Biography

Dr. Erwei Li holds the position of professor and serves as the principal investigator at the Taikang Center for Life and Medical Sciences at Wuhan University. Dr. Li has dedicated his career to investigating the regulatory roles of the peripheral nervous system in metabolic homeostasis. His research program employs cutting-edge methodologies including single-cell sequencing, whole-tissue fluorescence imaging, and neural circuit tracing to systematically examine the dynamic interactions between peripheral nerves and metabolic tissues. By characterizing these neuro-metabolic communications under both physiological and pathological conditions, Professor Li's work provides fundamental insights into the pathogenesis of obesity and diabetes while developing novel therapeutic strategies targeting neural regulation mechanisms.

Research

Obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2DM) are major global metabolic diseases with complex and incompletely understood pathogenesis. Our lab focuses on the emerging field of adipose tissue-peripheral nervous system crosstalk, employing innovative approaches including single-cell transcriptomics, whole-tissue 3D fluorescence imaging, and trans-organ neural circuit tracing to systematically unravel the neural regulatory networks underlying metabolic imbalance and develop neuroplasticity-based therapies. Expanding into gender-dimorphic metabolic research, we also study the mammary gland—a specialized adipose tissue with endocrine functions—investigating its dynamic regulation during female reproductive cycles to pioneer sex-specific therapeutic strategies.

Representative  Publications

1. Li, Erwei, Luhong Wang, Daqing Wang, Jingyi Chi, Gordon I. Smith, Samuel Klein, Paul Cohen, and Evan D. Rosen. Control of lipolysis by a population of oxytocinergic sympathetic neurons. Nature (2023): 1-6.

2. Han, Jinbo*, Erwei Li*, Liqun Chen, Yuanyuan Zhang, Fangchao Wei, Jieyuan Liu, Haiteng Deng, and Yiguo Wang. The CREB coactivator CRTC2 controls hepatic lipid metabolism by regulating SREBP1. Nature 524, no. 7564 (2015): 243-246. (*Equal contribution)

3. Li, Erwei*, Haili Shan*, Liqun Chen*, Aijun Long*, Yuanyuan Zhang*, Yang Liu, Liangjie Jia et al. OLFR734 mediates glucose metabolism as a receptor of asprosin. Cell Metabolism 30, no. 2 (2019): 319-328. (*Equal contribution)

4. Li, Jin*, Erwei Li*, Rafael S. Czepielewski, Jingyi Chi, Xiao Guo, Yong-Hyun Han, Daqing Wang et al. Neurotensin is an anti-thermogenic peptide produced by lymphatic endothelial cells. Cell Metabolism (2021). PMCID: PMC8266750. (*Equal contribution)

5. Han Jinbo*, Li Erwei*, Chen Liqun, Zhang Yuanyuan, Wei Fangchao, Liu Jieyuan, Deng Haiteng, and Wang Yiguo. The Role of CRTC2 in Hepatic Lipid Homeostasis. Chinese Journal of Cell Biology 2015, 37(9): 1193–1196. (*Equal contribution)