuro-oncology [print-electronic]. 2016 Jan; 18(1): 48-57. PMID: 26136493, PMCID: PMC4677408, PII: nov096, DOI: 10.1093/neuonc/nov096, ISSN: 1523-5866.

Li M, Page-McCaw P, Chen W. FGF1 Mediates Overnutrition-Induced Compensatory ß-Cell Differentiation. Diabetes [print-electronic]. 2016 Jan; 65(1): 96-109. PMID: 26420862, PII: db15-0085, DOI: 10.2337/db15-0085, ISSN: 1939-327X.

Yin L, Maddison LA, Chen W. Multiplex conditional mutagenesis in zebrafish using the CRISPR/Cas system. Methods Cell Biol [print-electronic]. 2016; 135: 3-17. PMID: 27443918, PII: S0091-679X(16)30052-8, DOI: 10.1016/bs.mcb.2016.04.018, ISSN: 0091-679X.

Li M, Dean ED, Zhao L, Nicholson WE, Powers AC, Chen W. Glucagon receptor inactivation leads to a-cell hyperplasia in zebrafish. J. Endocrinol. 2015 Nov; 227(2): 93-103. PMID: 26446275, PMCID: PMC4598637, PII: 227/2/93, DOI: 10.1530/JOE-15-0284, ISSN: 1479-6805.

Zou P, Wu SY, Koteiche HA, Mishra S, Levic DS, Knapik E, Chen W, Mchaourab HS. A conserved role of aA-crystallin in the development of the zebrafish embryonic lens. Exp. Eye Res [print-electronic]. 2015 Sep; 138: 104-13. PMID: 26149094, PMCID: PMC4638411, PII: S0014-4835(15)00220-1, DOI: 10.1016/j.exer.2015.07.001, ISSN: 1096-0007.

Varshney GK, Pei W, LaFave MC, Idol J, Xu L, Gallardo V, Carrington B, Bishop K, Jones M, Li M, Harper U, Huang SC, Prakash A, Chen W, Sood R, Ledin J, Burgess SM. High-throughput gene targeting and phenotyping in zebrafish using CRISPR/Cas9. Genome Res [print-electronic]. 2015 Jul; 25(7): 1030-42. PMID: 26048245, PMCID: PMC4484386, PII: gr.186379.114, DOI: 10.1101/gr.186379.114, ISSN: 1549-5469.

Yin L, Maddison LA, Li M, Kara N, LaFave MC, Varshney GK, Burgess SM, Patton JG, Chen W. Multiplex Conditional Mutagenesis Using Transgenic Expression of Cas9 and sgRNAs. Genetics [print-electronic]. 2015 Jun; 200(2): 431-41. PMID: 25855067, PMCID: PMC4492370, PII: genetics.115.176917, DOI: 10.1534/genetics.115.176917, ISSN: 1943-2631.

Maddison LA, Joest KE, Kammeyer RM, Chen W. Skeletal muscle insulin resistance in zebrafish induces alterations in ß-cell number and glucose tolerance in an age- and diet-dependent manner. Am. J. Physiol. Endocrinol. Metab [print-electronic]. 2015 Apr 4/15/2015; 308(8): E662-9. PMID: 25670827, PMCID: PMC4398831, PII: ajpendo.00441.2014, DOI: 10.1152/ajpendo.00441.2014, ISSN: 1522-1555.

Huang J, Zhong Z, Wang M, Chen X, Tan Y, Zhang S, He W, He X, Huang G, Lu H, Wu P, Che Y, Yan YL, Postlethwait JH, Chen W, Wang H. Circadian modulation of dopamine levels and dopaminergic neuron development contributes to attention deficiency and hyperactive behavior. J. Neurosci. 2015 Feb 2/11/2015; 35(6): 2572-87. PMID: 25673850, PMCID: PMC4323534, PII: 35/6/2572, DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2551-14.2015, ISSN: 1529-2401.

Ju B, Chen W, Orr BA, Spitsbergen JM, Jia S, Eden CJ, Henson HE, Taylor MR. Oncogenic KRAS promotes malignant brain tumors in zebrafish. Mol. Cancer. 2015; 14: 18. PMID: 25644510, PMCID: PMC4320811, PII: s12943-015-0288-2, DOI: 10.1186/s12943-015-0288-2, ISSN: 1476-4598.

Yin L, Jao LE, Chen W. Generation of Targeted Mutations in Zebrafish Using the CRISPR/Cas System. Methods Mol. Biol. 2015; 1332: 205-17. PMID: 26285757, DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4939-2917-7_16, ISSN: 1940-6029.

Dirian L, Galant S, Coolen M, Chen W, Bedu S, Houart C, Bally-Cuif L, Foucher I. Spatial regionalization and heterochrony in the formation of adult pallial neural stem cells. Dev. Cell [print-electronic]. 2014 Jul 7/28/2014; 30(2): 123-36. PMID: 25017692, PII: S1534-5807(14)00314-1, DOI: 10.1016/j.devcel.2014.05.012, ISSN: 1878-1551.

Li M, Maddison LA, Page-McCaw P, Chen W. Overnutrition induces ß-cell differentiation through prolonged activation of ß-cells in zebrafish larvae. Am. J. Physiol. Endocrinol. Metab [print-electronic]. 2014 Apr 4/1/2014; 306(7): E799-807. PMID: 24473439, PMCID: PMC3962607, PII: ajpendo.00686.2013, DOI: 10.1152/ajpendo.00686.2013, ISSN: 1522-1555.

Maddison LA, Li M, Chen W. Conditional gene-trap mutagenesis in zebrafish. Methods Mol. Biol. 2014; 1101: 393-411. PMID: 24233792, PMCID: PMC4129463, DOI: 10.1007/978-1-62703-721-1_19, ISSN: 1940-6029.

Ju B, Chen W, Spitsbergen JM, Lu J, Vogel P, Peters JL, Wang YD, Orr BA, Wu J, Henson HE, Jia S, Parupalli C, Taylor MR. Activation of Sonic hedgehog signaling in neural progenitor cells promotes glioma development in the zebrafish optic pathway. Oncogenesis. 2014; 3: e96. PMID: 24686726, PMCID: PMC4038393, PII: oncsis201410, DOI: 10.1038/oncsis.2014.10, ISSN: 2157-9024.

Jao LE, Wente SR, Chen W. Efficient multiplex biallelic zebrafish genome editing using a CRISPR nuclease system. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A [print-electronic]. 2013 Aug 8/20/2013; 110(34): 13904-9. PMID: 23918387, PMCID: PMC3752207, PII: 1308335110, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1308335110, ISSN: 1091-6490.

Li M, Maddison LA, Crees Z, Chen W. Targeted overexpression of CKI-insensitive cyclin-dependent kinase 4 increases functional ß-cell number through enhanced self-replication in zebrafish. Zebrafish [print-electronic]. 2013 Jun; 10(2): 170-6. PMID: 23544990, PMCID: PMC3673610, DOI: 10.1089/zeb.2012.0816, ISSN: 1557-8542.

Maddison LA, Chen W. Nutrient excess stimulates ß-cell neogenesis in zebrafish. Diabetes [print-electronic]. 2012 Oct; 61(10): 2517-24. PMID: 22721970, PMCID: PMC3447891, PII: db11-1841, DOI: 10.2337/db11-1841, ISSN: 1939-327X.

Ni TT, Lu J, Zhu M, Maddison LA, Boyd KL, Huskey L, Ju B, Hesselson D, Zhong TP, Page-McCaw PS, Stainier DY, Chen W. Conditional control of gene function by an invertible gene trap in zebrafish. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A [print-electronic]. 2012 Sep 9/18/2012; 109(38): 15389-94. PMID: 22908272, PMCID: PMC3458342, PII: 1206131109, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1206131109, ISSN: 1091-6490.

Lu J, Maddison LA, Chen W. PhiC31 integrase induces efficient site-specific excision in zebrafish. Transgenic Res [print-electronic]. 2011 Feb; 20(1): 183-9. PMID: 20556509, PMCID: PMC3019273, DOI: 10.1007/s11248-010-9394-5, ISSN: 1573-9368.

Maddison LA, Lu J, Chen W. Generating conditional mutations in zebrafish using gene-trap mutagenesis. Methods Cell Biol. 2011; 104: 1-22. PMID: 21924154, PMCID: PMC3438898, PII: B978-0-12-374814-0.00001-X, DOI: 10.1016/B978-0-12-374814-0.00001-X, ISSN: 0091-679X.

Zhang C, Song Y, Thompson DA, Madonna MA, Millhauser GL, Toro S, Varga Z, Westerfield M, Gamse J, Chen W, Cone RD. Pineal-specific agouti protein regulates teleost background adaptation. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A [print-electronic]. 2010 Nov 11/23/2010; 107(47): 20164-71. PMID: 20980662, PMCID: PMC2996689, PII: 1014941107, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1014941107, ISSN: 1091-6490.

Boniface EJ, Lu J, Victoroff T, Zhu M, Chen W. FlEx-based transgenic reporter lines for visualization of Cre and Flp activity in live zebrafish. Genesis. 2009 Jul; 47(7): 484-91. PMID: 19415631, PMCID: PMC3813317, DOI: 10.1002/dvg.20526, ISSN: 1526-968X.

Maddison LA, Lu J, Victoroff T, Scott E, Baier H, Chen W. A gain-of-function screen in zebrafish identifies a guanylate cyclase with a role in neuronal degeneration. Mol. Genet. Genomics [print-electronic]. 2009 May; 281(5): 551-63. PMID: 19221799, PMCID: PMC3814131, DOI: 10.1007/s00438-009-0428-8, ISSN: 1617-4623.

Ju B, Spitsbergen J, Eden CJ, Taylor MR, Chen W. Co-activation of hedgehog and AKT pathways promote tumorigenesis in zebrafish. Mol. Cancer. 2009; 8: 40. PMID: 19555497, PMCID: PMC2711045, PII: 1476-4598-8-40, DOI: 10.1186/1476-4598-8-40, ISSN: 1476-4598.

Jao LE, Maddison L, Chen W, Burgess SM. Using retroviruses as a mutagenesis tool to explore the zebrafish genome. Brief Funct Genomic Proteomic [print-electronic]. 2008 Nov; 7(6): 427-43. PMID: 18977782, PMCID: PMC2722255, PII: eln038, DOI: 10.1093/bfgp/eln038, ISSN: 1477-4062.

Wan L, Almers W, Chen W. Two ribeye genes in teleosts: the role of Ribeye in ribbon formation and bipolar cell development. J. Neurosci. 2005 Jan 1/26/2005; 25(4): 941-9. PMID: 15673675, PII: 25/4/941, DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4657-04.2005, ISSN: 1529-2401.

Chen W, Casey Corliss D. Three modules of zebrafish Mind bomb work cooperatively to promote Delta ubiquitination and endocytosis. Dev. Biol. 2004 Mar 3/15/2004; 267(2): 361-73. PMID: 15013799, PII: S001216060300719X, DOI: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2003.11.010, ISSN: 0012-1606.

Golling G, Amsterdam A, Sun Z, Antonelli M, Maldonado E, Chen W, Burgess S, Haldi M, Artzt K, Farrington S, Lin SY, Nissen RM, Hopkins N. Insertional mutagenesis in zebrafish rapidly identifies genes essential for early vertebrate development. Nat. Genet [print-electronic]. 2002 Jun; 31(2): 135-40. PMID: 12006978, PII: ng896, DOI: 10.1038/ng896, ISSN: 1061-4036.

Chen W, Burgess S, Golling G, Amsterdam A, Hopkins N. High-throughput selection of retrovirus producer cell lines leads to markedly improved efficiency of germ line-transmissible insertions in zebra fish. J. Virol. 2002 Mar; 76(5): 2192-8. PMID: 11836396, PMCID: PMC135931, ISSN: 0022-538X.

Burgess S, Reim G, Chen W, Hopkins N, Brand M. The zebrafish spiel-ohne-grenzen (spg) gene encodes the POU domain protein Pou2 related to mammalian Oct4 and is essential for formation of the midbrain and hindbrain, and for pre-gastrula morphogenesis. Development. 2002 Feb; 129(4): 905-16. PMID: 11861474, ISSN: 0950-1991.

Chen W, Burgess S, Hopkins N. Analysis of the zebrafish smoothened mutant reveals conserved and divergent functions of hedgehog activity. Development. 2001 Jun; 128(12): 2385-96. PMID: 11493557, ISSN: 0950-1991.

Amsterdam A, Burgess S, Golling G, Chen W, Sun Z, Townsend K, Farrington S, Haldi M, Hopkins N. A large-scale insertional mutagenesis screen in zebrafish. Genes Dev. 1999 Oct 10/15/1999; 13(20): 2713-24. PMID: 10541557, PMCID: PMC317115, ISSN: 0890-9369.

Chen W, Kelly MA, Opitz-Araya X, Thomas RE, Low MJ, Cone RD. Exocrine gland dysfunction in MC5-R-deficient mice: evidence for coordinated regulation of exocrine gland function by melanocortin peptides. Cell. 1997 Dec 12/12/1997; 91(6): 789-98. PMID: 9413988, PII: S0092-8674(00)80467-5, ISSN: 0092-8674.

Hou X, Li JJ, Chen W, Li SA. Estrogen-induced proto-oncogene and suppressor gene expression in the hamster kidney: significance for estrogen carcinogenesis. Cancer Res. 1996 Jun 6/1/1996; 56(11): 2616-20. PMID: 8653706, ISSN: 0008-5472.

Cone RD, Lu D, Koppula S, Vage DI, Klungland H, Boston B, Chen W, Orth DN, Pouton C, Kesterson RA. The melanocortin receptors: agonists, antagonists, and the hormonal control of pigmentation. Recent Prog. Horm. Res. 1996; 51: 287-317; discussion 318. PMID: 8701084, ISSN: 0079-9963.

Chen W, Shields TS, Stork PJ, Cone RD. A colorimetric assay for measuring activation of Gs- and Gq-coupled signaling pathways. Anal. Biochem. 1995 Apr 4/10/1995; 226(2): 349-54. PMID: 7793637, PII: S0003269785712353, ISSN: 0003-2697.