Tel: 0086-21-31242901
 Email: wei_dai@fudan.edu.cn
 Office Address: Room C7009, Interdisciplinary Building No.2, Fudan University 

Personal Profile

Wei obtained her B.S. from Fudan University and her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She then completed postdoctoral training in Dr. Denise Montell’s laboratory at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and UC Santa Barbara, and subsequently worked in Dr. Calum MacRae’s laboratory at Brigham and Women's Hospital/Harvard Medical School. Wei joined the Institute of Metabolism and Integrative Biology, Fudan University, in 2021.

Research Interests

Embryonic development relies on maternally supplied nutrients. In egg-laying animals, these nutrients are stored in yolk granules and are gradually mobilized after fertilization. Mammals also retain the yolk sac as an extraembryonic structure, which contributes to nutrient transport and metabolic support during early development before the placenta becomes fully functional. How yolk metabolism supports embryonic development, and how embryonic developmental programs in turn regulate yolk metabolism, remain poorly understood.

Our lab uses zebrafish as a model to study these fundamental questions regarding yolk metabolism and embryonic development. We integrate genetics, live imaging, and systems biology approaches to identify the key dynamic changes and regulatory pathways involved. Our work aims to reveal evolutionarily conserved mechanisms by which metabolism is tightly regulated during embryonic development, which may shed light on the developmental origins of metabolic diseases.

Selected Publications

1. Sun T#, Tao Y#, Zeng Y#, Ai R#, Li T, Li X, Li X, He R, Jia Z, Sun X, Feng Z, Liu X, Kong X, Huang L, Chen L,Ni J*, Chen L*, Dai W*.Increased yolk lipid mobilization promotes zebrafish post-segmentation growth via an Hnf4-lipoprotein axis. Cell Rep, 2026; 45(5):117295. #co-first authors; *co-corresponding authors

2. Guo X#, Mutch M#, Torres AY, Nano M, Rauth N, Harwood J, McDonald D, Chen Z, Montell C, Dai W*, Montell DJ*. The Zn2+ transporter ZIP7 enhances endoplasmic-reticulum-associated protein degradation and prevents neurodegeneration in Drosophila. Dev Cell, 2024;59(13):1655–1667.e6.

3. Pang B#, Yu LY#, Li T#, Jiao HZ, Wu XM, Wang JX, He RP, Zhang YR, Wang J, Hu HL, Dai W*, Chen L*, Ren RB*. Molecular basis of Spns2-facilitated sphingosine-1-phosphate transport. Cell Res, 2024, 34(2):173-176.

4. Dai W#, Guo X#, Cao Y, Mondo J, Campanale J, Montell B, Burrous H, Streichan S, Gov N, Rappel WJ, Montell DJ*. Tissue topography steers migrating Drosophila border cells. Science, 2020, 370(6519): 987-990.

5. Dai W, Peterson A, Kenney T, Burrous H, Montell DJ*. Quantitative microscopy of the Drosophila ovary  shows multiple niche signals specify progenitor cell fate. Nat Commun, 2017, 8(1): 1244.

6. Dai W, Bai Y, Hebda L, Zhong X, Liu J, Kao J, Duan C*. Calcium deficiency-induced and TRP channel-regulated IGF1R-PI3K-Akt signaling regulates abnormal epithelial cell proliferation. Cell Death Differ, 2014, 21(4): 568-581.

7. Dai W, Kamei H, Zhao Y, Ding J, Du Z, Duan C*. Duplicated zebrafish insulin-like growth factor binding  protein-5 genes with split functional domains: evidence for evolutionarily conserved IGF binding, nuclear localization, and transactivation activity. FASEB J, 2010, 24(6): 2020-2029.