LEI, Yong

Presidential Young Fellow

Assistant Professor

Education Background

Ph.D. (The Chinese University of Hong Kong)

B.S. (Wuhan University)

Research Field
Epigenome editing, Epigenetics
Email
leiyong@cuhk.edu.cn
Biography

Dr. Yong Lei received his Bachelors’ degree from Wuhan University. He earned his Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences at The Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2013, carrying out genome editing strategies (ZFNs, TALENs, CRISPR) to construct animal models in studying early embryogenesis. As a pioneer researcher achieving targeted genome editing in vivo, his paper was cited by Science as Ten Breakthroughs of 2012. He then joined the lab of renowned hematologist Prof. Margaret A. Goodell at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) for postdoc training, focusing on DNA hypermethylation editing and the role of aberrant DNA methylation in leukemogenesis. Applying the state-of-the-art methylation editing technique, he published the first study on targeted hypermethylation in mice zygote worldwide. 

In June 2020, he  The Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen) as an Assistant Professor. His research interests include deterioration of epigenome proof-reading system in ageing and its role in re-sculpturing epigenetic marks, and the maintenance of induced DNA hypermethylation through intergenerational inheritance. He has published multiple papers in high-impact journals, including Nature Genetics, Genome Biology, Nature Communications, Nucleic Acids Research and PNAS. 

Academic Publications
  1. Lei Y, Huang Y, Goodell MA. DNA Methylation and De-methylation using Hybrid Site-Targeting Proteins. Genome Biology (2018), 19(1):187. doi: 10.1186/s13059-018-1566-2. PMID: 30400938
  2. Su J, Huang Y, Cui X, Wang X, Zhang X, Lei Y, Xu J, Lin X, Chen K, Lv J, Goodell MA, Li W. Homeobox oncogene activation by pan-cancer DNA hypermethylation. Genome Biology (2018), 10;19(1):108. doi: 10.1186/s13059-018-1492-3. PMID: 30097071
  3. Jeong M, Park HJ, Celik H, Ostrander EL, Reyes JM, Guzman A, Rodriguez B, Lei Y, Lee YJ, Ding L,Guryanova OA, Li W, Goodell MA, Challen GA. Loss of Dnmt3a Immortalizes Hematopoietic Stem Cells in vivoCell Reports (2018), 23(1): 1–10. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2018.03.025. PMID: 29617651
  4. Huang Y, Su J, Lei Y, Gundry MC, Zhang X, Jeong M, Li W, Goodell MA. DNA Epigenome Editing Using Crispr-Cas Suntag-Directed DNMT3A. Genome Biology (2017), 18:176 doi: 10.1186/s13059-017-1306-z. PMID: 28923089
  5. Lei Y, Zhang X, Su J, Jeong M, Gundry MC, Huang Y, Zhou Y, Li W, Goodell MA. Targeted DNA methylation in vivo using an engineered dCas9-MQ1 fusion protein. Nature Communications (2017), 8:16026. doi: 10.1038/ncomms16026. PMID: 28695892
  6. Zhang X, Su J, Jeong M, Ko M, Huang Y, Park HJ, Guzman A, Lei Y, Huang YH, Rao A, Li W, Goodell MA. DNMT3A and TET2 compete and cooperate to repress lineage-specific transcription factors in hematopoietic stem cells. Nature Genetics (2016), 48(9):1014-23. doi: 10.1038/ng.3610. PMID: 27428748
  7. Liu Z, Cheng TTK, Shi S, Liu Z, Lei Y, Wang C, Shi W, Chen X, Qi X, Cai D, Feng B, Deng Y, Chen YL, Zhao H. Efficient genome editing of genes involved in neural crest development using the CRISPR/Cas9 system in Xenopus embryos. Cell & Bioscience (2016). 6 (1), 22. doi.org/10.1186/s13578-016-0088-4. PMID: 27042291
  8. Li G, Feng J, Lei Y, Wang J, Wang H, Shang LK, Liu DT, Zhao H, Zhu Y, Wang YQ. Mutagenesis at specific genomic loci of amphioxus Branchiostoma Belcheri using TALEN method. Journal of Genetics and Genomics (2014), 41(4):215-9. doi:10.1016/j.jgg.2014.02.003. PMID: 24780619
  9. Liu Y, Luo D, Lei Y, Hu W, Zhao H, Cheng CH. A highly effective TALEN mediated approach for targeted gene disruption in Xenopus tropicalis and zebrafish. Methods (2014), 69(1):58-66. doi: 10.1016/j.ymeth.2014.02.011. PMID: 24556556
  10. Hu J, Lei Y, Wong WK, Liu S, Lee KC, He X, You W, Zhou R, Guo JT, Chen X, Peng X, Sun H, Huang H, Zhao H, Feng B. Direct activation of human and mouse Oct4 genes using engineered TALE and Cas9 transcription factors, Nucleic Acids Research (2014), 42(7):4375-90. PMID: 24500196
  11. Lei Y, Guo X, Deng Y, Chen Y, Zhao H. Generation of gene disruptions by transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs) in Xenopus tropicalis embryos. Cell & Bioscience (2013), 3(1):21. doi: 10.1186/2045-3701-3-21. PMID: 23663889
  12. Lei Y, Guo X, Liu Y, Cao Y, Deng Y, Chen X, Cheng CH, Dawid IB, Chen Y, Zhao H. Efficient targeted gene disruption in Xenopus embryos using engineered transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs), Proc Natl Acad Sci USA (2012), 109(43):17484-9. PMID: 23045671

(Editorial highlight; Cited by Science Ten Breakthroughs of 2012; Interviewed by BioTechniques.)

  1. Xu Y, Wang H, Zhou J, Lei Y, Zhou Y, Yang Q, Ye D, Li W, Deng F. Zebrafish Nanos interacts with and regulates the phosphorylation of Mylz2. Biochimie (2009), 92(12):1812-7. doi: 10.1016/j.biochi.2010.07.010. PMID: 20673786
  2. Xu Y, Lei Y, Liu Q, Liu Y, Liu S, Cheng H, Deng F. (2009) Cloning, characterization and expression of zvep, a novel vitelline envelope-specific gene in the zebrafish ovary. Molecular Reproduction and Development (2010)., 76(6):593-600. doi: 10.1002/mrd.20985. PMID: 19117036