Prof WONG Ho Wai Hovy - School of Biomedical Sciences, CUHK

Prof WONG Ho Wai Hovy

Assistant Professor

PhD (Cantab), MPhil (HKUST), BSc (HKUST)

39435352

hovy.wong@cuhk.edu.hk

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=HhefAuQAAAAJ&hl=en

Biography:

Prof. Hovy WONG, Ho-Wai (黃皓瑋) received his PhD from University of Cambridge, where he unravelled with his colleagues the roles of local protein synthesis in neural circuit formation and maintenance in vivo. After decades of debates, his body of work changed the way the field thought about the existence of mRNA translation, far away from the cell body, in the axon/presynapse — the neurotransmitter-releasing half of brain connections. His thesis paper was highlighted 5 times by F1000, featured in Cell Press Selections 2017 and numerous high-impact journals. These were made possible with the support of Cambridge International Scholarship, Croucher-Cambridge International Scholarship and Sir Edward Youde Memorial Fellowship, amongst other awards. (Mentor: Christine Holt)

He then pursued postdoctoral training at McGill University, where he was funded as a Fellow of Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Canada First Research Excellence Fund, Fonds de recherche du Québec, and Quebec Bio-Imaging Network. His work revealed that local axonal protein synthesis sustains neurotransmission, in a synapse- and frequency-specific manner. Apart from uncovering previously unappreciated principles for information transfer and memory formation, it opens new avenues for leveraging protein synthesis correction in neuropathology therapies. Selected by Canadian Association for Neuroscience and CIHR of Neurosciences, Mental Health, and Addiction, Prof. Wong was winner of the Brain Star Award — the highest recognition for trainees in Canada. (Mentor: Jesper Sjöström)

Prior to these, Prof. Wong was born in Hong Kong and spent 7 years in the U.K. for his secondary education. He joined The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology for his undergraduate and MPhil studies (Mentor: Nancy Ip). He was awarded 16 fellowships totalling >$6.2 million, which provided uninterrupted funding in full for his training between 2010-2024. The international exposures have prepared him to welcome a broad range of lab members and collaborators.

Teaching and Research Interests

Focus: Brain circuit formation, maintenance, and plasticity, with a strong emphasis on understanding the molecular signalling at brain connections, known as synapses.

Why? Synaptic connections are vital for information processing and memory storage in the brain, yet we still have surprisingly limited understanding of their functioning principles. Synapses are also dysregulation hotspots in neurological disorders and may present viable drug targets.

What’s new? The synapse has a presynaptic transmitting end and a postsynaptic receiving end. While the postsynapse has been a research focus, our knowledge of the presynapse lags behind. My work bridges the gap by taking on a combined pre- and postsynaptic focus on neural circuits in health and disease.

How? Multidisciplinary techniques that link multiple levels of neurobiology, including 1) molecular regulation, 2) cellular changes, and 3) functional significances. To name a few, quadruple patch-clamp recordings (electrophysiology), custom 2-photon laser scanning microscopy, optogenetics, molecular biology, multi-omics bioinformatics. We are also keen on developing new labelling and live-imaging technologies, such as for RNA and protein synthesis, to uncover spatiotemporal dynamics in compartmentalized signalling.

Long-term goals? To uncover fundamental principles of neural circuits. And to leverage this knowledge to reveal pre- and postsynaptic targets for alleviating neuropathologies.

Selected Publications

Wong HH^#, Watt A, Sjöström PJ^#(in press). Laser microsurgery for presynaptic interrogation. Nature Protocols
Wong HH*, Thomazeau A*, Sjöström PJ (in press). Multiple Whole-Cell Recordings. The handbook of electrophysiology: a practical guide for neurophysiologists. Eds. Duguid I, Scimemi A., Wanaverbecq N.
Wong HH, Camiré O, Sjöström PJ (in press). How to Patch a Cell. The handbook of electrophysiology: a practical guide for neurophysiologists. Eds. Duguid I, Scimemi A., Wanaverbecq N.
Chou CYC, Wong HH, Guo C, Boukoulou K, Huang C, Jannat J, Klimenko T, Li V, Liang T, Wu V, Sjöström PJ (2025). Principles of visual cortex excitatory microcircuit organization.The Innovation 6(1) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xinn.2024.100735
Wong HH^#, Watt A, Sjöström PJ^#(2024). Synapse-specific burst coding sustained by local axonal translation. Neuron 112(2) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2023.10.011
- Featured article in Neuron 112(2)
- Featured in Research Highlights by Shari Wiseman, Chief Editor, in Nature Neuroscience 27(9) (Link)
- Press release (Link)
Wong HH, Chou CYC, Watt A, Sjöström PJ (2023). Neural Circuits: Comparing mouse and human brains.eLife 12 https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.90017
Wong HH, Camiré O, Sjöström PJ (2021). Neurotransmission: The secret life of memory receptors. eLife 10 https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.71178
Wong HH^#, Rannio S, Jones V, Thomazeau A^#, Sjöström PJ^#(2021). NMDA receptors in axons: there’s no coincidence. Journal of Physiology 599(2) https://doi.org/10.1113/JP280059
- Editor’s choice
Ströhl F, Lin JQ, van Tartwijk F, Wong HH, Holt CE, Kaminski CF (2020). A protocol for single molecule translation imaging in xenopus retinal ganglion cells. Single Molecular Microscopy in Neurobiology, Neuromethods 154 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-0532-5_14
Shigeoka T, Koppers M, Wong HH*, Lin JQ*, Cagnetta R*, Dwivedy A, Nascimento J, van Tartwijk F, Ströhl F, Cioni JM, Schaeffer J, Carrington M, Kaminski CF, Jung H, Harris WA, Holt CE (2019). On-site ribosome remodeling by locally synthesized ribosomal proteins in axons. Cell Reports 29(11) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2019.11.025
- Highlighted by preLights (Link)
- Highlighted by Faculty Opinions (Link)
Cagnetta R, Wong HH, Frese CK, Mallucci G, Krijgsveld J, Holt CE (2019). Noncanonical modulation of eIF2 pathway controls an increase in local translation during neural wiring. Molecular Cell 73(3) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molcel.2018.11.013
Cioni JM, Wong HH, Bressan D, Kodama L, Harris WA, Holt CE (2018). Axon-axon interactions regulate topographic optic tract sorting via CYFIP2-dependent WAVE complex function. Neuron 97(5) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2018.01.027
- Highlighted by Faculty of 1000 (Link)
Leung KM*, Lu B*, Wong HH*, Turner-Bridger B, Holt CE (2018). Cue-polarized transport of β-actin mRNA depends on 3’UTR and microtubules in live growth cones. Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience 12 https://doi.org/10.3389/fncel.2018.00300
Wong HH, Holt CE (2018). Targeted electroporation in the CNS in Xenopus embryos. Methods in Molecular Biology 1865 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-8784-9_9
Turner-Bridger B, Jakobs M, Muresan L, Wong HH, Franze K, Harris WA, Holt CE (2018). Single molecule analysis of endogenous β-actin mRNA trafficking reveals a mechanism for compartmentalised mRNA localisation in axons. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 115(41) https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1806189115
Ströhl F, Wong HH, Holt CE, Kaminski CF (2018). Total internal reflection fluorescence anisotropy imaging microscopy: setup, calibration, and data processing for protein polymerization measurements in living cells. Methods and Applications in Fluorescence 6(1) https://doi.org/10.1088/2050-6120/aa872e
Wong HH, Lin JQ*, Ströhl F*, Roque CG, Cioni, JM, Cagnetta R, Turner-Bridger B, Laine R, Harris WA, Kaminski CF, Holt CE (2017). RNA docking and local translation regulate site-specific axon remodelling in vivo. Neuron 95(4) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2017.07.016
- Highlighted 5 times by Faculty of 1000 (Link)
- Featured in Cell Press Selections 2017: The Dynamic Neuron (Link)
Ströhl F, Lin JQ, Laine R, Wong HH, Urbančič V, Cagnetta R, Holt CE, Kaminski CF (2017). Single molecule translation imaging visualizes the dynamics of local β-actin synthesis in retinal axons. Scientific Reports 7(1) https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-00695-7
Konopacki FA, Wong HH, Dwivedy A, Bellon A, Blower MD, Holt CE (2016). ESCRT-II controls retinal axon growth by regulating DCC receptor levels and local protein synthesis. Open Biology 6(4) https://doi.org/10.1098/rsob.150218
- Highlighted by Faculty of 1000 (Link)
Roque CG, Wong HH, Lin JQ, Holt CE (2016). Tumor protein Tctp regulates axon development in the embryonic visual system. Development 143(7) https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.131060
- Issue highlight of Development Vol.143, Issue 7 by The Node (Link)
Fu AK, Hung KW, Wong HH, Fu WY, Ip NY (2013). Cdk5 phosphorylates a component of the HDAC complex and regulates histone acetylation during neuronal cell death. Neurosignals 21(1-2) https://doi.org/10.1159/000335158

* Equal contributions
# Co-corresponding authors

Grants

Improvement on Competitiveness in Hiring New Faculties Funding Scheme; CUHK [PI; 2025-2030] (HK$ 1,500,000)
Croucher Start-up Grant; Croucher Foundation [PI; 2025-2030] (HK$ 500,000)