About the Lab
Obesity serves as a pivotal risk factor for diabetes, fatty liver diseases, cardiovascular disorders, and cancer. Obesity arises from an imbalance between energy intake and expenditure, predominantly orchestrated by the central nervous system (CNS). Our research focuses on the interplay between the central nervous system and systemic energy homeostasis. Using a variety of techniques, including optogenetics, calcium imaging, RNA sequencing, and mouse genetics, we aim to identify the key molecules, cell types, and neural connections that are critical for the regulation of eating behavior and body weight and how these regulatory mechanisms malfunction in conditions like obesity. The ultimate goal is to identify therapeutic targets for combating obesity and metabolic disease.
Publications
Liu, H., Liu, Z., Wong, H. K., Xu, N., Liu, Q., Li, Y., ... & He, Y. (2024). Therapeutic strategies against metabolic imbalance in a male mouse model with 5-HT2CR loss-of-function. Endocrinology, 165(7).
Li, Y*., Cacciottoloo, T*., Yin, N*., He, Y*., ... & Sadaf Farooqi, I. Loss of transient receptor potential channel 5 causes obesity and postpartum depression. Cell., DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2024.06.001.
He, Y*., Brouwers, B*., Liu, H*., Liu, H., Lawler, K., Mendes de Oliveira, E., ... & Sadaf Farooqi, I. (2022). Human loss-of-function variants in the serotonin 2C receptor associated with obesity and maladaptive behavior. Nature Medicine, 28(12), 2537-2546.
Liu, H*., He, Y*., Liu, H*., Brouwers, B*., Yin, N., Lawler, K., ... & Xu, Y. (2024). Neural circuits expressing the serotonin 2C receptor regulate memory in mice and humans. Science Advances, 10(26), eadl2675.
Li, V. L*., He, Y*., Contrepois, K., Liu, H., Kim, J. T., Wiggenhorn, A. L., ... & Long, J. Z. (2022). An exercise-inducible metabolite that suppresses feeding and obesity. Nature, 606(7915), 785-790.
Liu, H*., He, Y*., Bai, J*., Zhang, C., Zhang, F., Yang, Y., ... & Xu, Y. (2023). Hypothalamic Grb10 enhances leptin signalling and promotes weight loss. Nature Metabolism, 5(1), 147-164.
He, Y*., Wei, M*., Wu, Y., Qin, H., Li, W., Ma, X., ... & Zhou, Y. D. (2019). Amyloid β oligomers suppress excitatory transmitter release via presynaptic depletion of phosphatidylinositol-4, 5-bisphosphate. Nature communications, 10(1), 1193.
