Yue WANG INFECTIOUS DISEASES

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	Yue WANG
	Lab Location: #4-06 email: mcbwangy@imcb.a-star.edu.sg tel:65869514
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	Key Publications
	XL Xu, RTH Lee, HM Fang, YM Wang, R Li, H Zou, Y Zhu and Y Wang. (2008). Bacterial peptidoglycan triggers Candida albicans hyphal growth by directly activating the adenylyl cyclase Cyr1p. Cell Host & Microbe 4:28-39. (Cover story) XD Zheng, RTH Lee, YM Wang, QS Lin and Y Wang (2007). Phosphorylation of Rga2, a Cdc42 GAP, by CDK/Hgc1 is crucial for Candida albicans hyphal growth. EMBO J 26: 3760-3769. I Sinha, YM Wang, R Philp, CR Li, WH Yap and Y Wang (2007). Cyclin-dependent kinases control septin phosphorylation in Candida albicans hyphal development. Dev Cell 13:421-432. CR Li, RTH Lee, YM Wang, XD Zheng, and Y Wang (2007). Septin ring formation separates Candida albicans hyphal development into Sec3p-independent and dependent phases. J Cell Sci 120:1898-1907. QM Shi, YM Wang, XD Zheng, RTH Lee, and Y Wang (2007). Critical Role of DNA Checkpoints in Mediating Genotoxic-Stress-induced Filamentous Growth in Candida albicans. Mol Biol Cell 18:815-826. WJ Li, XD Zheng, YM Wang, and Y Wang (2006). The F-box protein Grr1 regulates the stability of Cln1, Cln3 and Hof1 and cell morphogenesis in Candida albicans. Mol Microbiol 62:212-226. HM Fang, and Y Wang (2006). RA domain-mediated interaction of Cdc35 with Ras1 is essential for increasing cellular cAMP level for Candida albicans hyphal development. Mol Microbiol 61:484-496. CR Li, YM Wang, XD Zheng, HY Liang, JCW Tang and Y Wang (2005). The formin family protein CaBni1p has a role in cell polarity control during both yeast and hyphal growth in Candida albicans. J Cell Sci 118:2637-2648. XD Zhang, YM Wang and Y Wang (2004). Hgc1, a novel hypha-specific G1 cyclin-related protein regulates Candida albicans hyphal morphogenesis. EMBO J 23:1845-1856. XD Zheng, YM Wang and Y Wang (2003). CaSPA2 is important for polarity establishment and maintenance in Candida albicans. *Mol Microbiol* 49:1391-1405. CJ Hu, C Bai, XD Zhang, YM Wang and Y Wang (2002). Characterization and Functional Analysis of the Siderophore-Iron Transporter CaArn1p in Candida albicans. J Biol Chem 277:30598-30605. C Bai, N Ramanan, YM Wang and Y Wang (2002). The mitotic spindle checkpoint component CaMad2p is indispensable for Candida albicans survival and virulence in mice. Mol Microbiol 45:32-44. R Narendrakumar and Y Wang (2000). A high affinity iron permease essential for Candida albicans virulence. Science 288:1062-1064. XM Zheng, Y Wang and CJ Pallen (1992). Cell transformation and activation of pp60^c-src by overexpression of a protein tyrosine phosphatase. Nature 359:336-338. Y Wang and CJ Pallen (1992). Expression and characterization of wild type, truncated, and mutant forms of the intracellular region of the receptor-like protein tyrosine phosphatase HPTPβ. *J Biol Chem* 267:16696-16702. Y Wang and CJ Pallen (1991). The human receptor-like protein tyrosine phosphatase HPTPα has two active domains with distinct substrate specificity. EMBO J 10:3231-3237.
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			Yue WANG
			Yue Wang obtained his PhD from the University of Minnesota in 1988 and then undertook postdoctoral research in the same university for one and a half years. In 1989, he joined IMCB as a postdoctoral research fellow. In 1993 he was promoted to senior scientist to lead a group in the study and utilization of equatorial microbial diversity for the discovery of novel bioactive compounds. His current research focus is on the study of the human fungal pathogen Candida albicans. Presently, he is an Associate Professor.

			Candida albicans Molecular & Cellular Biology
			Infectious diseases are the leading cause of human death worldwide. Previously controllable pathogens are returning with higher virulence and unknown pathogens are emerging to cause new diseases. Drug-resistant ‘bugs’ have rendered many of our best antibiotics obsolete. The great challenge to medical science is to invent new ammunition with which to fight back. Since the beginning of the AIDS pandemic about 25 years ago, the fungus Candida albicans, once an almost harmless commensal of human body, has rapidly become the most prevalent fungal pathogen. It often causes life-threatening systemic infections in immuno-compromised patients. This fungus is polymorphic and can switch between yeast, pseudohyphal and hyphal forms of growth in response to environmental cues. This property has strong links with its ability of infection. Dr. Yue Wang’s laboratory investigates the molecular mechanisms that control the growth transition, particularly how cells establish and maintain the highly polarized hyphal morphogenesis. In 2004, this laboratory found a key regulator, named Hgc1, of the yeast-hypha growth transition. The HGC1 deletion mutant grows constitutively in the yeast form and exhibits markedly reduced virulence. Hgc1 is a G1 cyclin-related protein and directly interacts with the master cell-cycle regulatory kinase Cdc28. In the past few years, this lab has identified a number of central components of the polarity machinery as direct substrates of the Hgc1-Cdc28 kinase, providing new insights into the molecular mechanisms that control polarized morphogensis in C. albicans. C. albicans hyphal growth starts with the formation of a thin cell surface protrusion called germ tube. Similar structures are found in many cell types in diverse organisms, such as dendritic protrusions of neurons, root hairs and pollen tubes. Recent discoveries by Dr. Wang’s lab suggest that many aspects of the underlying mechanisms for polarized cell growth are evolutionarily conserved. This renders C. albicans a relevant model for addressing the fundamental biological issue of how cells establish and maintain polarity.