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Yumei F. Earley, M.D., Ph.D.

Yumei F. Earley, M.D., Ph.D.

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About Me

Faculty Appointments

Professor - Department of Medicine, Nephrology (SMD)

Professor - Department of Pharmacology and Physiology (SMD) - Joint

Research

Dr. Yumei Feng Earley’s research unravels the molecular and neural mechanisms that regulate blood pressure and metabolic disorders with specific focuses below.

Neural circuitry mechanisms of blood pressure regulation and hypertension

Nearly half of the US adults have hypertension, a si...
Dr. Yumei Feng Earley’s research unravels the molecular and neural mechanisms that regulate blood pressure and metabolic disorders with specific focuses below.

Neural circuitry mechanisms of blood pressure regulation and hypertension

Nearly half of the US adults have hypertension, a significant risk factor for heart attack, stroke, and chronic kidney diseases. While studies over many years have identified specific brain areas crucial for blood pressure control, we have entered a new era in which contributions made by specific neuronal subpopulations have become identifiable and critically important. Feng Earley’s lab seeks to investigate novel roles of several populations of neurons in the hypothalamic brain regions.

Neural mechanisms regulating blood glucose homeostasis

It is estimated that 9.3% of the US population has diabetes, with type 2 diabetes (T2D) accounting for ~90–95% of diagnosed diabetes cases, and if present trends continue, 1 in 3 American adults may have diabetes by 2050. Diabetes is a major risk factor for kidney, retinal, peripheral nerve, and cardiovascular disease. However, the pathogenesis of T2D is poorly understood, and growing evidence points to contributions made by neural pathways. Feng Earley’s lab research stems in part from the identification of previously unrecognized neural mechanisms.

Publications

Journal Articles

Update on Hypothalamic Inflammation and Gliosis: Expanding Evidence of Relevance Beyond Obesity.

Huang A, Yeum D, Sewaybricker LE, Aleksic S, Thomas M, Melhorn SJ, Earley YF, Schur EA

Current obesity reports.. 2025 January 814 (1):6. Epub 01/08/2025.

Mitochondrial small RNA alterations associated with increased lysosome activity in an Alzheimer's Disease Mouse Model uncovered by PANDORA-seq.

Zhang X, Shi J, Thakore P, Gonzales AL, Earley S, Chen Q, Zhou T, Earley YF

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology.. 2024 October 22 Epub 10/22/2024.

Mitochondrial Ca2+-coupled generation of reactive oxygen species, peroxynitrite formation, and endothelial dysfunction in Cantú syndrome.

Metwally E, Sanchez Solano A, Lavanderos B, Yamasaki E, Thakore P, McClenaghan C, Rios N, Radi R, Feng Earley Y, Nichols CG, Earley S

JCI insight.. 2024 August 19 (17)Epub 08/01/2024.

(Pro)renin receptor signaling in hypothalamic tyrosine hydroxylase neurons is required for obesity-associated glucose metabolic impairment.

Pan S, A C Souza L, Worker CJ, Reyes Mendez ME, Gayban AJB, Cooper SG, Sanchez Solano A, Bergman RN, Stefanovski D, Morton GJ, Schwartz MW, Feng Earley Y

JCI insight.. 2024 February 139 (6)Epub 02/13/2024.

The hypothalamus as a key regulator of glucose homeostasis: emerging roles of the brain renin-angiotensin system.

Pan S, Worker CJ, Feng Earley Y

American journal of physiology. Cell physiology.. 2023 July 1325 (1):C141-C154. Epub 06/05/2023.

(Pro)Renin Receptor Antagonism Attenuates High-Fat-Diet-Induced Hepatic Steatosis.

Gayban AJB, Souza LAC, Cooper SG, Regalado E, Kleemann R, Feng Earley Y

Biomolecules.. 2023 January 1013 (1)Epub 01/10/2023.

Endothelial cell TRPA1 activity exacerbates cerebral hemorrhage during severe hypertension.

Sullivan MN, Thakore P, Krishnan V, Alphonsa S, Li W, Feng Earley Y, Earley S

Frontiers in molecular biosciences.. 2023 10 :1129435. Epub 01/30/2023.

MOBILE Intervention Pilot Study in College Students With Elevated Blood Pressure.

Tran DT, Martinez I, Cross CL, Earley YF

The Journal of cardiovascular nursing.. 2023 38 (3):256-261. Epub 04/19/2022.

Guide to assembling a successful K99/R00 application.

Michaely P, Bielinski SJ, Campbell K, D'Alessio F, Dean D, Earley YF, Paine R, Salama G, Peter I

Journal of clinical and translational science.. 2023 7 (1):e215. Epub 09/29/2023.

Renin-a in the Subfornical Organ Plays a Critical Role in the Maintenance of Salt-Sensitive Hypertension.

Cooper SG, Souza LAC, Worker CJ, Gayban AJB, Buller S, Satou R, Feng Earley Y

Biomolecules.. 2022 August 2412 (9)Epub 08/24/2022.

Use of chlorisondamine to assess the neurogenic contribution to blood pressure in mice: An evaluation of method.

Souza LA, Cooper SG, Worker CJ, Thakore P, Feng Earley Y

Physiological reports.. 2021 February 9 (3):e14753. Epub 1900 01 01.

Small RNA modifications in Alzheimer's disease.

Zhang X, Trebak F, Souza LAC, Shi J, Zhou T, Kehoe PG, Chen Q, Feng Earley Y

Neurobiology of disease.. 2020 November 145 :105058. Epub 08/21/2020.

TRPML1 channels initiate Ca sparks in vascular smooth muscle cells.

Thakore P, Pritchard HAT, Griffin CS, Yamasaki E, Drumm BT, Lane C, Sanders KM, Feng Earley Y, Earley S

Science signaling.. 2020 June 2313 (637)Epub 06/23/2020.

The neuronal (pro)renin receptor and astrocyte inflammation in the central regulation of blood pressure and blood glucose in mice fed a high-fat diet.

Worker CJ, Li W, Feng CY, Souza LAC, Gayban AJB, Cooper SG, Afrin S, Romanick S, Ferguson BS, Feng Earley Y

American journal of physiology. Endocrinology and metabolism.. 2020 May 1318 (5):E765-E778. Epub 03/31/2020.

Elevated cerebrospinal fluid sodium in hypertensive human subjects with a family history of Alzheimer's disease.

Souza LAC, Trebak F, Kumar V, Satou R, Kehoe PG, Yang W, Wharton W, Feng Earley Y

Physiological genomics.. 2020 March 152 (3):133-142. Epub 01/21/2020.

Increased (Pro)renin Receptor Expression in the Hypertensive Human Brain.

Mohsin M, Souza LAC, Aliabadi S, Worker CJ, Cooper SG, Afrin S, Murata Y, Xiong Z, Feng Earley Y

Frontiers in physiology.. 2020 11 :606811. Epub 11/19/2020.

Exacerbated effects of prorenin on hypothalamic magnocellular neuronal activity and vasopressin plasma levels during salt-sensitive hypertension.

Pitra S, Worker CJ, Feng Y, Stern JE

American journal of physiology. Heart and circulatory physiology.. 2019 September 1317 (3):H496-H504. Epub 07/05/2019.

(Pro)renin receptor regulates lung development via the Wnt/?-catenin signaling pathway.

Liu J, Zhou Y, Liu Y, Li L, Chen Y, Liu Y, Feng Y, Yosypiv IV, Song R, Peng H

American journal of physiology. Lung cellular and molecular physiology.. 2019 August 1317 (2):L202-L211. Epub 05/01/2019.

(Pro)renin receptor knockdown in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus attenuates hypertension development and AT receptor-mediated calcium events.

Souza LAC, Worker CJ, Li W, Trebak F, Watkins T, Gayban AJB, Yamasaki E, Cooper SG, Drumm BT, Feng Y

American journal of physiology. Heart and circulatory physiology.. 2019 June 1316 (6):H1389-H1405. Epub 03/29/2019.

Obesity-mediated regulation of cardiac protein acetylation: parallel analysis of total and acetylated proteins via TMT-tagged mass spectrometry.

Romanick SS, Ulrich C, Schlauch K, Hostler A, Payne J, Woolsey R, Quilici D, Feng Y, Ferguson BS

Bioscience reports.. 2018 October 3138 (5)Epub 09/07/2018.

Neuronal (pro)renin receptor regulates deoxycorticosterone-induced sodium intake.

Trebak F, Li W, Feng Y

Physiological genomics.. 2018 October 150 (10):904-912. Epub 08/24/2018.

Increased (pro)renin receptor expression in the subfornical organ of hypertensive humans.

Cooper SG, Trivedi DP, Yamamoto R, Worker CJ, Feng CY, Sorensen JT, Yang W, Xiong Z, Feng Y

American journal of physiology. Heart and circulatory physiology.. 2018 April 1314 (4):H796-H804. Epub 12/22/2017.

Overexpression of the neuronal human (pro)renin receptor mediates angiotensin II-independent blood pressure regulation in the central nervous system.

Peng H, Jensen DD, Li W, Sullivan MN, Buller SA, Worker CJ, Cooper SG, Zheng S, Earley S, Sigmund CD, Feng Y

American journal of physiology. Heart and circulatory physiology.. 2018 March 1314 (3):H580-H592. Epub 12/15/2017.

Mechanisms underlying prorenin actions on hypothalamic neurons implicated in cardiometabolic control.

Pitra S, Feng Y, Stern JE

Molecular metabolism.. 2016 October 5 (10):858-868. Epub 08/04/2016.

The critical role of the central nervous system (pro)renin receptor in regulating systemic blood pressure.

Xu Q, Jensen DD, Peng H, Feng Y

Pharmacology & therapeutics.. 2016 August 164 :126-34. Epub 04/23/2016.

Soluble (pro)renin receptor via ?-catenin enhances urine concentration capability as a target of liver X receptor.

Lu X, Wang F, Xu C, Soodvilai S, Peng K, Su J, Zhao L, Yang KT, Feng Y, Zhou SF, Gustafsson JÅ, Yang T

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.. 2016 March 29113 (13):E1898-906. Epub 03/16/2016.

Renal medullary (pro)renin receptor contributes to angiotensin II-induced hypertension in rats via activation of the local renin-angiotensin system.

Wang F, Lu X, Liu M, Feng Y, Zhou SF, Yang T

BMC medicine.. 2015 November 1013 :278. Epub 11/10/2015.

ANG II-independent prorenin/(pro)renin receptor signaling pathways in the central nervous system.

Feng Y

American journal of physiology. Heart and circulatory physiology.. 2015 September 309 (5):H731-3. Epub 07/24/2015.

Angiotensin II regulates brain (pro)renin receptor expression through activation of cAMP response element-binding protein.

Li W, Liu J, Hammond SL, Tjalkens RB, Saifudeen Z, Feng Y

American journal of physiology. Regulatory, integrative and comparative physiology.. 2015 July 15309 (2):R138-47. Epub 05/20/2015.

p53 Enables metabolic fitness and self-renewal of nephron progenitor cells.

Li Y, Liu J, Li W, Brown A, Baddoo M, Li M, Carroll T, Oxburgh L, Feng Y, Saifudeen Z

Development.. 2015 April 1142 (7):1228-41. Epub 1900 01 01.

Brain ACE2 overexpression reduces DOCA-salt hypertension independently of endoplasmic reticulum stress.

Xia H, de Queiroz TM, Sriramula S, Feng Y, Johnson T, Mungrue IN, Lazartigues E

American journal of physiology. Regulatory, integrative and comparative physiology.. 2015 March 1308 (5):R370-8. Epub 12/17/2014.

Intracerebroventricular infusion of the (Pro)renin receptor antagonist PRO20 attenuates deoxycorticosterone acetate-salt-induced hypertension.

Li W, Sullivan MN, Zhang S, Worker CJ, Xiong Z, Speth RC, Feng Y

Hypertension.. 2015 February 65 (2):352-61. Epub 11/24/2014.

Localized TRPA1 channel Ca2+ signals stimulated by reactive oxygen species promote cerebral artery dilation.

Sullivan MN, Gonzales AL, Pires PW, Bruhl A, Leo MD, Li W, Oulidi A, Boop FA, Feng Y, Jaggar JH, Welsh DG, Earley S

Science signaling.. 2015 January 68 (358):ra2. Epub 01/06/2015.

Altered inflammatory response is associated with an impaired autonomic input to the bone marrow in the spontaneously hypertensive rat.

Zubcevic J, Jun JY, Kim S, Perez PD, Afzal A, Shan Z, Li W, Santisteban MM, Yuan W, Febo M, Mocco J, Feng Y, Scott E, Baekey DM, Raizada MK

Hypertension.. 2014 March 63 (3):542-50. Epub 12/23/2013.

Neuron-specific (pro)renin receptor knockout prevents the development of salt-sensitive hypertension.

Li W, Peng H, Mehaffey EP, Kimball CD, Grobe JL, van Gool JM, Sullivan MN, Earley S, Danser AH, Ichihara A, Feng Y

Hypertension.. 2014 February 63 (2):316-23. Epub 11/18/2013.

Molecular mechanisms and signaling pathways of angiotensin II-induced muscle wasting: potential therapeutic targets for cardiac cachexia.

Yoshida T, Tabony AM, Galvez S, Mitch WE, Higashi Y, Sukhanov S, Delafontaine P

The international journal of biochemistry & cell biology.. 2013 October 45 (10):2322-32. Epub 06/13/2013.

The (pro)renin receptor and body fluid homeostasis.

Cao T, Feng Y

American journal of physiology. Regulatory, integrative and comparative physiology.. 2013 July 15305 (2):R104-6. Epub 05/15/2013.

(Pro)renin receptor mediates both angiotensin II-dependent and -independent oxidative stress in neuronal cells.

Peng H, Li W, Seth DM, Nair AR, Francis J, Feng Y

PloS one.. 2013 8 (3):e58339. Epub 03/14/2013.

Brain-targeted (pro)renin receptor knockdown attenuates angiotensin II-dependent hypertension.

Li W, Peng H, Cao T, Sato R, McDaniels SJ, Kobori H, Navar LG, Feng Y

Hypertension.. 2012 June 59 (6):1188-94. Epub 04/23/2012.

Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 over-expression in the central nervous system reduces angiotensin-II-mediated cardiac hypertrophy.

Feng Y, Hans C, McIlwain E, Varner KJ, Lazartigues E

PloS one.. 2012 7 (11):e48910. Epub 11/14/2012.

The Prorenin and (Pro)renin Receptor: New Players in the Brain Renin-Angiotensin System?

Li W, Peng H, Seth DM, Feng Y

International journal of hypertension.. 2012 2012 :290635. Epub 12/18/2012.

Reciprocal changes in renal ACE/ANG II and ACE2/ANG 1-7 are associated with enhanced collecting duct renin in Goldblatt hypertensive rats.

Prieto MC, González-Villalobos RA, Botros FT, Martin VL, Pagán J, Satou R, Lara LS, Feng Y, Fernandes FB, Kobori H, Casarini DE, Navar LG

American journal of physiology. Renal physiology.. 2011 March 300 (3):F749-55. Epub 01/05/2011.

Opposing roles of PARP-1 in MMP-9 and TIMP-2 expression and mast cell degranulation in dyslipidemic dilated cardiomyopathy.

Hans CP, Feng Y, Naura AS, Troxclair D, Zerfaoui M, Siddiqui D, Jihang J, Kim H, Kaye AD, Matrougui K, Lazartigues E, Boulares AH

Cardiovascular pathology : the official journal of the Society for Cardiovascular Pathology.. 2011 20 (2):e57-68. Epub 05/07/2010.

ACE2-mediated reduction of oxidative stress in the central nervous system is associated with improvement of autonomic function.

Xia H, Suda S, Bindom S, Feng Y, Gurley SB, Seth D, Navar LG, Lazartigues E

PloS one.. 2011 6 (7):e22682. Epub 07/27/2011.

Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2: a new target for neurogenic hypertension.

Feng Y, Xia H, Santos RA, Speth R, Lazartigues E

Experimental physiology.. 2010 May 95 (5):601-6. Epub 11/18/2009.

Brain-selective overexpression of human Angiotensin-converting enzyme type 2 attenuates neurogenic hypertension.

Feng Y, Xia H, Cai Y, Halabi CM, Becker LK, Santos RA, Speth RC, Sigmund CD, Lazartigues E

Circulation research.. 2010 February 5106 (2):373-82. Epub 11/19/2009.

Protective effects of PARP-1 knockout on dyslipidemia-induced autonomic and vascular dysfunction in ApoE mice: effects on eNOS and oxidative stress.

Hans CP, Feng Y, Naura AS, Zerfaoui M, Rezk BM, Xia H, Kaye AD, Matrougui K, Lazartigues E, Boulares AH

PloS one.. 2009 October 134 (10):e7430. Epub 10/13/2009.

Rab1 GTPase and dimerization in the cell surface expression of angiotensin II type 2 receptor.

Zhang X, Wang G, Dupré DJ, Feng Y, Robitaille M, Lazartigues E, Feng YH, Hébert TE, Wu G

The Journal of pharmacology and experimental therapeutics.. 2009 July 330 (1):109-17. Epub 04/08/2009.

Structural insight into the activation mechanism of human pancreatic prophospholipase A2.

Xu W, Yi L, Feng Y, Chen L, Liu J

The Journal of biological chemistry.. 2009 June 12284 (24):16659-16666. Epub 03/18/2009.

Angiotensin II type 1 receptor-mediated reduction of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 activity in the brain impairs baroreflex function in hypertensive mice.

Xia H, Feng Y, Obr TD, Hickman PJ, Lazartigues E

Hypertension.. 2009 February 53 (2):210-6. Epub 01/05/2009.

Intact renal afferent arteriolar autoregulatory responsiveness in db/db mice.

Park S, Bivona BJ, Feng Y, Lazartigues E, Harrison-Bernard LM

American journal of physiology. Renal physiology.. 2008 November 295 (5):F1504-11. Epub 08/27/2008.

Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 overexpression in the subfornical organ prevents the angiotensin II-mediated pressor and drinking responses and is associated with angiotensin II type 1 receptor downregulation.

Feng Y, Yue X, Xia H, Bindom SM, Hickman PJ, Filipeanu CM, Wu G, Lazartigues E

Circulation research.. 2008 March 28102 (6):729-36. Epub 02/07/2008.

The two fACEs of the tissue renin-angiotensin systems: implication in cardiovascular diseases.

Lazartigues E, Feng Y, Lavoie JL

Current pharmaceutical design.. 2007 13 (12):1231-45. Epub 1900 01 01.

Characterization of a monoclonal antibody that antagonizes the function of human endostatin.

Feng Y, Feng Y, Liao X, Zhu X, Zhou Q, Zeng Z, Ma Q

Hybridoma (2005). 2005 February 24 (1):42-9. Epub 1900 01 01.

Alkali burn causes aldehyde dehydrogenase 3A1 (ALDH3A1) decrease in mouse cornea.

Feng Y, Feng Y, Zhu X, Dang Y, Ma Q

Molecular vision.. 2004 November 810 :845-50. Epub 11/08/2004.

[Preparation and identification of the monoclonal antibody against human endostatin].

Feng YM, Feng Y, Zhang YH, Ren L, Zeng ZC, Ma QJ

Xi bao yu fen zi mian yi xue za zhi = Chinese journal of cellular and molecular immunology.. 2003 November 19 (6):580-1. Epub 1900 01 01.