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Assistant Professor of Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health
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and:
Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology (in the Center for Radiological Research), College of Physicians and Surgeons (home department)
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| Dr. Yuxin Yin’s research interest is in the mechanisms of cell responses to environmental stress and the roles of genes in signaling the cellular response to environmental stresses or chemotherapeutic treatments. Genotoxic stress triggers two major biological responses in mammalian cells. The first is cell cycle arrest that allows DNA repair and cell survival. The second is induction of cell suicide through apoptosis as a means of eliminating irreparably damaged cells. Tumor suppressor p53 plays essential roles in both cell cycle control and apoptosis. A fundamental challenge is to demonstrate how p53 distinguishes damage signals and determines cell fates. Dr. Yin’s hypothesis is that a certain protein is modified in response to distinct stresses, which leads to the activation of different target genes and ultimately different cell fates. Through his research, Dr. Yin has demonstrated a novel mechanism for p53 to regulate its target genes. An important question that Dr. Yin is pursuing is how p53 determines the type of cellular responses to different damage. He has recently shown that p53 only regulates a specific subset of its target genes under the conditions that cause cell death rather than cell cycle arrest. He suspects that p53 protein is modified following specific damage signals, such as oxidative stress, and is investigating the mechanisms that mediate p53 modifications.
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