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
- Yang, Q, Ma, XT, Wang, TF, Dou, X, Zhao, M, Yang, XW et al.. DrugAgent: A multi-agent digital biosensor framework for interpretable virtual drug screening. J Mol Graph Model. 2026;146 :109396. doi: 10.1016/j.jmgm.2026.109396. PubMed PMID:41950794 .
- Yang, XW, Yuan, JF, Duan, WT, Qiu, ZJ, He, YF, Si, K et al.. Microwave irradiation induced free radical reactions on the acetaldehyde formation in model wine solutions: process optimization and mechanistic insights. Food Sci Biotechnol. 2026;35 (5):1191-1203. doi: 10.1007/s10068-026-02107-x. PubMed PMID:41909870 PubMed Central PMC13022136.
- Ahmed, S, Bowers, C, Munoz-Martin, J, Jamwal, S, Sanganahalli, BG, Chen, K et al.. The microglial TREM2 receptor programs hippocampal development in a mouse model of childhood deprivation. Brain Behav Immun. 2026;136 :106555. doi: 10.1016/j.bbi.2026.106555. PubMed PMID:41887542 PubMed Central PMC13049556.
- Zhang, Y, Guo, YQ, Li, Y, Zou, ZB, Wu, TZ, Xie, CL et al.. Chemical Constituents of the Deep-Sea-Derived Penicillium limosum ZEN48 and Their Osteoclasts' Inhibitory Activity. Chem Biodivers. 2026;23 (3):e03812. doi: 10.1002/cbdv.202503812. PubMed PMID:41838563 .
- Li, WY, Wang, YH, Wang, QT, Yang, XW, Zhang, S, Zhang, ZJ et al.. Diosgenin Attenuates Angiogenesis via Targeting Src/STAT3 Signaling Pathway to Treat Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer. Chin J Integr Med. 2026; :. doi: 10.1007/s11655-026-4138-4. PubMed PMID:41689610 .