Zhenyu Yue

Zhenyu Yue
EducationRutgers, UMDNJ–Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (PhD)
Chinese Academy of Sciences (MS)
Wuhan University (BS)
Known forBeclin 1
autophagy
neuronal and microglial autophagy
Scientific career
FieldsNeuroscience
WorkplacesIcahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Aaron J Shatkin
Other academic advisors
Nathanial Heintz
Websitehttps://labs.icahn.mssm.edu/yuelab/
https://profiles.icahn.mssm.edu/zhenyu-yue

Zhenyu Yue is a neuroscientist who studies cellular and molecular mechanisms of neurological disorders, with an emphasis on autophagy–lysosome biology in neurons and glia. He holds the Alex and Shirley Aidekman Research Professorship and is Professor of Neurology and Neuroscience at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, where he directs the Center for Parkinson's Disease Neurobiology and leads a laboratory investigating mechanisms of proteostasis in central nervous system, neuronal vulnerability, cellular senescence, and neuroinflammation.[1][2][3]

Education and career

Yue received a B.S. in cell biology from Wuhan University and an M.S. in vertebrate genetics from the Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.[4][5]

He earned a Ph.D. in molecular biology and biochemistry from UMDNJ–Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (now part of Rutgers)[6][7] and trained as a postdoctoral fellow in molecular biology and neuroscience at The Rockefeller University as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute postdoctoral fellow.[8][9] Early in his career he held research and faculty positions in China before joining Mount Sinai, where he progressed from assistant professor to full professor and laboratory director.[10]

Yue has held successive academic appointments at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, including Director of Basic and Translational Research in Movement Disorders, Professor of Neurology and Neuroscience, and (since 2022) Director of the Center for Parkinson's Disease Neurobiology.[11]

He also serves as principal investigator on major research programmes, including an NIH-supported Udall Center for Parkinson's Disease Research at Mount Sinai.[12]

Research and career

Zhenyu Yue's research focuses on the molecular and cellular mechanisms[13] underlying neurodegenerative diseases, particularly Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease.[10]

His work has been influential in elucidating the role of autophagy, a cellular process responsible for degrading and recycling intracellular components in maintaining neuronal health. Yue reported the first mammalian autophagy gene (BECN1) function in vivo. Yue's laboratory identified key regulators of autophagy within the Beclin 1–hVPS34 complex (class III PI3K), including Atg14L, Rubicon, and NRBF2, which are essential for controlling autophagosome formation and maturation.[14]

Yue and his collaborators have also investigated autophagy receptors involved in neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders. Their studies on SQSTM1/p62 clarified its role in clearing polyubiquitinated protein aggregates associated with Lewy bodies, tau tangles, and huntingtin inclusions.[15]

More recently, his group identified AKAP11— a significant genetic risk factor for bipolar disorder and schizophrenia—as an autophagy receptor that regulates PKA-RI complex degradation through autophagy and a modulator of GSK3 activity.[16]

His laboratory has investigated molecular pathways relevant to Parkinson's disease, including those involving LRRK2[17][18][19] and synaptojanin-1.[20] Yue's research demonstrated that vitamin B12 can modulate LRRK2 kinase activity through allosteric regulation.[21] The Yue Lab integrates multidisciplinary strategies to map the cell-type-specific transcriptomic landscape of the human substantia nigra, elucidate the mechanisms of neuronal subtype-specific vulnerability, and develop molecular biomarkers of Parkinson's disease.[22][23][24]

Awards

  • In 2008, Yue was honored with the Faculty Council Award for Academic Excellence by Mount Sinai.
  • Yue holds the Alex and Shirley Aidekman Family Neurological Research Professorship at Mount Sinai.
  • Yue has been a recipient of the Sundaram Research Scholar Award from the Mount Sinai Medical Center in 2017, 2018, and 2019.
  • Yue has been a member of Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society, since March 2024.

Selected publications

Personal life

Yue has been married to Yuko Kawai. They have two children.

References

  1. ↑ "Yue Laboratory". labs.icahn.mssm.edu. 2019-06-10. Retrieved 2024-04-28.
  2. ↑ "New Parkinson's Foundation Research Center Explores Dopamine Nerve Cell Diversity | Parkinson's Foundation". www.parkinson.org. 2023-01-31. Retrieved 2026-04-29.
  3. ↑ "Zhenyu Yue | Mount Sinai - New York". Mount Sinai Health System. Retrieved 2024-04-28.
  4. ↑ 岳振宇; 蒋一珪; 单仕新 (1996-04-25). "雌核发育和两性融合发育鱼卵调控精核受精发育的生化特性研究". 水生生物学报 (in Chinese). 20 (2): 164–172. ISSN 1000-3207.
  5. ↑ "Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences". english.ihb.cas.cn. Retrieved 2026-04-29.
  6. ↑ Yue, Z.; Shatkin, A. J. (1996). "Regulated, stable expression and nuclear presence of reovirus double-stranded RNA-binding protein sigma3 in HeLa cells". Journal of Virology. 70 (6): 3497–3501. doi:10.1128/JVI.70.6.3497-3501.1996. ISSN 0022-538X. PMC 190223. PMID 8648682.
  7. ↑ Yue, Z.; Shatkin, A. J. (1998). "Enzymatic and control functions of reovirus structural proteins". Reoviruses I. Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology. Vol. 233. pp. 31–56. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-72092-5_2. ISBN 978-3-642-72094-9. ISSN 0070-217X. PMID 9599920.
  8. ↑ Yue, Zhenyu; Jin, Shengkan; Yang, Chingwen; Levine, Arnold J.; Heintz, Nathaniel (2003-12-09). "Beclin 1, an autophagy gene essential for early embryonic development, is a haploinsufficient tumor suppressor". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 100 (25): 15077–15082. Bibcode:2003PNAS..10015077Y. doi:10.1073/pnas.2436255100. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 299911. PMID 14657337.
  9. ↑ Yue, Zhenyu; Horton, Antony; Bravin, Monica; DeJager, Philip L.; Selimi, Fekrije; Heintz, Nathaniel (2002-08-29). "A novel protein complex linking the delta 2 glutamate receptor and autophagy: implications for neurodegeneration in lurcher mice". Neuron. 35 (5): 921–933. doi:10.1016/s0896-6273(02)00861-9. ISSN 0896-6273. PMID 12372286.
  10. 1 2 "Center for Parkinson's Disease Neurobiology | Icahn School of Medicine". Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Retrieved 2024-04-28.
  11. ↑ "Center for Parkinson's Disease Neurobiology | Icahn School of Medicine". Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Retrieved 2026-04-29.
  12. ↑ "Mount Sinai Researchers Uncover New Molecular Drivers of Parkinson's Disease | Mount Sinai - New York". Mount Sinai Health System. Retrieved 2026-03-04.
  13. ↑ "Episode 21: The Autophagy-Lysosomal Pathway and Development of Relevant PD Biomarkers with Zhenyu Yue | Parkinson's Disease". www.michaeljfox.org. 2024-08-20. Retrieved 2026-03-04.
  14. ↑ Lu, Jiahong; He, Liqiang; Behrends, Christian; Araki, Masatake; Araki, Kimi; Jun Wang, Qing; Catanzaro, Joseph M.; Friedman, Scott L.; Zong, Wei-Xing; Fiel, M. Isabel; Li, Min; Yue, Zhenyu (2014-05-22). "NRBF2 regulates autophagy and prevents liver injury by modulating Atg14L-linked phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase III activity". Nature Communications. 5 3920. Bibcode:2014NatCo...5.3920L. doi:10.1038/ncomms4920. ISSN 2041-1723. PMC 4376476. PMID 24849286.
  15. ↑ Deng, Zhiqiang; Lim, Junghyun; Wang, Qian; Purtell, Kerry; Wu, Shuai; Palomo, Gloria M.; Tan, Haiyan; Manfredi, Giovanni; Zhao, Yanxiang; Peng, Junmin; Hu, Bo; Chen, Shi; Yue, Zhenyu (2020-05-03). "ALS-FTLD-linked mutations of SQSTM1/p62 disrupt selective autophagy and NFE2L2/NRF2 anti-oxidative stress pathway". Autophagy. 16 (5): 917–931. doi:10.1080/15548627.2019.1644076. ISSN 1554-8627. PMC 7144840. PMID 31362587.
  16. ↑ Lee, You-Kyung; Xiao, Cong; Zhou, Xiaoting; Wang, Le; McReynolds, Meghan; Wu, Zhiping; Han, Xian; Purisic, Eric; Kim, Henry; Li, Xianting; Pang, Zhiping; Dai, Jinye; Peng, Junmin; Yang, Nan; Yue, Zhenyu (2025-11-28). "Bipolar and schizophrenia risk gene AKAP11 encodes an autophagy receptor coupling the regulation of PKA kinase network homeostasis to synaptic transmission". Nature Communications. 16 (1): 10792. Bibcode:2025NatCo..1610792L. doi:10.1038/s41467-025-66356-w. ISSN 2041-1723. PMC 12663438. PMID 41315293.
  17. ↑ Li, Xingjian; Zhu, Hanwen; Huang, Bik Tzu; Li, Xianting; Kim, Heesoo; Tan, Haiyan; Zhang, Yuanxi; Choi, Insup; Peng, Junmin; Xu, Pingyi; Sun, Ji; Yue, Zhenyu (2024-09-29). "RAB12-LRRK2 complex suppresses primary ciliogenesis and regulates centrosome homeostasis in astrocytes". Nature Communications. 15 (1): 8434. Bibcode:2024NatCo..15.8434L. doi:10.1038/s41467-024-52723-6. ISSN 2041-1723. PMC 11439917. PMID 39343966.
  18. ↑ Heaton, George R.; Li, Xingjian; Li, Xianting; Zhou, Xiaoting; Zhang, Yuanxi; Vu, Duc Tung; Oeller, Marc; Karayel, Ozge; Hoang, Quyen Q.; Kars, Meltem Ece; Kamath, Nitika; Wang, Minghui; Tarassishin, Leonid; Mann, Matthias; Peter, Inga (2025-10-01). "Targeting specific kinase substrates rescues increased colitis severity induced by the Crohn's disease–linked LRRK2-N2081D variant". Journal of Clinical Investigation. 135 (19) e190017. doi:10.1172/JCI190017. ISSN 1558-8238. PMC 12483564. PMID 41031878.
  19. ↑ Li, Xianting; Patel, Jyoti C.; Wang, Jing; Avshalumov, Marat V.; Nicholson, Charles; Buxbaum, Joseph D.; Elder, Gregory A.; Rice, Margaret E.; Yue, Zhenyu (2010-02-03). "Enhanced striatal dopamine transmission and motor performance with LRRK2 overexpression in mice is eliminated by familial Parkinson's disease mutation G2019S". The Journal of Neuroscience: The Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience. 30 (5): 1788–1797. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5604-09.2010. ISSN 1529-2401. PMC 2858426. PMID 20130188.
  20. ↑ Zhu, Xinyu; Prakash, Sanjana Surya; McAuliffe, Geoffrey; Pan, Ping-Yue (2023). "Synaptojanin1 Modifies Endolysosomal Parameters in Cultured Ventral Midbrain Neurons". eNeuro. 10 (5): ENEURO.0426–22.2023. doi:10.1523/ENEURO.0426-22.2023. ISSN 2373-2822. PMC 10166127. PMID 37072173.
  21. ↑ Schaffner, Adam; Li, Xianting; Gomez-Llorente, Yacob; Leandrou, Emmanouela; Memou, Anna; Clemente, Nicolina; Yao, Chen; Afsari, Farinaz; Zhi, Lianteng; Pan, Nina; Morohashi, Keita; Hua, Xiaoluan; Zhou, Ming-Ming; Wang, Chunyu; Zhang, Hui (2019). "Vitamin B12 modulates Parkinson's disease LRRK2 kinase activity through allosteric regulation and confers neuroprotection". Cell Research. 29 (4): 313–329. doi:10.1038/s41422-019-0153-8. ISSN 1748-7838. PMC 6462009. PMID 30858560.
  22. ↑ Wang, Qian; Wang, Minghui; Choi, Insup; Sarrafha, Lily; Liang, Marianna; Ho, Lap; Farrell, Kurt; Beaumont, Kristin G.; Sebra, Robert; De Sanctis, Claudia; Crary, John F.; Ahfeldt, Tim; Blanchard, Joel; Neavin, Drew; Powell, Joseph (2024-01-12). "Molecular profiling of human substantia nigra identifies diverse neuron types associated with vulnerability in Parkinson's disease". Science Advances. 10 (2) eadi8287. Bibcode:2024SciA...10I8287W. doi:10.1126/sciadv.adi8287. ISSN 2375-2548. PMC 10780895. PMID 38198537.
  23. ↑ "New Parkinson's Foundation Research Center Explores Dopamine Nerve Cell Diversity | Parkinson's Foundation". www.parkinson.org. 2023-01-31. Retrieved 2026-04-29.
  24. ↑ Xiao, Cong; Shimizu, Takahiro; Huang, Bik Tzu; Vu, Duc Tung; Itang, Ericka; Mann, Matthias; Karayel, Ozge; Yue, Zhenyu (2025-12-29). "Integrated Biofluid Proteomics Identified Dynamic Functional Biomarkers of LRRK2-Linked Parkinson's Disease Progression". medRxiv 10.64898/2025.12.22.25342856.
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