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
Peer-Reviewed Publications
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, p20230234
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/fcae333
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, p1213-1219
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 - 3411
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--5879
Klyubin I, Ondrejcak T, Hu NW, Rowan MJ, Glucocorticoids, synaptic plasticity and Alzheimer's disease, Current Opinion in Endocrine and Metabolic Research, 25, 2022, p100365
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), 2022
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--350
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 - 206
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 - 2179
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, p867:172836
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), 2019
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 - 590
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, p4391
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, p1932-1938
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 - 2065
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, 2018
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, 2015
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, p3374
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, 2014
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 - 939
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, p25
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 - 862
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 - 26
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 - 20509
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 - 2424
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 - 715
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, p1219-1223
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 - 71
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 - 65
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 - 244
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 - 967
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 - 2359
Non-Peer-Reviewed Publications
Nengwei Hu, Synaptotoxicity of Aß-tau and treatment strategies for Alzheimer's disease, Annual Conference of Chinese Association for Physiological Sciences, 2020
Research Expertise
Description
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.Recognition
Representations
Reviewer of National Natural Science Foundation of China
Reviewer of Alzheimer's Research UK (Research Fellowship Project)
Associate Editor of Frontiers in Neuroscience
Associate Editor of Journal of Alzheimer's Disease
Memberships
Member of the Dementia Research Network Ireland (DRNI) Steering Committee
Member of the Alzheimer's Association International Society
Member of Chinese Neuroscience Society