Yubin Zhou, MD

Education and Training

• M.B.B.S. (MD equivalent), Zhejiang University 2003
• Clinical intern, Zhejiang University Affiliated Hospital 2000-2003
• M.S. Chemistry and Bioinformatics, Georgia State University 2007
• Ph.D. Chemistry and Virology, Georgia State University 2008
• Postdoc & LLS Fellow, Harvard Medical School 2010
• Instructor, La Jolla Institute for Immunology 2012

Research Interests

The Zhou Lab at Texas A&M works at the interface of biology, chemistry, and bioengineering, focusing on synthetic immunology, optogenetics, calcium signaling, epigenetics, and cancer immunotherapy research. We are a bioengineering and synthetic biology lab focused on developing cutting-edge technologies that enable remote and programmable control of protein activity, cell signaling, and therapeutic immune cells for disease treatment.  We are particularly interested in the following:

• Illuminating novel regulatory mechanisms of signal transduction that remain unresolved in calcium/phospholipid signaling and inter-organelle communications (Nature Structural & Molecular Biology ’10 & ’13; Nature Cell Biology ’15; Nature Communications ’15, ’20, & ‘21);
• Pioneering innovative molecular tools for precise control of cellular events, genome engineering, epigenetic remodeling, and gene transcription (Physiological Reviews ’22; Nature Methods ’23; Nature Genetics ’22; Trends in Genetics ’22; Advanced Science ’21 & ‘22);
• Developing innovative theranostic devices, programmable antibody-based drugs, and intelligent cell-based immunotherapies (CAR-T and CAR-NK) for cancer, metabolic, and neurodegenerative diseases (ACS Nano ’17; JACS ’17 & ’21; Trends in Biotechnology ’17; Nature Reviews Bioengineering ’23; Nature Nanotechnology ’21; Nature Chemical Biology ’21).

A tight integration among mechanistic studies, biomedical engineering, and translational sciences is a hallmark of Dr. Zhou’s research program (9 patent applications and commercial licensing to biotech/pharma). Dr. Zhou was the recipient of the Fellow Award and Special Fellow Award from the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, the Research Excellence Award from TAMU-COM, the Research Scholar Award from the American Cancer Society, the Innovative Research in Cancer Nanotechnology Award from the National Cancer Institute, Protégé member the Texas Academy of Medicine, Engineering, Science & Technology (TAMEST), and elected Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (FAIMBE). Dr. Zhou has published over 140 publications in high-impact journals with over 17,000 citations (among Stanford’s world's most-cited scientists list). His work has been featured in several journal covers and also highlighted by multiple media outlets, including the NIH Biomedical Beat, STAT news, BioPhotonics Media, BioTechniques,  JACS Spotlight, and the Royal Society of Chemistry. See highlights in: “Let there be light” (Scientia); “Optogenetics sparks new research tool” (NIH Biomedical Beat).

Selected Publications

1. Remote control of cellular immunotherapy. Nature Reviews Bioengineering 2023,1:440-55.2.
2. Engineering of NEMO as calcium indicators with large dynamics and high sensitivity. Nature Methods 2023.3.
3. TET2 modulates spatial relocalization of heterochromatin in aged hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells. Nature Aging 2023.
4. Optogenetic engineering of STING signaling allows remote immunomodulation to enhance cancer immunotherapy. Nature Communications 2023
5. Light-activated macromolecular phase separation modulates transcription by reconfiguring chromatin interactions. Science Advances 2023,9(13):eadg112.
6. Optophysiology: illuminating cell physiology with optogenetics. Physiological Reviews. 2022,102(31):1263-1325. (Featured as a cover article)
7. Optogenetics for transcriptional programming and genetic engineering. Trends in Genetics. 2022,38(12):1253-70. (Feature as a cover article)
8. The Disordered N-terminal Domain of DNMT3A is Required for Postnatal Development. Nature Genetics. 2022,54(5):625-36.
9. Targeting epigenetic regulatory machinery to overcome cancer therapy resistance. Seminars in Cancer Biology. 2022,83:487-502. (Featured as a cover article)
10. Nano-optogenetic engineering of CAR T-cells for precision immunotherapy with enhanced safety. Nature Nanotechnology. 2021,16(12):1424-34.  
11. Circularly permuted LOV2 as a modular domain for optogenetic engineering. Nature Chemical Biology. 2021,17(8):915-23.
12. Expression of chimeric antigen receptor therapy targets in subpopulations detected by single-cell sequencing of normal cells may contribute to off-tumor toxicity. Cancer Cell. 2021,39(12):1558-9.
13. Caffeine-operated synthetic modules for chemogenetic control of protein activities by lifestyle. Advanced Science. 2021,8(3),2002148. (Feature as a cover article)
14. Intelligent cell-based therapies for cancer and autoimmune disorders. Current Opinions in Biotechnology. 2020,66:207-16.
15. Optogenetic approaches to control Ca2+-modulated physiological processes. Current Opinions in Physiology. 2020,17:187-196.
16. Optogenetic engineering to probe the molecular choreography of STIM1-mediated cell signaling. Nature Communications. 2020:1039.
17. Single-Atom Fluorescence Switch: A General Approach toward Visible-Light-Activated Dyes for Biological Imaging. JACS 2019,141(37):14699-14706. 
18. Genetically encoded tags for real-time dissection of protein assembly in living cells. Chemical Science 2018,9(25):5551-5.
19. Optogenetic Control of Voltage-Gated Calcium Channels. Angewandte Chemie Internatonal Edition 2018.
20. Calcium sensing by the STIM1 ER-luminal domain. Nature Communications 2018,9(1):4536.
21. Calcium oscillations coordinate feather mesenchymal cell movement by SHH-dependent modulation of gap junction networks. Nature Communications 2018.
22. The LINK-A lncRNA interacts with PtdIns(3,4,5)P3 to hyperactivate AKT and confer resistance to AKT inhibitors. Nature Cell Biology 2017.
23. Mutations in 5-methylcytosine oxidase TET2 and RHOA cooperatively disrupt T cell homeostasis. Journal of Clinical Investigation 2017.
24. Engineered Split-TET2 Enzyme for Inducible Epigenetic Remodeling. JACS 2017.
25. Optogenetic immunomodulation: shedding light on the immune system. Trends in Biotechnology. 2017,35(3):215-26.
26. The LINK-A lncRNA activates normoixc HIF1α signaling in triple-negative breast cancer. Nature Cell Biology 2016.
27. Inside-out calcium signaling prompted by STIM1. Nature Communications 2015.
28. Proteomic mapping of ER-PM junctions identifies STIMATE as a novel regulator of calcium influx. Nature Cell Biology 2015.
29. Near-infrared photoactivatable control of Ca2+ signaling and optogenetic immunomodulation. eLife 2015:e10024.
30. Initial activation of STIM1, the regulator of store-operated calcium entry. Nature Structural & Molecular Biology. 2013,20(8):973-81.
31. STIM1 gates the store-operated calcium channel ORAI1 in vitro. Nature Structural & Molecular Biology. 2010,17(1):112-6.
32. Pore architecture of the ORAI1 store-operated calcium channel. PNAS 2010,107(11):4896-901.