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  Location: Home >> Faculty >> Developmental Biology
  Developmental Biology


Ye Tian


Education 

2001 – 2005
B.S. in Biotechnology                 
Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
2005 – 2010
Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology    
National Institute of Biological Sciences (NIBS), Beijing, China

 
                                   
Post-doctorial Training

2010 – 2012
Salk Institute, La Jolla, CA, United States                    
2012 – 2016
University of California, Berkeley, CA, United States

                     
Awards

2010
Ray Wu Prize
2012 – 2014
Glenn Foundation for medical research fellowship
2016
The Second Prize of Beijing Science and Technology Award (Ranked Fourth)
2018
Top Ten New & Vigorous Technology Figures Technology Figures of China
2019
Excellent tutor Award of University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
2019
The Second Prize of National Natural Science Award (Ranked Third)



Research Direction
The Tian laboratory is interested in understanding how mitochondrial surveillance mechanisms regulate the aging process. We use C. elegans as a model system, as it has a rapid lifecycle and well-studied genetics. We also explore the physiological consequence of the mitochondrial surveillance signaling pathway in mammalian systems.   
 
Early life mitochondrial stress influences lifespan via epigenetic regulation
Aging is not merely a biological process toward the end of life. Metabolic stress in early life appears to restructure chromatin, leaving a durable epigenetic change that may influence the aging process. We found that mitochondrial stress during early life induces mitochondrial stress response (UPRmt) and longevity via specific epigenetic regulations in C. elegans (Cell, 2016). We further revealed that early life mitochondrial perturbations alter the nuclear epigenome to induce longevity via the histone deacetylation complex NuRD in response to cellular acetyl-CoA levels (Science Advances, 2020).
 
Inter-tissue coordination of mitochondrial stress response
Neuronal mitochondrial stresses communicate stress signals to peripheral tissues, coordinating organismal-wide metabolic homeostasis for optimal fitness. We found that a secreted Wnt ligand, EGL-20, coordinates mitochondrial stress signaling between neurons and the intestine (Cell, 2018). Furthermore, we found that neuronal mitochondrial stress also communicates to the germ cells, which promotes maternal inheritance of elevated levels of mtDNA via the Wnt signaling, thereby passing down a “stress memory” to offspring. The “stress memory” enables descendants with a greater tolerance to environmental stress and makes the offspring live longer with tradeoffs of delayed development and decreased fecundity (Nature Cell Biology, 2021).
 
Gut microbiota and aging
All organisms live in a close relationship with their microbiome. The nematode C. elegans represents a great model to study how Microbiota-host interactions shape the aging process.

Publications
 (# Co-first author; * Corresponding author)
 
Chen P, Zhang LY, Chen D*, Tian Y* (2023). Mitochondrial stress and aging: Lessons from C. elegans. Seminars in Cell and Developmental Biology, in press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.semcdb.2023.02.010
 
张茜#, 王子豪#, 田烨* (2023). 跨组织线粒体应激信号交流调控机体衰老的研究进展[J]. 遗传, 45(3):187-197.
 
Zhang HL#, Li XY#, Fan WD#, Pandovski S#, Tian Y* and Dillin A* (2023). Inter-tissue Communication of Mitochondrial Stress and Metabolic Health. Life Metabolism, 2(1):1-11.
 
Li JS#, Cui JM# and Tian Y* (2022). Neuron-Periphery Mitochondrial Stress Communication in Aging and Diseases. Life Medicine, 1(2):168-178.
 
Liu YL#, Zhou J#, Zhang N, Wu XY, Zhang Q, Zhang WF, Li XY and Tian Y* (2022). Two Sensory Neurons Coordinate the Systemic Mitochondrial Stress Response via GPCR Signaling in C. elegans. Developmental Cell, 57(21):2469-2482.e5.
 
Cai YS#, Song W#, Li JM#, Jing Y#, Liang CQ#, Zhang LY#, Zhang X#, Zhang WH#, Liu BB#, An YP#, Li JY#, Tang BX#, SY#, Wu XY#, Liu YX#, Zhuang CL#, Ying YL#, Dou XF#, Chen Y#, Xiao FH#, Li DF#, Yang RC#, Zhao Y#, Wang Y#, Wang LH#, Li YJ#, Ma S*, Wang S*, Song XY*, Ren J*, Zhang L*, Wang J*, Zhang WQ*, Xie ZW*, Qu J*, Wang JW*, Xiao YC*, Tian Y*, Wang GL*, Hu P*, Ye J*, Sun Y*, Mao ZY*, Kong QP*, Liu Q*, Zou QG*, Tian XL*, Xiao ZX*, Liu Y*, Liu JP*, Song MS*, Han JD* & Liu GH* (2022). The Landscape of Aging. Science China-Life Sciences, 65(12):2354-2454.
 
Li XY, Li JS, Zhu D, Zhang N, Hao XS, Zhang WF, Zhang Q, Liu YL, Wu XY and Tian Y* (2022). Protein Disulfide Isomerase PDI-6 Assists Wnt Secretion to Coordinate Inter-tissue UPRmt and Lifespan. Cell Reports, 39(10):110931.
 
Zhu D#, Li XY#, Tian Y* (2022). Mitochondrial-to-nuclear Communication in Aging: An Epigenetic Perspective. Trends in Biochemical Sciences, 47(8):645-659.
 
Zhang Q, Tian Y* (2022). Molecular Insights into the Transgenerational Inheritance of Stress Memory. Journal of Genetics and Genomics, 49(2):89-95.
 
Zhang Q, Wang ZH, Zhang WF, Wen QB, Li XY, Zhou J, Wu XY, Guo YQ, Liu YL, Wei CS, Qian WF, Tian Y* (2021). The Memory of Neuronal Mitochondrial Stress is Inherited Transgenerationally via Elevated mtDNA Levels. Nature Cell Biology, 23(8):870-880.
 
Wang YL#, He KX#, Sheng BF#, Lei XQ, Tao WY, Zhu XL, Wei Z, Fu RJ, Wang AL, Bai SD, Zhang Z, Hong N, Ye C, Tian Y, Wang J, Li MS, Zhang KG, Li L, Yang H*, Li HB*, Flavell RA*, Zhu S* (2021). The RNA Helicase Dhx15 Mediates Wnt-Induced Antimicrobial Protein Expression in Paneth Cells. PNAS, 118(4):e2017432118.
 
Rong BW#, Zhang Q#, Wan JK, Xing SH, Dai RF, Li Y, Cai JB, Xie JY, Song Y, Chen JW, Zhang L, Yan GQ, Zhang W, Gao H, Han JD, Qu QH, Ma HH*, Tian Y*, Lan F* (2020). Ribosome 18S m6A Methyltransferase METTL5 Promotes Translation Initiation and Breast Cancer Cell Growth. Cell Reports, 33(12):108544.
 
Zhu D#, Wu, XY#, Zhou J, Li XY, Huang XH, Li JS, Wu JB, Bian Q, Wang YC and Tian Y* (2020). NuRD Mediates Mitochondrial Stress-Induced Longevity via Chromatin Remodeling in Response to Acetyl-CoA Level. Science Advances, 6(31):eabb2529.
 
Zhang Q#, Wu XY#, Chen P#, Liu LM, Xin N, Tian Y* and Dillin A* (2018). The Mitochondrial Unfolded Protein Response is Mediated Cell-non-Autonomously by Retromer-Dependent Wnt Signaling. Cell, 174(4):870-883.e17.
 
Tian Y, Garcia G, Bian Q, Steffen KK, Joe L, Wolff S, Meyer BJ and Dillin A* (2016). Mitochondrial Stress Induces Chromatin Reorganization to Promote Longevity and UPRmt. Cell, 165(5):1197-1208.
 
Tian Y#, Merkwirth C# and Dillin A* (2016). Mitochondrial UPR: A Double-Edged Sword. Trends in Cell Biology, 26(8):563-565.
 
Berendzen KM#, Durieux J#, Shao LW, Tian Y, Kim H, Wolff S, Liu Y and Dillin A* (2016). Neuroendocrine Coordination of Mitochondrial Stress Signaling and Proteostasis. Cell, 166(6):1553-1563.e10.
 
Russell RC, Tian Y, Yuan H, Park HW, Chang YY, Kim J, Kim H, Neufeld TP, Dillin A and Guan KL* (2013). ULK1 Induces Autophagy by Phosphorylating Beclin-1 and Activating VPS34 Lipid Kinase. Nature Cell Biology, 15(7):741-750.
 
Tian Y#, Li Z#, Hu W#, Ren H#, Tian E, Zhao Y, Lu Q, Huang X, Yang P, Li X, Wang X, Kovacs A, Yu L* and Zhang H* (2010a). C. elegans Screen Identifies Autophagy Genes Specific to Multicellular Organisms. Cell, 141(6):1042-1055.
 
Tian Y, Ren HY, Zhao Y, Lu Q, Huang XX, Yang PG and Zhang H* (2010b). Four Metazoan Autophagy Genes Regulate Cargo Recognition, Autophagosome Formation and Autolysosomal Degradation. Autophagy, 6(7):984-985.