Dr. Deyang Yu is an Assistant Professor and Doctoral Supervisor in the Department of Biochemistry at the School of Medicine, Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech). His primary research focuses on the role of amino acid metabolism in pathophysiology, particularly its contributions to obesity, cancer, cell death, and inflammation. He aims to leverage this understanding to develop novel therapeutic strategies for these diseases. Throughout his graduate and postdoctoral training, he has elucidated the mechanisms by which amino acid metabolism influences the development and progression of obesity and cancer, publishing over twenty SCI-indexed papers, including first-author articles in high-impact international journals such as Cell Metabolism and Cell Reports. He has been awarded the American Heart Association (AHA) Predoctoral Fellowship in 2017 and the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Postdoctoral Fellowship in 2022.

Prior to joining SUSTech, he conducted postdoctoral research at Harvard Medical School/Dana-Farber Cancer Institute from 2020 to 2025. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Preventive Medicine from Wuhan University in 2011 and earned my Ph.D. in Toxicology from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 2019. Following his doctoral studies, he continued as a postdoctoral researcher at the same institution from September 2019 to August 2020.

RESEARCH:

1. Amino acid metabolism

(1) Branched-Chain Amino Acid (BCAA) Metabolism in Obesity and Cancer
(2) Cysteine Degradation Pathways and Their Biological Implications
2. Cell death pathways and molecular mechanisms

(1) Regulatory Mechanisms of Ferroptosis
(2) Non-Canonical Cell Death Pathways

3. Interplay between metabolism and inflammation

(1) Metabolic Reprogramming Driven by Inflammation
(2) Amino Acid Metabolism in Inflammation Initiation and Resolution

EDUCATION:

06/2011  Bachelor of Medicine, Preventive Medicine, Wuhan University

08/2019 Ph.D., Toxicology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA

WOKRING EXPERIENCE:

07/2011-06/2012   Medical Intern, Department of Surgery, Changdu Hospital of Tibetan Medicine, Changdu, Tibet Autonomous Region, China

09/2012-08/2019   Research Assistant, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI

09/2019-08/2020   Research Associate, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI

09/2020-present    Research Associate, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA

HONORS AND AWARDS:

2017-2018 American Heart Association (AHA) Predoctoral Fellowship

2022-2024 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Postdoctoral Fellowship

MANUSCRIPT REVIEWER AND EDITOR：

ad hoc reviewer for Frontiers in Medicine and International Immunopharmacology

PUBLICATIONS：

20.Liang, J., Vitale, T., Zhang, X., Jackson, T.D., Yu, D., Jedrychowski, M., Gygi, S.P., Widlund, H.R., Wucherpfennig, K.W., and Puigserver, P. (2025). Selective deficiency of mitochondrial respiratory complex I subunits Ndufs4/6 causes tumor immunogenicity. Nat. Cancer, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43018-024-00895-x.

19.Yu, D., Liang, J., Widlund, H.R., and Puigserver, P. (2024). Feedforward cysteine regulation maintains melanoma differentiation state and limits metastatic spread. Cell Rep. 43, 114484. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2024.114484.

18.Mutlu, B., Sharabi, K., Sohn, J.H., Yuan, B., Latorre-Muro, P., Qin, X., Yook, J.-S., Lin, H., Yu, D., Camporez, J.P.G., et al. (2024). Small molecules targeting selective PCK1 and PGC-1α lysine acetylation cause anti-diabetic action through increased lactate oxidation. Cell Chem. Biol. 31, 1772-1786.e5. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chembiol.2024.09.001.

17.Flores, V., Spicer, A.B., Sonsalla, M.M., Richardson, N.E., Yu, D., Sheridan, G.E., Trautman, M.E., Babygirija, R., Cheng, E.P., Rojas, J.M., et al. (2023). Regulation of metabolic health by dietary histidine in mice. J. Physiol. 601, 2139–2163. https://doi.org/10.1113/JP283261.

16.Liang, J., Yu, D., Luo, C., Bennett, C., Jedrychowski, M., Gygi, S.P., Widlund, H.R., and Puigserver, P. (2023). Epigenetic suppression of PGC1α (PPARGC1A) causes collateral sensitivity to HMGCR-inhibitors within BRAF-treatment resistant melanomas. Nat. Commun. 14, 3251. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-38968-7.

15.Green, C.L., Pak, H.H., Richardson, N.E., Flores, V., Yu, D., Tomasiewicz, J.L., Dumas, S.N., Kredell, K., Fan, J.W., Kirsh, C., et al. (2022). Sex and genetic background define the metabolic, physiologic, and molecular response to protein restriction. Cell Metab. 34, 209-226.e5. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2021.12.018.

14.Zhang, L., Hobeika, C.S., Khabibullin, D., Yu, D., Filippakis, H., Alchoueiry, M., Tang, Y., Lam, H.C., Tsvetkov, P., Georgiou, G., et al. (2022). Hypersensitivity to ferroptosis in chromophobe RCC is mediated by a glutathione metabolic dependency and cystine import via solute carrier family 7 member 11. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 119, e2122840119. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2122840119.

13.Yu, D., Richardson, N.E., Green, C.L., Spicer, A.B., Murphy, M.E., Flores, V., Jang, C., Kasza, I., Nikodemova, M., Wakai, M.H., et al. (2021). The adverse metabolic effects of branched-chain amino acids are mediated by isoleucine and valine. Cell Metab. 33, 905-922.e6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2021.03.025.

12.Richardson, N.E., Konon, E.N., Schuster, H.S., Mitchell, A.T., Boyle, C., Rodgers, A.C., Finke, M., Haider, L.R., Yu, D., Flores, V., et al. (2021). Lifelong restriction of dietary branched-chain amino acids has sex-specific benefits for frailty and lifespan in mice. Nat. Aging 1, 73–86. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43587-020-00006-2.

11.Bruckbauer, S.T., Minkoff, B.B., Yu, D., Cryns, V.L., Cox, M.M., and Sussman, M.R. (2020). Ionizing Radiation-induced Proteomic Oxidation in Escherichia coli. Mol. Cell. Proteomics MCP 19, 1375–1395. https://doi.org/10.1074/mcp.RA120.002092.

10.Haws, S.A., Yu, D., Ye, C., Wille, C.K., Nguyen, L.C., Krautkramer, K.A., Tomasiewicz, J.L., Yang, S.E., Miller, B.R., Liu, W.H., et al. (2020). Methyl-Metabolite Depletion Elicits Adaptive Responses to Support Heterochromatin Stability and Epigenetic Persistence. Mol. Cell 78, 210-223.e8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molcel.2020.03.004.

9.Pak, H.H., Cummings, N.E., Green, C.L., Brinkman, J.A., Yu, D., Tomasiewicz, J.L., Yang, S.E., Boyle, C., Konon, E.N., Ong, I.M., et al. (2019). The Metabolic Response to a Low Amino Acid Diet is Independent of Diet-Induced Shifts in the Composition of the Gut Microbiome. Sci. Rep. 9, 67.  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-37177-3.

8.Yu, D., Tomasiewicz, J.L., Yang, S.E., Miller, B.R., Wakai, M.H., Sherman, D.S., Cummings, N.E., Baar, E.L., Brinkman, J.A., Syed, F.A., et al. (2019). Calorie-Restriction-Induced Insulin Sensitivity Is Mediated by Adipose mTORC2 and Not Required for Lifespan Extension. Cell Rep. 29, 236-248.e3. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2019.08.084.

7.Schreiber, K.H., Arriola Apelo, S.I., Yu, D., Brinkman, J.A., Velarde, M.C., Syed, F.A., Liao, C.-Y., Baar, E.L., Carbajal, K.A., Sherman, D.S., et al. (2019). A novel rapamycin analog is highly selective for mTORC1 in vivo. Nat. Commun. 10, 3194. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-11174-0.

6.Yu, D., Yang, S.E., Miller, B.R., Wisinski, J.A., Sherman, D.S., Brinkman, J.A., Tomasiewicz, J.L., Cummings, N.E., Kimple, M.E., Cryns, V.L., et al. (2018). Short-term methionine deprivation improves metabolic health via sexually dimorphic, mTORC1-independent mechanisms. FASEB J. Off. Publ. Fed. Am. Soc. Exp. Biol. 32, 3471–3482. https://doi.org/10.1096/fj.201701211R.

5.Cummings, N.E., Williams, E.M., Kasza, I., Konon, E.N., Schaid, M.D., Schmidt, B.A., Poudel, C., Sherman, D.S., Yu, D., Arriola Apelo, S.I., et al. (2018). Restoration of metabolic health by decreased consumption of branched-chain amino acids. J. Physiol. 596, 623–645. https://doi.org/10.1113/JP275075.

4.Yu, D., Peng, Y., Ayaz-Guner, S., Gregorich, Z.R., and Ge, Y. (2016). Comprehensive Characterization of AMP-Activated Protein Kinase Catalytic Domain by Top-Down Mass Spectrometry. J. Am. Soc. Mass Spectrom. 27, 220–232. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13361-015-1286-8.

3.Chang, Y.-H., Gregorich, Z.R., Chen, A.J., Hwang, L., Guner, H., Yu, D., Zhang, J., and Ge, Y. (2015). New mass-spectrometry-compatible degradable surfactant for tissue proteomics. J. Proteome Res. 14, 1587–1599. https://doi.org/10.1021/pr5012679.

2.Peng, Y., Ayaz-Guner, S., Yu, D., and Ge, Y. (2014). Top-down mass spectrometry of cardiac myofilament proteins in health and disease. Proteomics Clin. Appl. 8, 554–568. https://doi.org/10.1002/prca.201400043.

1.Peng, Y., Yu, D., Gregorich, Z., Chen, X., Beyer, A.M., Gutterman, D.D., and Ge, Y. (2013). In-depth proteomic analysis of human tropomyosin by top-down mass spectrometry. J. Muscle Res. Cell Motil. 34, 199–210. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10974-013-9352-y.