Yun (Nancy) Huang

Biography

Education and Training

• 2003    Bachelor of Medicine (M.D. Equivalent), Zhejiang University, School of Medicine
• 2008    Ph.D. & M.S., Biochemistry, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA
• 2009    Research Fellow, Immune Disease Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine at Children’s Hospital Boston
• 2010    Research Fellow, La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, La Jolla, CA

Research Interests

Disruption of the fine balance between DNA methylation and demethylation can cause aberrant transcriptional outputs, increased genome instability, and 3D genome disorganization, which is frequently observed in human diseases. Dr. Huang’s research interests are directed toward understanding how DNA methylation homeostasis is maintained in humans and other mammals; how aberrant DNA methylation modifications contribute to developmental defects, metabolic disorders, and oncogenesis. My research goals are to:

1. Define the dynamic changes of DNA methylation modifications (DNA methylome and hydroxymethylome) and their correlation with genome organization and gene transcription;
2. Understand how additional regulators (including co-existing mutations, inflammation, microbiota, and metabolites) promote the malignant transformation of blood cells with epigenetic defects;
3. Develop innovative single-cell epigenome analysis and epigenome-editing tools to probe how aberrant DNA modifications contribute to developmental defects and leukemogenesis.

Dr. Huang has significantly contributed to the characterization of the biological roles of Ten-eleven Translocation (TET) enzymes in health and disease. Dr. Huang also pioneered the use of innovative methods to probe the “sixth DNA base,” 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC), in the human genome and was among the first to map the hydroxylmethylome in embryonic stem cells. Her studies resulted in over 100 peer-reviewed publications in top-notch scientific journals and over 11,000 citations (H index = 41). She was recruited to the Institute of Biosciences and Technology at Texas A&M University as a CPRIT scholar in 2014. She was featured as a “Scientist to Watch” by the Scientist magazine. She also sits on the editorial board of the Blood journal. She was the recipient of multiple awards, including the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Fellow Award, the Rising Star Award from The American Medical Professional Foundation, The John S. Dunn Foundation Collaborative Research Award, The Cancer Fighter of Houston Foundation Award, and the Research Excellence Award from Texas A&M University and the inaugural Mary Beth Maddox Award and Lectureship from TAMEST (The Academy of Medicine, Engineering, and Science of Texas). Her ongoing research is supported by multiple grants from federal, state, and private foundations.

Selected Publications

(Total >110 publication, >11,000 citation, H index = 41)

1. Huang K, Liu L, Huang Y, Wang Y, Zhou Y, and Han G. Remote control of cellular immunotherapy. Nature Reviews Bioengineering. 2023
2. Lan TH, He L, Huang Y^#, Zhou Y^#. Optogenetics for transcriptional programming and genetic engineering. Trends in Genet. 2022 Jun 20:S0168-9525(22)00140-8. doi: 10.1016/j.tig.2022.05.014. (PMID: 35738948)
3. Gu T, Hao D, Woo J, Huang TW, Guo L, Lin X, Guzman AG, Tovy A, Rosas C, Jeong M, Zhou Y, Deneen B, Huang Y, Li W, Goodell MA. The disordered N-terminal domain of DNMT3A recognizes H2AK119ub and is required for postnatal development. Nat Genet. 2022 May;54(5):625-636. doi: 10.1038/s41588-022-01063-6. Epub 2022 May 9. (PMID: 35534561)
4. Li J, Hong T, Wei Y, Guo L, Lee M, Yang H, Class C, Yang Y, Wang X, He H, Siwko S, You JM, Zhou Y, Garcia-Manero G, Huang Y^#. Aberrant DNA hydroxymethylation reshapes transcription factor binding in myeloid neoplasms. Clinical Epigenetics, 2022 Jun 28;14(1):81. doi: 10.1186/s13148-022-01297-5. (PMID: 35765052)
5. Tan P, He L, Huang Y^#, Zhou Y^#. Optophysiology: Illuminating cell physiology with optogenetics. Physiological Reviews. 2022 Jan 24. doi: 10.1152/physrev.00021.2021. (^#corresponding authors; PMID: 35072525)
6. Nguyen NT, Huang K, Zeng H, Jing J, Wang R, Fang S, Chen J, Liu X, Huang Z, You J, Rao A, Huang Y^#, Han G^#, Zhou Y^#. Nano-optogenetic engineering of CAR T cells for precision immunotherapy with enhanced safety. Nature Nanotechnology, 2021,16(12):1424-1434. (PMID: 34697491)
7. He L, Tan P, Zhu L, Huang K, Nguyen N, Wang R, Guo L, Li J, Yang Y, Huang Z, Huang Y^#, Han G^#, Wang J^#, Zhou Y^#. Circularly permutated LOV2 as a modular photoswitch for optogenetic engineering. Nature Chemical Biology. 2021,17(8):915-923. (PMID: 33958793)
8. Lee M, Li J, Fang S, Zhang J, Vo A, Han W, Zeng H, Isgandarova S, Martinez-Moczygemba M, Sun D, Li J, Zhou Y, Huang Y^#. Tet2 inactivation enhances the anti-tumor activity of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes. Cancer Research. 2021, 81(8):1965-1976. (PMID: 33589517)
9. Guo L, Lee Y, Zhou Y, Huang Y^#. Targeting epigenetic regulatory machinery to overcome cancer therapy resistance. Seminars in Cancer Biology 2021 Jan 6;S1044-579X(20)30282-0. (PMID: 33421619)
10. Li J, Zhao S, Lee M, Yin Y, Li J, Zhou Y, Ballester L, Esquenazi Y, Dashwood R, Davis P, Parson W, Li X^#, Huang Y^#, Sun D^#. Reliable tumor detection by whole-genome methylation sequencing of cell-free DNA in cerebrospinal fluid of pediatric medulloblastoma. Science Advances. 2020,6(42):eabb5427. (PMID: 33067228)
11. Guo L, Li J, Zeng H, Guzman A, Li T, Lee M, Zhou Y, Goodell M, Stephan C, Davies P, Dawson M, Sun D, Huang Y^#. A combination strategy targeting enhancer plasticity exerts synergistic lethality against BETi-resistant leukemia cells. Nature Communications. 2020,11(1):740. (PMID: 32029739)
12. King K, Huang Y, Nakada D, Goodell M. Environmental Influences on Clonal Hematopoiesis. Experimental Hematology, 2020,83:66-73. (PMID: 31893524)
13. Fang S, Li J, Xiao Y, Lee M, Guo L, Han W, Li T, Hill M, Hong T, Mo W, Xu R, Zhang P, Wang F, Chang J, Zhou Y, Sun D, Martin J, Huang Y^#. Tet inactivation disrupts YY1 binding and long-range chromatin interactions during embryonic heart development. Nature Communications, 2019,10(1):4297. (PMID: 31541101)
14. Zang S, Li J, Yang H, Zeng H, Han W, Zhang J, Lee M, Moczygemba M, Isgandarova S, Yang Y, Zhou Y, Rao A, You MJ, Sun D, Huang Y^#. Mutations in 5-methylcytosine oxidase TET2 and RhoA cooperatively disrupt T cell homeostasis. The Journal of Clinical Investigation. 2017,127(8):2998-3012. (PMID: 28691928)
15. Lee M, Li J, Liang Y, Ma G, Zhang J, He L, Liu Y, Li Q, Li M, Sun D, Zhou Y, Huang Y^#. Engineered Split-TET2 Enzyme for Inducible Epigenetic Remodeling. Journal of the American Chemical Society. 2017, 139(13):4659-4662. (PMID: 28294608)

For a complete list of publications, please visit: Publications List

More details: Huang Lab Information