Faculty

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Renhong Yan
Assistant Professor
yanrh@sustech.edu.cn

SELF-INTRODUCTION

Membrane proteins play diverse and critical roles in living organisms, including metabolism, signaling, and transport. In human, membrane proteins represent the direct target for more than 50% approved drugs. During my PhD and postdoctoral research, I have been focusing on the structural and mechanistic investigation of physiologically and pathophysiologically important membrane proteins, including key regulators for cholesterol metabolism and the heteromeric amino acid transporters, one of which moonlights as the cellular receptor of SARS-CoV-2. I will continue investigating the working mechanism of critical membrane proteins involved in various diseases and tried the structure-based drug discovery.


EDUCATION:

2014/9– 2019/7 Graduate education in the School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China. Received Ph.D. degree.

2010/9 – 2014/7  Undergraduate education in the School of Life Sciences, Shandong University, Jinan, China. Received B.S. degree.


WOKRING EXPERIENCE:

2021/11 – now      Assistant Professor in School of Medicine, Southern University of Science and Technology, Guangdong Province, China

2019/7 –2021/11 Postdoctoral fellow in the School of Life Sciences, Westlake University, Zhejiang Province, China. 


HONORS AND AWARDS:

2023             Outstanding Communist Party Member of Southern University of Science and Technology, Committee of SUSTech, CPC 

2021             The First Prize of Natural Science Award of Zhejiang Province, People's Government of Zhejiang Province 

2021             National Innovation and Entrepreneurship Outstanding Postdoctoral of the First National Postdoctoral Innovation and Entrepreneurship Contest 

2021             Outstanding Communist Party Member in Colleges and Universities of Zhejiang Province, Committee of Education Department of Zhejiang Province, CPC

2021             Major Advances in Chinese Medicine in 2020, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences 

2020             One of the 35 Innovators Under 35 of China in 2020, MIT Technology Review China

2020             One of the Ten Innovative Achievements for the National Postdoctoral Program for Innovative Talents of China in 2020, the Post Doctoral Management Office

2020             The Second-class Funding of the 68th Batch of General Program of China Post-doctoral Science Foundation 

2020             Major Advances in Chinese medicine in 2019, Chinese   Academy of Medical Sciences 

2020             Selected in the 2020 Post-doctoral Innovative Talent Support Program of China Post-doctoral Science Foundation

2020             Outstanding Communist Party Member in Hangzhou Education System in 2019, Committee of Hangzhou Education Bureau of CPC 

2019             Distinguished PhD Graduate Award, Tsinghua University

2014             Future Researchers Scholarship for PhD, Tsinghua University

  

RESEARCH:

Studies on the structure and function of membrane proteins associated with major human diseases, including the molecular mechanism of novel coronavirus invasion of host cells, human amino acid transporter protein, and cholesterol metabolism regulatory complex.


PUBLICATIONS

1. Yingying Guo*†; Songyue Wu*; Wenting Li*; Haonan Yang*; Tianhao Shi; Bin Ju†; Zheng Zhang†; Renhong Yan†. (2024). The cryo-EM structure of homotetrameric attachment glycoprotein from langya henipavirus. Nature Communications. (* indicates co-first authors, †indicates co-corresponding authors )

2. Yaning Li*;Jing Zhu*;Yingying Guo†;Renhong Yan†. (2024). Structural insight into the assembly and working mechanism of helicase-primase D5 from Mpox Virus. Natural Structural & Molecular Biology. (* indicates co-first authors, †indicates co-corresponding authors )

3. Yaning Li*,Chang Ren*, Yaping Shen*, Yuanyuan Zhang*, Jin Chen, Jiangnan Zheng, Rujun Tian, Liwei Cao†, Renhong Yan†. ( 2023). Cryo-EM structures of SARS-CoV-2 BA.2-derived subvariants spike in complex with ACE2 recepter. Cell Discovery. (* indicates co-first authors, † indicates co-corresponding authors )

4. Yaning Li*, Yiming Chen*, Yuanyuan Zhang*, Yaping Shen*, Kangtai Xu, Yaqi Liu, ZilongWang†, Renhong Yan†. (2023). Structural insight into the substrate recognition and transport mechanism of amino acid transporter complex ACE2-B0AT1 and ACE2-SIT1. Cell Discovery. (* indicates co-first authors, †indicates co-corresponding authors )

5. Yaning Li*, Yaping Shen*, Yuanyuan Zhang*, Renhong Yan†. (2023). Structural Basis for the Enhanced Infectivity and Immune Evasion   of Omicron Subvariants. Viruses 2023, 15(6). (* indicates co-first authors, †indicates co-corresponding authors )

6. Renhong Yan*†, Yaning Li*, Yaping Shen*, Ziwei Hu*. (2023). Structural basis for the assembly of the DNA polymerase holoenzyme from a monkeypox virus variant. Science Advances.  (* indicates co-first authors, †indicates co-corresponding authors )

7. Yaping Shen*, Jianhui Wang*, Yaning Li* , Yuanyuan Zhang* , Ruilin Tian† , Renhong Yan†. (2022). Structures of ACE2–SIT1 recognized by Omicron variants of SARS-CoV-2. Cell Discovery8.  (* indicates co-first authors, †indicates co-corresponding authors )

8. Yaning Li*, Qing Fan*, Bing Zhou*, Yaping Shen*, Yuanyuan Zhang*, Lin Cheng*, Furong Qi*, Shuo Song*, Yingying Guo*,Renhong Yan†, Bin Ju†, Zheng Zhang†. (2022). Structural and functional analysis of an inter-Spike bivalent neutralizing antibody against SARS-CoV-2 variants. iScience 25(6): 104431. (* indicates co-first authors; † indicates co-corresponding authors)

9. Yuanyuan Zhang* , Renhong Yan†, Qiang Zhou†. (2022). ACE2, B(0)AT1, and SARS-CoV-2 spike protein: Structural and functional implications. Curr Opin Struct Biol 74: 102388. (* indicates co-first authors; † indicates co-corresponding authors)

10. Yingying Guo*,  Yuanyuan Zhang*,  Renhong Yan*,  Bangdong Huang,  Fangfei Ye,  Liushu Wu,  Ximin Chi, Yi Shi,  Qiang Zhou†. (2022). Cryo-EM structures of recombinant human sodium-potassium pump determined in three different states. Nature Communications13. (* indicates co-first authors; † indicates co-corresponding authors)

11. Yingying Guo*,  Yuanyuan Zhang*,  Renhong Yan*,  Bangdong Huang,  Fangfei Ye,  Liushu Wu,  Ximin Chi, Qiang Zhou†. (2021). Cryo-EM structures of the human sodium-potassium pump revealing the gating mechanism on the cytopiasmic side. Nature Communications. (* indicates co-first authors; † indicates co-corresponding authors)

12. RenhongYan*†, Pingping Cao*, Wenqi Song*, Yaning Li*, Tongtong Wang, Hongwu Qian, Chuangye Yan†, Nieng Yan†. (2021). Structural basis for sterol sensing by Scap and Insig. Cell Reports. (* indicates co-first authors; † indicates co-corresponding authors)

13. Renhong Yan*, Pingping Cao*, Wenqi Song*, Hongwu Qian, Ximing Du, Hudson W. Coates, Xin Zhao, Yaning Li, Shuai Gao, Xin Gong, Ximing Liu, Jianhua Sui, Jianlin Lei, Hongyuan Yang, Andrew J. Brown, Qiang Zhou, Chuangye Yan, Nieng Yan (2021). A structure of human Scap bound to Insig-2 suggests how their interaction is regulated by sterols. Science. (*indicates co-first authors)

14. Renhong Yan*, Yaning Li*,Jennifer Müller*, Yuanyuan Zhang*, Simon Singer, Lu Xia, Xinyue Zhong, Jürg Gertsch, Karl-Heinz Altmann, Qiang Zhou. (2021). Mechanism of substrate transport and inhibition of the human LAT1-4F2hc amino acid transporter. Cell Discovery. (* indicates co-first authors)

15. Liang Guo*, Wenwen Bi*, Xinling Wang*, Wei Xu*, Renhong Yan*, Yuanyuan Zhang*, Kai Zhao, Yaning Li, Mingfeng Zhang, Xia Cai, Shibo Jiang, Youhua Xie, Qiang Zhou, Lu Lu, Bobo Dang.(2021). Engineered trimeric ACE2 binds viral spike protein and locks it in "Three-up" conformation to potently inhibit SARS-CoV-2 infection. Cell Research31, 98-100. (* indicates co-first authors)

16. Renhong Yan*, Ruoke Wang*, Bin Ju*, Jinfang Yu*, Yuanyuan Zhang*, Nan Liu*, Jia Wang, Qi Zhang, Peng Chen, Bing Zhou, Yaning Li, YapingShen, Shuyuan Zhang, Long Tian, Yingying Guo, Lu Xia, Xinyue Zhong, Lin Cheng, Xiangyang Ge, Juanjuan Zhao, Hong-Wei Wang, Xinquan Wang, Zheng Zhang†, Linqi Zhang†, and Qiang Zhou†. (2021) Structural basis for bivalent binding and inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 infection by human potent neutralizing antibodies. Cell Research. (* indicates co-first authors; † indicates co-corresponding authors)

17. Renhong Yan*†, Yuanyuan Zhang*, Yaning Li*, Fangfei Ye, Yingying Guo, Lu Xia, Xinyue Zhong, Ximin Chi, and Qiang Zhou†. (2021) Structural basis for the different states of the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 in complex with ACE2. Cell Research. (*indicates co-first authors; † indicates co-corresponding authors)

18. Yuning Chen*, Yanan Zhang*, Renhong Yan*, Guifeng Wang, Yuanyuan Zhang, Zhe-Rui Zhang, Yaning Li, Jianxia Ou, Wendi Chu, Zhijuan Liang, Yongmei Wang, Yi-Li Chen, Ganjun Chen, Qi Wang, Qiang Zhou†, Bo Zhang†, and Chunhe Wang†(2021). ACE2-targeting monoclonal antibody as potent and broad-spectrum coronavirus blocker. Signal Transduct Tar 6, 315. (* indicates co-first authors)

19. Renhong Yan, Yuanyuan Zhang, Yaning Li, Lu Xia, Yingying Guo, Qiang Zhou (2020). Structural basis for the recognition of SARS-CoV-2 by full-length human ACE2. Science367, 1444-1448. (First author) 

20. Xiangyang Chi*, Renhong Yan*, Jun Zhang*, Guanying Zhang, Yuanyuan Zhang, Meng Hao, Zhe Zhang, Pengfei Fan, Yunzhu Dong, Yilong Yang. Zhengshan Chen, Yingying Guo, Jinlong Zhang, Yaning Li, Xiaohong Song, Yi Chen, Lu Xia, Ling Fu, Lihua Hou, Junjie Xu, Changming Yu, Jianmin Li, Qiang Zhou, Wei Chen (2020). A neutralizing human antibody binds to the N-terminal domain of the Spike protein of SARS-CoV-2. Science369, 650-655. (* indicates co-first authors)

21. Renhong Yan*, Yaning Li*, Yi Shi*, Jiayao Zhou, Jianlin Lei, Jing Huang, Qiang Zhou (2020). Cryo-EM structure of the human heteromeric amino acid transporter b0,+AT-rBAT. Science Advances6, eaay6379. (* indicates co-first authors)

22. Hongwu Qian*, Xin Zhao*, Renhong Yan*, Xia Yao, Shuai Gao, Xue Sun, Ximing Du,Hongyuan Yang, Catherine C. L. Wong, Nieng Yan. (2020). Structural basis for catalysis and substrate specificity of human ACAT1.Nature 581, 333-338. (* indicates co-first authors)

23. Renhong Yan*, Jiayao Zhou*, Yaning Li*, Jianlin Lei, Qiang Zhou. (2020). Structural insight into the substrate recognition and transport mechanism of the human LAT2-4F2hc complex. Cell Discovery6. (* indicates co-first authors)

24. Renhong Yan*, Xin Zhao*, Jianlin Lei, Qiang Zhou. (2019). Structure of the human LAT1-4F2hc heteromeric amino acid transporter complex. Nature568, 127-130. (* indicates co-first authors)

25. Renhong Yan*, Hongwu Qian*, Ivan Lukmantara, Mingming Gao,Ximing Du, Nieng Yan, Hongyuan Yang. (2018). Human SEIPIN Binds Anionic Phospholipids. Dev Cell47, 248-256 e244. (* indicates co-first authors)