Research
Mouse molecular genetics are used to study the pathogenesis and develop treatment for neurodegenerative diseases
Appointments
- Professor, Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences
Biography
Yang is interested in using the mouse genetic approach to study the pathogenesis and to identify potential therapeutic strategies for neurodegenerative diseases, particularly for Huntington’s Disease (HD) and Parkinson’s Disease (PD).
Yang and his colleagues focus on the following projects:
- in order to understand how mutant Huntington acts to result in a wide variety of clinical symptoms ranging from psychiatric, cognitive to motor deficits, they generate and analyze brain regional-specific models of HD in mice
- they take advantage of the high-speed BAC transgenic system to systematically test candidate dominant genetic modifiers of HD in mice.
- they use BAC transgenesis to introduce known PD mutations into mice to develop mouse models for Parkinson’s Disease
Publications
- Wei, M, Shou, J, Yang, J, Cai, S, Bai, Q, Hou, J et al.. Excitatory paraventricular thalamus-posterior insular cortex circuit mediates pain-anxiety comorbidity in diabetic neuropathy. Transl Psychiatry. 2026; :. doi: 10.1038/s41398-026-04110-6. PubMed PMID:42203788 .
- Qi, YF, Qiu, ZB, Huang, WY, Zhang, C, Fu, R, Jie, GL et al.. The Role of PD-L1 in Treatment Decision-Making for Perioperative EGFR-Mutated Lung Cancer and its Genomic Analysis. Ann Surg Oncol. 2026; :. doi: 10.1245/s10434-026-19781-0. PubMed PMID:42201492 .
- Belgrad, J, Summers, A, Hildebrand, S, Sapp, E, Luu, E, Yamada, N et al.. C57BL/6 BAC-CAG Huntington's disease mice show somatic CAG expansion and responses to small interfering RNAs comparable to the FVB strain. bioRxiv. 2026; :. doi: 10.64898/2026.05.08.723329. PubMed PMID:42182232 PubMed Central PMC13192684.
- Fang, SY, Nong, XH, Guo, YQ, Zou, ZB, Huang, XF, Xie, CL et al.. Chemical Constituents of the Endophytic Fungus Purpureocillium lilacinum and Their Osteoclast Inhibitory Activity. Chem Biodivers. 2026;23 (5):e71306. doi: 10.1002/cbdv.71306. PubMed PMID:42124449 .
- Zhang, AL, Zou, ZB, Guo, YQ, Su, WS, Xie, CL, Li, LS et al.. Chemical Constituents of Deep-Sea-Derived Fungus Penicillium citrinum W17 and Their Ferroptosis Inhibitory Activity. Chem Biodivers. 2026;23 (5):e71299. doi: 10.1002/cbdv.71299. PubMed PMID:42105349 .