Yun Fang, Ph.D.

Section of Pulmonary and Critical Care
Department of Medicine
Biological Sciences Division
The University of Chicago
Chicago, IL

Primary Research:

My laboratory strives to contribute to and exploit a deeper molecular understanding of vascular homeostasis control, particularly related to the non-coding genome. Moreover, we are motivated to develop innovative nanomedicine-based therapeutic strategies to treat vascular diseases. The work in the laboratory combines multi-disciplinary approaches including high-throughput sequencing, bioinformatics, systems biology, human genetics, bioengineering systems, materials science, cell/molecular biology techniques as well as experimental in vivo and in vitro models. Our studies recently discovered a previously unrecognized role of human genetic variants and related cis-regulatory elements in regulating endothelial mechano-transduction associated with major vascular diseases such as coronary artery disease, ischemic stroke, and acute lung injury. We have also successfully engineered innovative polymeric nano-carriers that preferentially target inflamed endothelium and deliver therapeutic nucleotides to these cells. We have many collaborators within and outside The University of Chicago.

Lab Web Site: http://fanglab.uchicago.edu/

Members of the laboratory:

Ru-Ting Huang, Ph.D.- Research Scientist
David Wu, M.D./Ph.D.- Instructor
Myung-Jin Oh, Ph.D.- Postdoctoral Fellow
Matthew Krause, M.S.- PhD student
Devin Harrison, M.S.- PhD student
Tzu-Pin Shentu, Ph.D.- Postdoctoral Fellow
Heng Duong, M.D.- Postdoctoral Fellow
Jin Li, M.S.- PhD student
Chih-Fan Yeh, M.D.- Visiting scholar
Jaiyu Zhu, M.S.- Visiting student
Daksh Chauhan- Undergraduate student

Recent Publications:

• Krause M, Huang RT, Wu D, Shentu TP, Harrison DL, Whalen MB, Stolze LK, Di Rienzo A, Moskowitz IP, Civelek M, Romanoski CE, Fang Y. A genetic variant at coronary artery disease and ischemic stroke locus 1p32.2 regulates endothelial responses to hemodynamics. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2018; 15(48):E11349-E11358.  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30429326
• Huang RT, Wu D, Meliton A, Oh MJ, Lloyd JA, Nigdelioglu R, Hamanaka RB, Jain MK, Birukova A, Kress JP, Birukov KG, Mutlu GM, Fang Y. Experimental lung injury reduces KLF2 to increase endothelial permeability via regulation of RAPGEF3-Rac1 signaling. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2017; 195(5):639-651. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27855271
• Wu D, Huang RT, Hamanaka RB, Krause MD, Oh MJ, Kuo CH, Nigdelioglu R, Meliton AY, Witt L, Dai G, Civelek M, Prabhakar NR, Fang Y, Mutlu GM. HIF-1α is required for disturbed flow-induced metabolic reprogramming in human and porcine vascular endothelium. 2017; Elife. pii: e25217.  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28556776
• Wu C, Huang RT, Kuo KC, Kumar S, Kim CW, Lin YC, Chen YJ, Birukova A, Birukov KG, Dulin NO, Civelek M, Lusis AJ, Loyer X, Tedgui A, Dai G, Jo H, Fang Y. Mechano-sensitive PPAP2B regulates endothelial responses to athero-relevant hemodynamic forces. 2015; Circ Res. 17(4):e41-53, 2015. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26034042
• Kuo KC, Leon L, Chung EJ, Huang RT, Sontag TJ, Reardon CA, Getz GS, Tirrell M, Fang Y. Inhibition of atherosclerosis-promoting micrornas via targeted polyelectrolyte complex micelles. J Mater Chem B Mater Biol Med. 2014; 2:8142-8153. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25685357

Lab Motto:

Be creative, not competitive.