An Zeng

If you are interested in single-cell splicing QTLs, it will be worth trying our new tool ISSAC. Sharing my talk at the Biology of Genomes 2026. Preprint: medrxiv.org/content/10.648…

Chinese researchers have successfully engineered a "biological pacemaker" in a petri dish, creating a sinoatrial node organoid that can be regulated by nerve cells to control the heartbeat, a breakthrough that offers a new platform for studying heart rhythm disorders and drug development. The heart's continuous and rhythmic beating relies on the "natural pacemaker" in the right atrium -- the sinoatrial node. How to create a near-authentic human "biological pacemaker" in the laboratory has long been a major challenge in cardiac pacing and conduction research. By simulating key signals in embryonic development and conducting systematic screening, researchers guided stem cells to form three-dimensional sinoatrial node organoids capable of autonomously generating stable heartbeats. When connected to atrial-like organoids, electrical signals could be emitted from the sinoatrial node and conducted to the atrial tissue, thereby successfully mimicking the in vivo "pacing-conduction" process. Published in the journal Cell Stem Cell, the study shows that this model can not only elucidate the mechanisms underlying heart rate-related diseases but also be used to evaluate potential therapeutic agents.

China's research team has developed a 'biological pacemaker' for the human heart—a sinoatrial node-like organoid. The related results were recently published in the international academic journal 'Cell Stem Cell.'

Chinese researchers have built a tri-assembloid system linking human pacemaker organoids, nerves, and atrial tissue. For the 1st time, this model allows scientists to study neural-pacemaker interactions in vitro and uncover key molecular mechanisms behind heart rhythm regulation.

This work provides a human-based platform for studying pacemaker development and neural regulation, as well as for drug testing and future biological pacemaker research. Any feedback is welcome.

We are excited to share our latest work, in which we used human PSCs to build human “biological pacemaker” organoids that model the structure and function of the sinoatrial node. This provides a new platform to study pacemaker development, disease mechanisms and drug testing.

@GuonHuang @XiaoxinChen2024 @PNASNews Very interesting work, Guo. Truly impressive in its scope and very inspiring.

Our new paper led by @XiaoxinChen2024 is out @PNASNews! bit.ly/4785aCD We built a tissue atlas of ~2K transcription regulators ➔ identified Tox3 as a long-sought Atoh1 amplifer in cerebellar development, tumorigenesis & evolution. 1/10 📢 We're recruiting postdocs!

@jmartinlab Congratulations on this remarkable discovery. Truly a significant and substantial contribution to the field.

Congratulations to the team led by Lin and Jeff. Tremendous achievement

Perspective on the emergence of parallel imaging for cardiac MRI. Now a clinical standard: magazine.hms.harvard.edu/articles/birth…

Six years in the making, this project reflects the sustained efforts of our lab and our collaborators at BGI. Huge thanks to Dr. Yue Chen, Kai Han, Mengyang Xu, and all team members for their dedication. We sincerely welcome your feedback!

We're excited to share our preprint describing single-cell–resolution 4D (space + time) digital atlas of planarian regeneration. In this work, we identify an injury-induced spatial regulatory domain and its regulator, uncovering the mechanisms underlying blastema formation.

@MaxYunLab @MaehrLab @aniaczark @MacrinaLobo @fabianrost84 @DcGenomeCenter @PoLDresden @mpicbg @ClaireOlingy Congratulations on such an impressive piece of work!

Alert: Our finding that axolotls regenerate their thymus de novo is out! science.org/doi/10.1126/sc…. A fantastic collab with @MaehrLab kudos to @aniaczark @MacrinaLobo Liz Bolaños Castro @fabianrost84 @DcGenomeCenter CIMR Beijing @PoLDresden @mpicbg , & @ClaireOlingy for editing

When the heart calls for help: Clusterin reprograms immunity to enable regeneration #science #publication #research #publications scientific.today/entries/142955…

Glad to see this work from @AA_Zeng and the team published in @CellStemCell describing a regenerative cardiac–immune crosstalk in neonatal mouse heart, echoes our findings in fish models! Also, thanks to @SheilaChari's invitation to highlight the work in a perspective Preview.😃

@BenLai_Taiwan @CellStemCell @SheilaChari Thank you so much, Dr. Lai, for your kindness and for sharing your inspiring perspectives. There is still so much to learn from zebrafish and other parallel regeneration models. We are truly grateful to you and your team for your pioneering work!

Huge thanks to Dr. Lai and his team for the inspiring preview and their groundbreaking work in this thrilling field! Big thanks to the reviewers for making this paper much stronger. Seeing basic biology turn into real regenerative medicine solutions is just incredibly exciting!