Chongyang Wu on the Immune System’s Role in Parkinson’s Disease
By Dak Narayanan
Edited by Diba Riahi
Typically, a confocal microscope is used to capture images of cellular structures inside complex tissues. But for Chongyang Wu, a PhD candidate in neuroscience and immunology at Scripps Research, it's not just a laboratory tool, but an opportunity to be the first to witness microscopic cellular interactions in real time. “I know that when I'm at the confocal microscope, there's nobody else in the world who has seen this type of cellular phenomenon,” Wu explains.
He notes that his motivation to continue research isn’t tied to a single moment, but rather to seeing different results while altering the experiment. “I'm not very clear if there's one incident that prompted me to pursue science... But what I can tell you is what's keeping me in this field… It feels great when you are seeing some phenomenon, some phenotype…you see a difference due to the manipulation you make in that experiment, which is fabulous, because it gives you a very high level of satisfaction."
Rethinking Parkinson’s Through Immunology
Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the loss of dopamine-producing neurons in the brain. Many people view neurodegenerative diseases as disorders of the neurons themselves. But Wu’s research looks at a different angle: neuroinflammation driven by the immune system. “People usually think neurodegeneration is something that happens to the neurons themselves, right?... But adding another layer of immunology to this field is quite refreshing. And I think it opens a lot of opportunities.”
Chongyang Wu’s perspective developed during his research at the Bliss-Moreau lab at the University of California, Davis. During his research, experimental data revealed that tissue pathology in brain models was not driven by external pathogens, but by autoreactive antibodies produced by the body’s own B cells.
Currently at Scripps Research, Wu focuses on NOD2, a protein that helps regulate the innate immune response—the body’s general defense system. He is investigating whether excessive activation of NOD2 contributes to the pathology of Parkinson’s disease. Ultimately, his goal is to inhibit NOD2 using small-molecule drugs and determine whether reducing this immune activity could lessen its effects in the brain. However, Wu emphasizes that developing a treatment is still a long way off. “Whether or not it will become a therapeutic in the future is out of control at this stage of my study,” he says. For now, his focus is on understanding the mechanisms underlying Parkinson’s disease.
One of Wu’s most memorable experiences in the lab involved using a robotic system to inject a pathological protein into mouse brains. The traditional approach requires researchers to manually measure reference points on the mouse’s skull to determine where to make the injection, but the robotic system uses a camera to identify those points and automatically position the injection site. Wu says the system can make the procedure more consistent and less time-consuming. “I think it’s pretty cool, because the injection itself is effortless and is very consistent.”
Where Biology Meets Computation
To understand how the immune system may contribute to Parkinson’s disease, Wu examines what is happening inside brain tissue at the molecular and cellular levels. By looking at where specific proteins are found and how they behave, he can investigate how immune activity may contribute to the progression of the disease.
Wu uses computational tools, such as Claude, to analyze the large amounts of data generated by his experiments. These computational tools can process massive amounts of data to identify patterns, allowing researchers to find potential immune targets more efficiently than through manual analysis. However, he maintains a realistic view of AI platforms. “Claude can only be trusted when you guide it in the correct direction. Otherwise, it can tell you you’re the best scientist in the world. I hope so, but it’s not always the case.”
Life Behind the Lab and Career Aspirations
Outside the lab, Wu finds a different kind of focus on the road. Riding his motorcycle through mountain roads gives him a chance to step away from demanding research and clear his mind. “It really helps me clear off anything that's residue on my brain that I really want to forget,” he says.
This same focus shapes how Wu envisions his future in science. He plans to pursue a postdoctoral fellowship in academia rather than industry, where he hopes to have the intellectual freedom to explore the research questions that interest him. “I think academic research gives you more freedom in terms of what type of experiments and studies you want to pursue, as long as the experiments are within the scope of the grant… But as far as I know, the freedom in the industry is less.”
Advice for Future Scientists
When asked what advice he would give to the next generation of researchers, Wu emphasizes that experimental design can be more important than mastering lab techniques. “You can spend a month learning a new technique and figure out that the technique, or that experiment, is not needed at all. So I think how to design an experiment better is more important than how to do the experiment."
Wu also highlights emotional resilience as one of the most important traits for future scientists. “More than 60% of the day, I see negative results where the results mean nothing. Just don’t let that bring you down and just keep going. That’s the nature of doing science.”
In a field where answers come slowly, the willingness to persevere through multiple days in a lab is what ultimately leads to the moments that change how we see the world.
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