Humboldt Research Fellowship for Dr. Lu Yang

Dr. Lu Yang received Humboldt Research Fellowship for Postdoctoral Researchers. This prestigious fellowship will support Dr. Yang over the next two years to perform research in the Anastassiadis and Stewart groups at the Biotechnology Center (BIOTEC) of the TU Dresden.

“I’m very excited to work with Prof. Anastassiadis and Prof. Stewart. They are experts in epigenetics and genome engineering with a multitude of highly-cited publications in renowned journals including Nature Genetics, Nature Biotechnology, Blood, and others. They invented some fantastic genetic engineering tools including tamoxifen inducible conditional mutagenesis, recombineering, and BAC transposition. It is inspiring to work with them using these genetic engineering technologies to investigate the epigenetic regulation of blood development. My studies may lay groundwork for the design of future gene therapies for blood disorders,” says Dr. Yang.

Epigenetic modifications and blood development
The long DNA strands in our cells are wrapped around special structural proteins known as histones, which can be decorated by a variety of chemical modifications. Since their discovery in 1990s, histone modifications have become central to epigenetic regulation and the understanding of gene expression.

“Histones can be decorated with methyl groups by histone methyltransferases. The same methyl groups are removed by enzymes known as histone demethylases. Recent studies show that histone methyltransferases and demethylases are involved in blood production (i.e. hematopoiesis) and mutations in these proteins are closely associated with blood disorders. In my project I am studying the role of the histone 3 lysine 27 demethylases UTX and UTY in hematopoiesis,” explains Dr. Yang.

UTX and UTY demethylases are encoded by genes located on the sex chromosomes, X and Y respectively. They are very similar proteins although the differences between them are intriguing.  Females express only UTX while males express both UTX and UTY. Studies show that loss of UTX in female adult mice leads to hematopoietic defects. However, the roles of UTY in hematopoiesis are unknown. The differences between UTX and UTY could convey sex-specific effects.

“I am applying advanced technologies including BAC transposons, CRISPR/Cas9, and ‘CUT&RUN’ to identify specific genes regulated by either UTX or UTY during hematopoiesis. I would like to determine the sex-specific difference between UTX and UTY in hematopoiesis, and thereby deliver new insights into epigenetic regulation,” continues Dr. Yang.

Gaining expertise around the world
Lu Yang studied Cell Biology at Zhejiang University China before starting her PhD studies in Molecular Genetics with Professor Merlin Crossley at University of New South Wales, Australia. She completed her PhD in 2018 and moved to the BIOTEC at the TU Dresden in 2020 to join the Anastassiadis and Stewart groups. 

The prestigious Humboldt Research Fellowship for Postdoctoral Researchers funds outstanding international scientists to pursue research in Germany. In addition to the financial support over the next two years, Dr. Yu joins the worldwide network of Humboldt fellows and alumni.