Scientific Areas of Expertise: Cell and Molecular Biology; Cell Death Mechanisms; Cytochrome C
For seminal contributions to the understanding and study of apoptosis, including the characterization of cytochrome c as an essential component of cellular apoptotic machinery, and for subsequent studies dedicated to defining the molecular components of the apoptosome, including Apaf-1, Bid, and Smac.
A quintessential leader in regulated cell death research, including of apoptosis and necroptosis, Dr. Wang has endowed the field with several important contributions including the characterization of cytochrome c as an essential component of cellular apoptotic machinery and the identification of the molecular components of the apoptosome, a cellular apoptotic caspase activation complex, and necrosome, a cellular necroptosis signaling complex. Notably, he made the first landmark observation of the involvement of mitochondria in the intrinsic apoptotic process, firmly establishing a role for the mitochondria in mediating programmed cell death. He demonstrated that mitochondria release proteins such as cytochrome c, Smac, and EndoG from their intermembrane space during apoptosis and that these proteins interact with cytosolic proteins to trigger the activation of caspases and DNA fragmentation.
Dr. Wang is also credited with the identification of receptor-interacting kinase 3, RIPK3, as the key determinant of cellular necroptosis response, and a pseudokianse, ixed lineage kinase-like protein MLKL, as the executioner protein for necroptosis. His group elucidated the biochemical pathway in the caspase-activated pathway that contribute to apoptosome formation, and RIPK3-mediated MLKL phosphorylation resulted in MLKL activation and translocation to cell membrane for membrane breakdown during necroptosis. Additionally, Dr. Wang showed that the release of apoptogenic proteins is regulated by the Bcl-2 family of proteins, a group of homologous proteins on mitochondrial membranes that play a crucial role in tumorigenesis. His demonstration that overexpression of BCL-2 prevents the release of cytochrome c from mitochondria opened new avenues for the use of BCL-2 inhibitors in targeted cancer therapy. Currently, Dr. Wang’s research is focused on deciphering how apoptosis and necroptosis contributing to human diseases and the design of small molecules to target those pathways for potential therapeutic applications.
Selected Awards and Honors
2020 King Faisal International Prize in Medicine, King Faisal Foundation Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
2013 Presidential Award, Society of Chinese Biomedical Scientist in America, Boston, Massachusetts
2007 Richard Lounsbery Award, National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC
2006 Shaw Prize, The Shaw Prize Foundation, Kowloon, Hong Kong
2004 Elected Member, National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC
2004 NAS Award in Molecular Biology, National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC
2004 AACR Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cancer Research, American Association for Cancer Research, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
2003 Norman Hackerman Award in Chemical Research, The Welch Foundation, Houston, Texas
2001 Paul Marks Prize for Cancer Research, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York
2000 Eli Lilly Award in Biological Chemistry, American Chemical Society, Washington, DC
2000 Schering-Plough Research Institute Award, American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Rockville, Maryland
1999 Kenneth Fong Young Investigator Award, Society of Chinese Biomedical Scientist in America, Boston, Massachusetts
1998 Wilson S. Stone Memorial Award, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas