Research Bio
Dr. Yao has been working with Dr. Brendan Boyce since 2003 in the studies of bone cell regulation. TNF-alpha plays important role in bone diseases characteristic with increased activity of osteoclasts. He recently found a negatively regulative mechanism in TNF-alpha mediated bone destruction and inflammation. In addition to directly mediate osteoclast differentiation independent of RANKL, TNF also induces the un-processed NF-kappaB2 p100, an inhibitory I-?B like protein, to slow down the progress of rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis by inhibiting osteoclast formation. He is studying the molecular mechanism where by TNF-alpha stabilize p100 and if p100 can act as the therapeutic target for such bone diseases.
Another work Dr. Yao focuses on currently is the role of RelB, another NF-kappaB member, in bone homeostasis. RelB-/- mice develops age-related trabecular bone gain by inhibiting osteoclast formation and accelerating osteoblast mineralization. He is exploring if RelB deficiency help fracture healing and bone repair.
2010 Mar
Boyce BF, Yao Z, Xing L. "Functions of nuclear factor kappaB in bone." Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 2010 Mar 0; 1192:367-75. |
2009 Oct
Yao Z, Xing L, Boyce BF. "NF-kappaB p100 limits TNF-induced bone resorption in mice by a TRAF3-dependent mechanism." The Journal of clinical investigation. 2009 Oct 0; 119(10):3024-34. Epub 2009 Sep 21. |
2009
Boyce BF, Yao Z, Xing L. "Osteoclasts have multiple roles in bone in addition to bone resorption." Critical reviews in eukaryotic gene expression. 2009 19(3):171-80. |
2008 Apr 11
Yao Z, Xing L, Qin C, Schwarz EM, Boyce BF. "Osteoclast precursor interaction with bone matrix induces osteoclast formation directly by an interleukin-1-mediated autocrine mechanism." The Journal of biological chemistry. 2008 Apr 11; 283(15):9917-24. Epub 2008 Feb 04. |
2008 Mar
Engin F, Yao Z, Yang T, Zhou G, Bertin T, Jiang MM, Chen Y, Wang L, Zheng H, Sutton RE, Boyce BF, Lee B. "Dimorphic effects of Notch signaling in bone homeostasis." Nature medicine. 2008 Mar 0; 14(3):299-305. Epub 2008 Feb 24. |
