Dr. Yang Yang is an Assistant Professor at the School of Medicine, Southern University of Science and Technology. She received her B.S. degree in Biological Sciences from Nankai University in 2012. From 2012 to 2018, she pursued her PhD at the Mechanobiology Institute, National University of Singapore, under the supervision of Dr. Min Wu, where her research focused on the regulation of membrane dynamics—such as endocytosis and cell division—by membrane phospholipids and cytoskeletal signaling. From 2018 to 2025, Yang conducted postdoctoral research in the Department of Chemistry at Stanford University under the supervision of Dr. Bianxiao Cui, integrating cell biological approaches with advanced nanofabrication tools to investigate the roles of cardiomyocyte membrane architecture and membrane potential in signal regulation during cardiac cell maturation and pathology development. Her work has been published as first or co–first author in leading international journals, including Nature Cell Biology, Developmental Cell, Nature Communications, and Biosensors and Bioelectronics.

RESEARCH:

Loss of transverse tubules (T-tubules), specialized plasma membrane invaginations in cardiomyocytes, is closely associated with electrophysiological dysfunction. However, a systematic understanding is still lacking of how dynamic remodeling of the cardiomyocyte plasma membrane, transmembrane signaling, and interactions between T-tubules and intracellular structures collectively regulate cardiac electrophysiological homeostasis, particularly during cardiomyocyte development, maturation, and stress responses. Our laboratory aims to address these questions by developing and applying nanoscale new tools integrated with cell biology strategies, with a focus on the establishment and adaptive regulation of cardiomyocyte plasma membrane homeostasis during cardiac development and cardiac stresses.

EDUCATION:

2012-2018  National University of Singapore Mechanobiology Ph.D.

2008-2012  Nankai University   Biological Sciences Bachelor

WOKRING EXPERIENCE:

2025.12-present   Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Southern University of Science and Technology, China

2018.10-2025.11   Postdoc, Department of Chemistry, Stanford University, US

HONORS AND AWARDS:

2012-2017 National University of Singapore, NGS full PhD scholarship

PUBLICATIONS：

1. Yang Y, Valencia LA, Lu CH, Nakamoto ML, Tsai CT, Liu C, Yang H, Zhang W, Jahed Z, Lee WR, Santoro F, Liou J, Wu JC, Cui B. Plasma membrane curvature regulates the formation of contacts with the endoplasmic reticulum. Nature Cell Biology. Published online September 17, 2024. doi:10.1038/s41556-024-01511-x

2.  Jahed Z*, Yang Y*, Tsai CT*, Foster EP, McGuire AF, Yang H, Liu A, Forro C, Yan Z, Jiang X, Zhao M tao, Zhang W, Li X, Li T, Pawlosky A, Wu JC, Cui B. Nanocrown electrodes for parallel and robust intracellular recording of cardiomyocytes. Nature Communications. 2022;13(1):2253. doi:10.1038/s41467-022-29726-2

3.  Yang Y, Xiong D, Pipathsouk A, Weiner OD, Wu M. Clathrin Assembly Defines the Onset and Geometry of Cortical Patterning. Developmental Cell. 2017;43(4):507-521.e4. doi:10.1016/j.devcel.2017.10.028

4.  Yang Y*, Liu A*, Tsai CT*, Liu C, Wu JC, Cui B. Cardiotoxicity drug screening based on whole-panel intracellular recording. Biosensors & bioelectronics. 2022;216:114617. doi:10.1016/j.bios.2022.114617

5. Yang, Y., Valencia, L. A. & Cui, B. Membrane curvature at the ER-PM contact sites. Trends in cell biology (2025). doi:10.1016/j.tcb.2025.10.002

6.  Zhang W*, Yang Y*, Cui B. New perspectives on the roles of nanoscale surface topography in modulating intracellular signaling. Current Opinion in Solid State and Materials Science. 2021;25(1):100873. doi:10.1016/j.cossms.2020.100873

7.  Yang Y, Wu M. Rhythmicity and waves in the cortex of single cells Author for correspondence : Phil Trans R Soc B. 2018;(373):1-11. doi:10.1098/rstb.2017.0116