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Huan Wang

State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Science and Mental Health, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.

4 papers in the library · 327 citations · publishing 2022-2025

Papers

Structure-based discovery of nonhallucinogenic psychedelic analogs

Science January 27, 2022 Dongmei Cao, Jing Yu, Huan Wang et al. 306 citations

Drugs targeting the human serotonin 2A receptor (5-HT2AR) are used for neuropsychiatric diseases, but many have hallucinogenic effects. Structures of 5-HT2AR complexed with psilocin, LSD, serotonin, and lisuride reveal that serotonin and psilocin show a second binding mode. This insight enabled design of the psychedelic IHCH-7113 and several 5-HT2AR β-arrestin–biased agonists that displayed antidepressant-like activity in mice without hallucinogenic effects. These structures provide a foundation for designing safe, nonhallucinogenic psychedelic analogs with therapeutic potential.

Long-term effects of an online mindfulness intervention on mental health in Chinese nursing students: a randomized controlled trial follow-up.

BMC public health February 19, 2025 Zhenwei Dai, Shu Jing, Yijin Wu et al. 10 citations

A six-week online mindfulness course for undergraduate nursing students in Beijing temporarily reduced stress and anxiety and improved mindfulness and perceived social support, but these mental health benefits did not persist at a three-month follow-up. Perceived social support mediated the relationship between mindfulness and mental symptoms. The findings suggest that sustained benefits may require regular practice, highlighting the need for ongoing mindfulness integration into training programs.

Psychometric properties of the Short-Form Five Facets of Mindfulness Questionnaire among nursing students in China: A confirmatory factor analysis.

Nursing open July 1, 2024 Huan Wang, Zhenwei Dai, Shu Jing et al. 10 citations

The Chinese Short-Form Five Facets of Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ-SF) shows good overall fit for measuring mindfulness in nursing students in mainland China, with confirmatory factor analyses supporting a five-factor structure. Composite reliability values ranged from 0.685 to 0.870, and average variance extracted values from 0.426 to 0.627. One-factor models provided the best fit for four of the five subscales. The cross-sectional study included 240 undergraduate nursing students from a Beijing school of nursing who completed the FFMQ-SF and the Depression-Anxiety-Stress Scale. Results suggest the scale is a valid instrument for assessing mindfulness and its relationship with mental health in this population.

Structure-Guided Design of Novel 5-HT 2A Partial Agonists as Psychedelic Analogues with Antidepressant Effects

Journal of Medicinal Chemistry October 14, 2025 Rongyan Li, Hong Yan, Yujin Chen et al. 1 citation

New compounds designed to activate the serotonin 2A receptor without causing hallucinations show antidepressant effects in mice. Building on the structures of the antipsychotic aripiprazole and a previously reported lead compound, two series of novel 5-HT2A partial agonists were synthesized and tested. Several compounds demonstrated potent activity in G protein coupling and β-arrestin2 recruitment assays. One compound, 28c, reduced depressive-like behavior in the mouse tail-suspension test without producing head-twitch responses, a rodent correlate of hallucinogenic effects. These results add to the growing collection of nonhallucinogenic 5-HT2A agonists that could potentially provide rapid and enduring antidepressant effects.