Email

wei.li4@bcm.edu

Positions

Professor and Knights Templar Eye Foundation Presidential Chair in Ophthalmology

Ophthalmology
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, Texas United States

Addresses

Neurosensory Center (Office)

6565 Fannin St
NC416
Houston, TX 77030
United States

Education

PhD from University of Nebraska Medical Center

12/1991 - Omaha, Nebraska United States

MS from Zhejiang University College of Medicine

06/1986 - Hangzhou, China

BSc from Zhangjiang University College of Pharmacy

06/1983 - Hangzhou, China

Professional Statement

Our research goals are to advance our knowledge of disease mechanisms and develop novel therapies to relive patient suffering. Our laboratory has been studying ligand-receptor interactions for cell-cell communication that has been traditionally studied on a case-by-case basis with inherent technical challenges. We created the only paradigm of “ligandomics” to globally map cell-wide ligands. Comparative ligandomics for diseased versus healthy cells is capable of systematically identifying disease-selective ligands. Our team further developed “function-first” and “therapy-first” ligandomics approaches to independently characterize functional activity, disease selectivity, pathogenic role and therapeutic potential of identified ligands. These innovative methods have led to the discovery of secretogranin III (Scg3) as a novel disease-selective angiogenic factor. Scg3 is a neuron-derived angiogenic factor that functions as a disease-restricted neurovascular regulator. We generated Scg3-neutralizing antibodies and confirmed their high efficacy to alleviate multiple neovascular diseases, including diabetic retinopathy, retinopathy of prematurity and choroidal neovascularization, with minimal side effects on healthy vasculature. In contrast, all currently approved anti-angiogenic drugs target both diseased and healthy vessels with side effects. Our findings highlighted ligandomics as a powerful technology for disease mechanism research and drug target discovery.

Ongoing projects in my laboratory include: i) Developing anti-Scg3 antibodies toward clinical translation for next-generation disease-targeting anti-angiogenic therapy; ii) characterizing other disease-selective ligands for their pathogenic role and therapeutic potentials; iii) mapping other neurovascular crosstalk and inter-system cell-cell communications using our innovative ligandomics technology in different disease conditions; and iv) developing next-generation ligandomics technology that will expand the application of the technology to any cells, tissues and diseases to unravel disease mechanisms and efficiently develop novel ligand-guided disease-targeting therapies.

Selected Publications

• Tang, F., LeBlanc, M.E., Wang, W., Liang, D., Chen, P., Chou, T., Tian, H., Li, W. "Anti-Secretogranin III Therapy of Oxygen-Induced Retinopathy with Optimal Safety.." Angiogenesis. 2019 Aug;22(3):369-382. Pubmed PMID: 30644010
• Rong, X., Tian, H., Yang, L., Li, W. "Function-first ligandomics for ocular vascular research and drug target discovery.." Exp. Eye Res.. 2019 May;182:57-64. Pubmed PMID: 30904565
• LeBlanc, M.E., Wang, W., Ji, Y., Tian, H., Liu, D., Zhang, X., Li, W. "Secretogranin III as a novel target for the therapy of choroidal neovascularization.." Exp. Eye Res.. 2019 Apr;181:120-126. Pubmed PMID: 30633921
• Li, W., Pang, I.H., Pacheco, M.T.F., Tian, H. "Ligandomics: A paradigm shift in biological drug discovery.." Drug. Discov. Today.. 2018 Mar;23(3):636-643. Pubmed PMID: 29326083

Funding

Next-generation ligandomics technology to globally map cellular ligands of the retina - #1R43EY031643-01A1

$226,255.00 (09/01/2020 - 08/31/2021)

Grant funding from NIH

The goal of this project is to develop next-generation technology of ligandomics to systematically map disease-selective ligands.

Anti-angiogenic gene therapy of ocular vascular diseases - #R43EY031238-01

$225,000.00 (07/01/2020 - 06/30/2021)

Gift funding from NIH

The goal of this grant is to develop a novel anti-angiogenic gene therapy to treat neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in animal models.

A selective angiogenesis blocker to treat or prevent retinopathy of prematurity - #R24EY028764

$9,126,317.00 (02/01/2019 - 12/31/2023)

Grant funding from NIH/NEI

The goal of this project is to develop a novel anti-angiogenic therapy to treat retinopathy of prematurity, an eye disease in preterm infants.

A diabetic retinopathy-associated vascular permeability factor - #R01EY027749

$1,918,749.00 (06/01/2018 - 05/31/2023)

Grant funding from NIH/NEI

The goal of this project is to investigate the mechanisms and disease selectivity of Scg3 as a diabetic retinopathy-selective vascular leakage factor.

Intellectual Property

Open-reading frame (ORF) phage display

Method Patent #8,754,013 (Approved)

Co Inventors: Xiaoyu Jiang, Nora Blanca Caberoy

Quantitative ligandomics for systematic identification of therapeutic ligands

Method Patent #10,106,787 (Approved)

Quantitative ligandomics for systematic identification of therapeutic ligands

Method Patent #15/860170 (Pending)

Divisional patent application split from US Patent #10,106,787

Anti-secretogranin III (Scg3) antibodies and uses thereof

Method Patent #PCT/US17/60189 (Pending)

Co Inventors: Michelle E. LeBlanc, Weiwen Wang, Philip J. Rosenfeld