Yang Lab - Research

Overview

The Yang Lab investigates how nutritional environments reprogram mRNA translation to shape the proteome and metabolome, and further influences metabolic health, aging, and cancer. We combine molecular biology, protein–metabolite interaction assays, ribosome profiling, metabolomics, and in vivo physiology to understand how dietary cues and lipids dynamically regulate gene expression and cellular fate.

Keywords / Techniques:
Lipid Signaling · Nutrient-Responsive mRNA Translation · Dietary / Metabolic Interventions · Cancer Metabolism · Aging

Diet–Gene Crosstalk in Insulin Resistance & Aging

Diet and nutrients shape how genes are expressed at the translational level — affecting metabolic flexibility, insulin sensitivity, and age-associated decline.

Key aims / questions:

How do different diets (high fat, ketogenic, caloric restriction, fasting) change translational output across tissues?
What genetic or epigenetic factors modulate the response to diet at the level of translation?

Techniques & approaches:
Mouse physiology models, metabolic phenotyping, ribosome profiling, transcriptomics + proteomics, metabolomics, longitudinal aging studies.

Lipid-Translation Interaction & Signaling

Lipids are more than fuel — they act as signaling molecules that affect protein activity and cellular functions.

Key aims / questions:

How does cell sense lipid availability?
Which lipid species influence translation or mRNA stability?
How does lipid-driven translational reprogramming affect metabolic health, lipid storage, and stress responses?

Techniques & approaches:
Lipidomics, protein–metabolite binding assays, metabolic flux analysis

Dietary Interventions & Cancer Therapy

Cancer cells often rewire nutrient sensing and translational programs to survive under metabolic stress. Dietary interventions could unmask vulnerabilities or therapeutic opportunities.

Key aims / questions:

How do diets (ketogenic, nutrient restriction, fasting-mimicking) alter transcriptional/translational landscape in cancer?
Can we identify diet-sensitive vulnerabilities in cancers for therapy or prevention?

Techniques & approaches:
Tumor mouse models, organoids, drug–diet combination testing.

Our research has been made possible with support from these organizations: