Biography
Professor YANG Dejun completed his Ph.D. thesis on Parkinson’s Disease at Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland. His early postdoctoral work focused on C9orf72-associated ALS/FTD, before shifting to idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH) during my tenure in Dr. Mark Johnson’s lab at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School. There, he focused on investigating the pathogenic roles of CWH43 and AK9 in iNPH using cellular and mouse models. Currently, he is continuing his work on iNPH and associated brain functions after building his research program in China. In addition to his ongoing scientific research on the mechanisms of neurological disorders, he has published 25 peer-reviewed articles in journals like PNAS and Acta Neuropathologica and received several awards including the “The Milton Safenowitz Post Doctoral Fellowship for ALS Research Awards (USD 100,000)”.
Education
2013 Ph.D. in Biology
Xi’an Jiaotong University, Johns Hopkins University, University of Maryland
Publications
Representative publications:
1. Huang M, Zhang J, Li M, Cao H, Zhu Q*, Yang D*. "PAK1 contributes to cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury by regulating the blood-brain barrier integrity." iScience. 2023 Jul 11;26(8):107333.
2. Ren J#, Sun J#, Li M, Zhang Z, Yang D* and Cao H*. "MAPK activated protein kinase 3 Is a prognostic-related biomarker and associated with immune infiltrates in Glioma." Front Oncol. 2021 11:793025.
3. Yang D#, Yang H#, Luiselli G, Ogagan C, Dai H, Chiu L, Carroll RS, Johnson MD*. "Increased plasmin-mediated proteolysis of L1CAM in a mouse model of idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus." Proc Natl Acad Sci. 2021 Aug 17;118(33): e2010528118.
4. Lopez-Gonzalez R#, Yang D#, Pribadi M, Kim T, Krishnan G, Choi S, Lee S, Coppola G, Gao F-B*. Partial inhibition of the overactivated Ku80-dependent DNA repair pathway rescues neurodegeneration in C9ORF72-ALS/FTD. Proc Natl Acad Sci. 2019 May 7;116(19):9628-9633.
5. Yang D, Abdallah A, Li Z, Lu Y, Almeida S, Gao F-B*. FTD/ALS-associated poly(GR) protein impairs the Notch pathway and is recruited by poly(GA) into cytoplasmic inclusions. Acta Neuropathol. 2015 130(4):525-35.
6. Yang D, Li T, Liu Z, Arbez N, Yan J, Moran T, Ross C, Smith W*. LRRK2 kinase activity mediates toxic interactions between genetic mutation and oxidative stress in a Drosophila model: Suppression by curcumin. Neurobiol Dis. 2012 Sep;47(3):385-92.
7. Yang D#, Thomas J#, Li T, Lee Y, Liu Z, Smith W*. Drosophila hep pathway mediates Lrrk2-induced neurodegeneration. Biochem Cell Biol. 2018 96(4):441-449. Epub 2017 Dec 21.
8. Li T#, Yang D#, Zhong S#, Thomas J, Xue F, Liu J, Kong L, Voulalas P, Hassan H, Park J, Mackerell JR A*, Smith W*. Novel LRRK2 GTP-binding inhibitors reduced degeneration in Parkinson's disease cell and mouse models. Hum Mol Genet. 2014 23(23):6212-22.
9. Yang HW, Lee S, Yang D, Dai H, Zhang Y, Han L, Zhao S, Zhang S, Ma Y, Johnson MF, Rattray AK, Johnson TA, Wang G, Zheng S, Carroll RS, Park PJ, Johnson MD*. Deletions in CWH43 cause idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus. EMBO Mol Med. 2021 Jan 18: e13249. doi: 10.15252/emmm.202013249. Online ahead of print. Markmiller S.
10. Soltanieh S, Server KL, Mak R, Jin W, Fang M, Luo E, Krach F, Yang D, Sen A, Fulzele A, Wozniak J, Gonzalez D, Kankel M, Gao F, Bennett E, Lécuyer E, Yeo G*. Context-dependent and disease-specific diversity in protein interactions within stress granules. Cell. 2018 Jan 25;172(3):590-604.
