Wei Xu, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor

Download Curriculum Vitae

Dr. Xu obtained Ph.D. at University of Southern California in 2008, where he worked with Dr. Michel Baudry studying the interaction between glutamate receptors and calpain and its implications in brain functions. He then conducted postdoctoral research with Dr. Tom Südhof at HHMI and Stanford University where he started to develop molecular tools for exploring brain circuits and used the tools to address questions related to memory. He joined the department of Neuroscience at UT Southwestern in Dec. 2014.

Dr. Xu is interested in the neuronal mechanisms underlying the basic cognitive processes. He focuses on the circuit level with the goal of bridging cellular and synaptic phenomena to high-level brain functions. The specific questions include the encoding, retrieval and generalization of memories and the brain’s executive control over the selection of behavioral programs. 

• Brain Connectivity
• Generalization of memory
• Neuronal mechanisms underlying psychosis
• Technology development

Featured Publications

Anterograde transneuronal tracing and genetic control with engineered yellow fever vaccine YFV-17D.

Li E, Guo J, Oh SJ, Luo Y, Oliveros HC, Du W, Arano R, Kim Y, Chen YT, Eitson J, Lin DT, Li Y, Roberts T, Schoggins JW, Xu W, Nat Methods 2021 Nov

A neural circuit for memory specificity and generalization.

Xu W, Südhof TC Science 2013 Mar 339 6125 1290-5

Simultaneous monitoring of presynaptic transmitter release and postsynaptic receptor trafficking reveals an enhancement of presynaptic activity in metabotropic glutamate receptor-mediated long-term depression.

Xu W, Tse YC, Dobie FA, Baudry M, Craig AM, Wong TP, Wang YT J. Neurosci. 2013 Mar 33 13 5867-77

Distinct neuronal coding schemes in memory revealed by selective erasure of fast synchronous synaptic transmission.

Xu W, Morishita W, Buckmaster PS, Pang ZP, Malenka RC, Südhof TC Neuron 2012 Mar 73 5 990-1001

Calpain-mediated mGluR1alpha truncation: a key step in excitotoxicity.

Xu W, Wong TP, Chery N, Gaertner T, Wang YT, Baudry M Neuron 2007 Feb 53 3 399-412

Dysfunction of parvalbumin neurons in the cerebellar nuclei produces an action tremor.

Zhou M, Melin MD, Xu W, Südhof TC, J Clin Invest 2020 10 130 10 5142-5156

A central amygdala to zona incerta projection is required for acquisition and remote recall of conditioned fear memory.

Zhou M, Liu Z, Melin MD, Ng YH, Xu W, Südhof TC Nat. Neurosci. 2018 Nov 21 11 1515-1519

Postsynaptic synaptotagmins mediate AMPA receptor exocytosis during LTP.

Wu D, Bacaj T, Morishita W, Goswami D, Arendt KL, Xu W, Chen L, Malenka RC, Südhof TC Nature 2017 Mar

Synaptotagmin-1- and Synaptotagmin-7-Dependent Fusion Mechanisms Target Synaptic Vesicles to Kinetically Distinct Endocytic Pathways.

Li YC, Chanaday NL, Xu W, Kavalali ET Neuron 2016 Dec

Conditional neuroligin-2 knockout in adult medial prefrontal cortex links chronic changes in synaptic inhibition to cognitive impairments.

Liang J, Xu W, Hsu YT, Yee AX, Chen L, Südhof TC Mol. Psychiatry 2015 Mar

 Featured Books

Methods for in vivo Gene Manipulation.. In Charney & Nestler's Neurobiology of Mental Illness (2017)

Monteggia, Lisa M., and Wei Xu. (2017). Oxford University Press

• K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award, NIH
  (2013)

• American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) (2008)
• Society for Neuroscience (2003)