Yongxin Zhao
Yongxin (Leon) received his BSc in Sun Yat-sen University in China. He then joined the Department of Chemistry in University of Alberta, Canada, and worked on development of directed evolution approaches for improved genetically encoded fluorescent calcium ion and voltage indicators for his PhD. He is the main inventor of GECO and QuasAr families of neural imaging tools. In the Synthetic Neurobiology group, he developed expansion pathology (ExPath). He then went on to start as an assistant professor at Carnegie Mellon University.
Publications
Improved immunostaining of nanostructures and cells in human brain specimens through expansion-mediated protein decrowding
Science Translational Medicine | 2024Valdes PA, Yu CJ, Aronson J, Ghosh D, Zhao Y, An B, Bernstock JD, Bhere D, Felicella MM, Viapiano MS, Shah K, Chiocca EA, Boyden ES (2024) Improved immunostaining of nanostructures and cells in human brain specimens through expansion-mediated protein decrowding, Science Translational Medicine 16(732):eabo0049.
Decrowding Expansion Pathology: Unmasking Previously Invisible Nanostructures and Cells in Intact Human Brain Pathology Specimens
bioRxiv | 2021Pablo A. Valdes, Chih-Chieh (Jay) Yu, Jenna Aronson, Yongxin Zhao, Joshua D. Bernstock, Deepak Bhere, Bobae An, Mariano S. Viapiano, Khalid Shah, E. Antonio Chiocca, Edward S. Boyden (2021) Decrowding Expansion Pathology: Unmasking Previously Invisible Nanostructures and Cells in Intact Human Brain Pathology Specimens, bioRxiv 2021.12.05.471271; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.12.05.471271.
Nanoscale imaging of clinical specimens using conventional and rapid expansion pathology
Nature Protocols | 2020Bucur O*, Fu F*, Calderon M, Mylvaganam GH, Ly NL, Day J, Watkin S, Walker BD, Boyden ES**, Zhao Y** (2020) Nanoscale imaging of clinical specimens using conventional and rapid expansion pathology, Nature Protocols 15:1649-1672. (*, equal contribution, **, co-corresponding)
Cortical column and whole-brain imaging with molecular contrast and nanoscale resolution
Science | 2019Ruixuan Gao*, Shoh M. Asano*, Srigokul Upadhyayula*, Igor Pisarev, Daniel E. Milkie, Tsung-Li Liu, Ved Singh, Austin Graves, Grace H. Huynh, Yongxin Zhao, John Bogovic, Jennifer Colonell, Carolyn M. Ott, Christopher Zugates, Susan Tappan, Alfredo Rodriguez, Kishore R. Mosaliganti, Shu-Hsien Sheu, H. Amalia Pasolli, Song Pang, C. Shan Xu, Sean G. Megason, Harald Hess, Jennifer Lippincott-Schwartz, Adam Hantman, Gerald M. Rubin, Tom Kirchhausen, Stephan Saalfeld, Yoshinori Aso, Edward S. Boyden**, Eric Betzig** (2019) Cortical column and whole-brain imaging with molecular contrast and nanoscale resolution, Science 363(6424):eaau8302. (*, equal contribution, **, co-corresponding)
Expansion microscopy: principles and uses in biological research
Nature Methods | 2018Wassie AT*, Zhao Y*, Boyden ES (2019) Expansion microscopy: principles and uses in biological research, Nature Methods 16(1):33-41. (*, equal contributors)
Nanoscale imaging of clinical specimens using pathology-optimized expansion microscopy
Nature Biotechnology | 2017Zhao Y*, Bucur O*, Irshad H, Chen F, Weins A, Stancu AL, Oh EY, DiStasio M, Torous V, Glass B, Stillman IE, Schnitt SJ, Beck AH**, Boyden ES** (2017) Nanoscale imaging of clinical specimens using pathology-optimized expansion microscopy, Nature Biotechnology 35(8):757-764. (*, co-first authors; **, co-corresponding authors)
Protein-retention expansion microscopy of cells and tissues labeled using standard fluorescent proteins and antibodies
Nature Biotechnology | 2016Tillberg, P.W.*, Chen, F.*, Piatkevich, K.D., Zhao, Y., Yu, C.-C., English, B.P., Gao, L., Martorell, A., Suk, H.-J., Yoshida, F., DeGennaro, E.M., Roossien, D.H., Gong, G., Seneviratne, U., Tannenbaum, S.R., Desimone, R., Cai, D., Boyden, E.S. (2016) Protein-retention expansion microscopy of cells and tissues labeled using standard fluorescent proteins and antibodies, Nature Biotechnology 34:987-992. (*, co-first authors)