Na Yang, Ph.D.
Professor
National Excellent Young Scientist
Distinguished Young Scholars of Tianjin City
Hundred Young Academic Leader of Nankai University
Dr. Na Yang received her Bachelor’s degree in Biophysics from Peking University in 2000 and her PhD degree from Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in 2005. She performed postdoctoral training at Peking University from 2006 to 2008, and joined the faculty of Institute of Biophysics at the end of 2008, first as an Associate Investigator, and subsequently as an Investigator in 2013 and Professor of the University of CAS in 2015. In early 2017, Dr. Yang became Professor of Pharmacology at Nankai University and State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology.
Dr. Yang has been carrying out studies of structural basis of epigenetics, including histone modifications and nucleosome assembly, as well as RNA-protein interactions in mRNA localization. She has published more than 50 research articles in prestigious scientific journals such as Science, Cell, NSMB, PNAS, Genes & Development, Science Advances, Nucleic Acid Research, etc. The main research interest of Dr. Yang’s group is on drug target validation of epigenetic factors closely related to human diseases, such as malignant tumor. The lab principally uses structure-based approaches, by solving the three-dimensional structures of these epigenetic factors, to reveal the relationship between their structures and functions. Followed by virtual screening and rational drug design based on these structures. Finally candidate compounds will be evaluated and optimized by iterative Structure-Activity Relationship (SAR) analyses.
Awards and Honors
2019 15th Science and Technology Award for Youth, Tianjin
2018 Science and Technology Award of Beijing Municipality, Second prize
2017 Distinguished Young Scholars of Tianjin City
2016 National Excellent Young Scientists
2015 Excellent Member of the Youth Innovation Promotion Association of CAS
2011 Lu Jiaxi Young Talent Award of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)
Professional Services
2021- Vice president, Molecular Biophysics Section of the Chinese Biophysical Society
2019 - Member, Epigenetics Section of the Genetics Society of China
2017 - 2023 Member, Chromatin Section of the Chinese Society for Cell Biology
2016 - 2021 Board member, Chinese Crystallographic society
2014 - 2023 Consultant, Commission on Biological Macromolecules, IUCr
Selected Publications
1. Shi, F.D., Zhang, K., Cheng, Q.X., Che, S.Y., Zhi, S.X., Yu, Z.Y., Liu, F., Duan, F.F., Wang, Y.M.* and Yang, N.* (2023) Molecular mechanism governing RNA-binding property of mammalian TRIM71 protein. Science Bulletin, published online Nov 21, 2023.
2. Yang, N.* and Yu, Z.Y. (2023) Unraveling the mechanism of de novo nucleosome assembly. Science Bulletin, published online Nov. 16, 2023.
3. Liu, F., Wang, J.*, Xu, R.M.* and Yang, N.* (2023) Energy landscape quantifications of histone H3.3 recognition by chaperon DAXX reveal an uncoupled binding specificity and affinity. Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, Vol. 25, 27981–27993.
4. Liu, C.P.#, Yu, Z.#, Xiong, J.#, Hu, J.#, Song, A.#, Ding, D., Yu, C., Yang, N., Wang, M., Yu, J., Hou, P., Zeng, K., Li, Z., Zhang, Z., Zhang, X., Li, W., Zhang, Z., Zhu, B.*, Li, G.* and Xu, R.M.* (2023) Structural insights into histone binding and nucleosome assembly by chromatin assembly factor-1. Science, Vol. 381, eadd8673.
5. Liu, F.#, Pang, N.N.#, Xu, R.M. and Yang, N.* (2023) Mechanism and design of allosteric activators of SIRT1. Protein & Cell, Vol. 14, 387-392.
6. Sun, J.X., Liu, F., Yuan, L.X., Pang, N.N., Zhu, B. and Yang, N.* (2023) Mechanism studies of the activation of DNA methyltransferase DNMT1 triggered by histone H3 ubiquitination, revealed by multi-scale molecular dynamics simulations. Science China Life Sciences, Vol. 66, 313-323.
7. Pang, N.N.#, Sun, J.X.#, Che, S.Y. and Yang, N.* (2022) Structural study of fungus-specific histone deacetylase Hos3 and insight into developing selective inhibitors with antifungal activity. Journal of Biological Chemistry, Vol. 298, 102068.
8. Ma, S.#, Zhang, J.Y.#, Guo, Q.S., Cao, C., Bao, K.W., Liu, L., Chen, D.G., Liu, Z., Yang, J., Yang, N.*, Yao, Z.* and Shi, L.* (2022) Disrupting PHF8-TOPBP1 connection elicits a breast tumor-specific vulnerability to chemotherapeutics. Cancer Letters, Vol. 530, 29-44.
9. Ma, S.#, Cao, C.#, Che, S.Y.#, Wang, Y.J.#, Su, D.X.#, et al., Yao, Z.*, Yang, N.* and Shi, L.* (2021) PHF8-promoted TOPBP1 demethylation drives ATR activation and preserves genome stability. Science Advances, Vol. 7, eabf7684.
10. Xu, X.#, Wang, M.Z.#, Sun, J.X.#, Yu, Z.Y.#, Li, G.H., Yang, N.* and Xu, R.M.* (2021) Structure specific DNA recognition by the SLX1-SLX4 endonuclease complex. Nucleic Acid Research, Vol. 49, 7740-7752.
11. Sun, J.X.#, Li, Z.B#. and Yang, N.* (2021) Mechanism of the conformational change of the protein methyltransferase SMYD3: a molecular dynamics simulation study. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, Vol. 22, 7185 (1-21).
12. Liu, F. and Yang, N.* (2020) Multiscale landscape of molecular mechanism of SIRT1 activation by STACs. Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, Vol. 22, 826-837.
13. Song, X.S.#, Yang, L.L.#, Wang, M.Z., Gu, Y., Ye, B.Q., Fan, Z.S., Xu, R.M.* and Yang, N.* (2019) A higher-order configuration of the heterodimeric DOT1L-AF10 coiled-coil domains potentiates their leukemogenenic activity. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, Vol. 116, 19917-19923.
14. Sun, J.X., Shi, F.D. and Yang, N.* (2019) Exploration of the substrate preference of lysine methyltransferase SMYD3 by molecular dynamics simulations. ACS Omega, Vol. 4, 19573-19581.
15. Li, Y.#, Duan, F.F.#, Zhao, Y.T., Gu, K.L., Liao, L.Q., Su, H.B., Hao, J., Zhang, K., Yang, N. and Wang Y.M.* (2019) A TRIM71 binding long noncoding RNA Trincr1 represses FGF/ERK signaling in embryonic stem cells. Nature Communications, Vol. 10, 1368.
16. Zhang, L.#, Serra-Cardona, A.#, Zhou, H., Wang, N., Yang, N., Zhang, Z.* and Xu, R.M.* (2018) Multisite substrate recognition in Asf1-dependent acetylation of histone H3 K56 by Rtt109. Cell, Vol. 174, 818-830.
17. Fu, W.Q.#, Liu, N.#, Qiao, Q.#, Wang, M., Min, J.R., Zhu, B.*, Xu, R.M.* and Yang, N.* (2016) Structural Basis for Substrate Preference of SMYD3, A SET Domain-containing Protein Lysine Methyltransferase. Journal of Biological Chemistry, Vol. 291, 9173-9180.
18. Fang, D.#, Gan, H.#, Lee, J.H.#, Han, J.#, Wang, Z.#, Riester, S.M., Jin, L., Chen, J., Zhou, H., Wang, J., Zhang, H., Yang, N., Bradley, E.W., Ho, T.H., Rubin, B.P., Bridge, J.A., Thibodeau, S.N., Ordog, T., Chen, Y., van Wijnen, A.J., Oliveira, A.M., Xu, R.M., Westendorf, J.J. and Zhang, Z.* (2016) The histone H3.3K36M mutation reprograms the epigenome of chondroblastomas. Science, Vol. 29, 1316-1325.
19. Cao, D.F., Wang, M., Qiu, X.Y., Liu, D.X., Jiang, H.L., Yang, N.* and Xu, R.M.* (2015) Structural basis for allosteric, substrate-dependent stimulation of SIRT1 activity by resveratrol. Genes & Development, Vol. 29, 1316-1325.
20. Yang, D.X.#, Fang, Q.L.#, Wang, M.#, Ren, R., Wang, H., He, M., Sun, Y.W., Yang, N.* and Xu, R.M.* (2013) Nα-acetylated Sir3 stabilizes the conformation of a nucleosome-binding loop in the BAH domain. Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, Vol. 20, 1116-1118.
