Academic Profile
Born in Hong Kong, Dr. Yu obtained his B.Sc. Pharm. from University of Houston and Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Chemistry from School of Pharmacy, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) where he spent five years to study molecular pharmacology of mor-phine.
He subsequently undertook post-doctoral training in molecular biology at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) at University of California, San Diego (UCSD). During this period, he made the discovery that the nuclear receptor protein RXR is the common co-regulator for retinoic acid (Vitamin A), vitamin D and thyroid hormone receptors. The discovery paved the way for rapid progress in understanding the molecular basis of the pleiotropic effect of nuclear hormones on gene transcription in multiple organs and cell types.
He came to Singapore in 1993 to join the Institute of Molecular and Cell Bi-ology (IMCB) as a Principal Investigator. In 2009, he joined department of Pharmacy at NUS as tenured Associate Professor.
He currently focuses on elucidating ageing-associated mechanisms underlying NAFLD-associated diseases.
Publication Highlights
1. Yu V.C.; Delsert C.; Andersen B.; Holloway J.M.; Devary O.V.; Naar A.M.; Kim S.Y.; Boutin J.M.; Glass C.K.; Rosenfeld M.G. RXRβ: A co-regulator that enhances binding of retinoic acid, thyroid hormone, and vitamin D receptors to their cognate response elements. Cell, 1991, 67, 1251-1266.
2. Tan K.O.; Fu N.Y.; Sukumaran S.K.; Chan S.L.; Poon K.L.; Hian K.J.; Chen B.S.; Yu V.C. MOAP-1 is a mitochondrial effector of Bax. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2005, 102, 14623-14688. (Cited by Faculty 1000 Biology)
3. Fu N.Y; Sukumaran S.K.; Yu V.C. Inhibition of ubiquitin-mediated degradation of MOAP-1 by apoptotic stimuli promotes Bax function in mitochondria. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2007, 104, 10051-10056. (Cited by Faculty 1000 Biology)
4. Fu N.Y.; Sukumaran S.K; Yu V.C. Baxβ: a constitutively active human Bax isoform that is under tight regulatory control by the proteasomal degradation mechanism. Molecular Cell, 2009, 33, 15-29. (Selected as “Featured Article” by the Journal and Cited by Faculty 1000 Biology)
5.Sukumaran S.K.; Fu N.Y.; Chua B.T.; Wan K.F.; Lee S.S.; Yu V.C. A soluble form of the pi-lus protein FimA targets the VDAC-hexokinase complex at mitochondria to inhibit host cell apoptosis. Molecular Cell, 2010, 37, 768-783.
6. Zhang L.; Mei Y.; Fu N.Y.; Guan L.; Xie W.; Liu H.H.; Yu C.D.; Yin Z.; Yu V.C.; You H.
TRIM39 regulates cell cycle progression and DNA damage responses via stabilizing p21. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2012, 109, 20937-20942.
7. Tan C.T.; Zhou Q.L.; Su Y.C.; Fu N.Y.; Chang H.C.; Tao R.T.; Sukumaran S.K.; Baksh S.; Tan Y.J.; Sabapathy K.; Yu C.D.; Yu V.C. MOAP-1 Mediates Fas-Induced Apoptosis in Liver by Facilitating tBid Recruitment to Mitochondria. Cell Reports, 2016, 16, 174-185.
8. Tan C.T.; Chang H.C; Zhou Q.L.; Yu C.D.; Fu N.Y.; Sabapathy K.; Yu V.C. MOAP-1-mediated dissociation of p62/SQSTM1 bodies releases Keap1 and suppresses Nrf2 signaling. EMBO reports, 2021, 22:e50854.
9. Chang H.C.; Tao R.T.; Tan C.T.; Wu Y.J.; Bay B.H.; Yu V.C. The BAX-binding protein MOAP1 associates with LC3 and promotes closure of the phagophore. Autophagy, 2021.