Ning Wang, PhD

Professional Background

I received my Ph.D. from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Supported by the Fund for Medical Discovery Award and a K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award, I completed my postdoctoral training and served as an Instructor at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. In 2016, I was appointed Assistant Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology at Harvard Medical School. I joined the University of Kansas Medical Center (KUMC) in 2018 and was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 2023.

• BS, Chemistry, Peking University, Beijing, China
• PhD, Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL
• Post Doctoral Fellowship, Germ Cell Biology, Vincent Center for Reproductive Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA

Research

Overview

My research bridges reproductive biology and neurodegeneration through the lens of DNA double-strand break (DSB) regulation, metabolic signaling, and post-translational modifications. Building upon our foundational work on DSBs in meiosis, we discovered that adaptive DSBs also play essential roles in neuronal gene regulation and that their disruption contributes to Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathogenesis. We characterized the DSB landscape in postmortem AD brains, revealing a loss of breaks at neuronal function genes and ectopic accumulation at non-canonical loci (J Alzheimers Dis. 2023; J Alzheimers Dis. 2024; Int J Mol Sci. 2024). In parallel, we recently reported that tau protein is lactylated in human AD brains, identifying key lysine sites whose lactylation increases tau phosphorylation and cleavage in the insoluble fraction (Alzheimers Dement. 2025). Mechanistically, we demonstrated that lactate directly induces tau lactylation via the p300 acetyltransferase, establishing a new link between metabolic dysregulation and tauopathy.

Additionally, our studies in male germ cells revealed that meiotic entry is tightly coupled to metabolic reprogramming (Nat Comm. 2021; Cell Rep. 2023; Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2025). We showed that nutrient restriction induces meiosis in vitro, and that germ cells transcriptionally downregulate nutrient transporters to limit uptake during meiotic initiation, highlighting an evolutionarily conserved role for autophagy and metabolic cues in cell fate transitions. Together, our work uncovers shared molecular logic between germ cell differentiation and neuronal homeostasis and provides new insight into the metabolic-epigenetic interface in aging and disease.

• Huang, Ming, Yue, Shuwen, Zhang, Xiaoyu, Wu, Lan, Vivian, Jay., L, Wang, Zi-Jun , Wang, Ning. 2025. Stra8 links neuronal activity to inhibitory circuit protection in the adult mouse brain. Cell Reports, 44 (11), 116513. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2025.116513
• Zhang, Xiaoyu, Liu, Yan, Wang, Ning. 2025. Dynamic Changes in Histone Lysine Lactylation during Meiosis Prophase I in Mouse Spermatogenesis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 122 (7), e2418693122. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2418693122
• Zhang, Xiaoyu, Liu, Yan, Rekowski, Michaella., J., Wang, Ning. 2024. Lactylation of Tau in Human Alzheimer’s Disease Brains. Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association, 21 (2), e14481. https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.14481
• Zhang, Xiaoyu, Wang, Ning. 2024. Induction of meiotic initiation in long-term mouse spermatogonial stem cells under retinoid acid and nutrient restriction conditions. Methods in Molecular Biology, 2770, 113-121. https://link.springer.com/protocol/10.1007/978-1-0716-3698-5_9
• Zhang, Xiaoyu, Haeri, Mohammad, Swerdlow, Russell., H, Wang, Ning. 2024. Loss of Adaptive DNA Breaks in Alzheimer’s Disease Brains. Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, 97 (4). https://content.iospress.com/articles/journal-of-alzheimers-disease/jad231303
• Zhang, Xiaoyu, Liu, Yan, Sosa, Froylan , Gunewardena, Sumedha, Crawford, Peter., A., C Zielen, Amanda, Orwig, Kyle ., E., Wang, Ning. 2023. Transcriptional Metabolic Reprograming Implements Meiotic Fate Decision in Mammalian Testicular Germ Cells. Cell Reports, 42 (7), 112749. https://www.cell.com/cell-reports/fulltext/S2211-1247(23)00760-X
• Zhang, Xiaoyu, Liu, Yan, Huang, Ming, Gunewardena, Sumedha, Haeri, Mohammad, Swerdlow, Russell, Wang, Ning. 2023. Landscape of Double-Stranded DNA Breaks in Postmortem Brains from Alzheimer’s Disease and Non-Demented Individuals. Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, 94 (2). https://content.iospress.com/articles/journal-of-alzheimers-disease/jad230316
• Zhang, Xiaoyu, Gunewardena, Sumedha, Wang, Ning. 2021. Nutrient restriction synergizes with retinoic acid to induce mammalian meiotic initiation in vitro. Nature Communications, 12, 1758. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-22021-6
• Ferder, Ianina, Fung, Leslie, Ohguchi, Yasuyo, Zhang, Xiaoyu, Lassen, Kara., G, Capen, Diane, Brown, Dennis, Xaiver, Ramnik., J, Wang, Ning. 2019. Meiotic gatekeeper STRA8 suppresses autophagy by repressing Nr1d1 expression during spermatogenesis. PLOS Genetics. https://journals.plos.org/plosgenetics/article?id=10.1371/journal.pgen.1008084
• Xiong, Mulin, Ferder, Ianina., C, Ohguchi, Yasuyo, Wang, Ning. 2015. Quantitative analysis of male germline stem cell differentiation reveals a role for the p53-mTORC1 pathway in spermatogonial maintenance. Cell cycle (Georgetown, Tex.), 14 (18), 2905-13