Biography

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Jin Ye received a MS degree in Biochemistry from Case Western Reserve University in 1995. He was mentored by Nobel laureates Michael Brown and Joseph Goldstein at UT Southwestern, obtaining his PhD in Cell Regulation in 2000, and continuing in a postdoctoral fellowship from 2000 to 2004.He joined the faculty at the UT Southwestern Medical Center in 2004 as an Assistant Professor. He was promoted to Professor in 2022.

Dr. Ye’s research interests are to understand lipid-mediated signaling. Currently his lab is investigating how lipid-mediated signaling affects cancer progression. His group has recently uncovered that doxorubicin, an extensively-used chemotherapeutic reagent, stimulates production of a class of lipid called ceramide, which in turn inhibits proliferation of cancer cells through proteolytic activation of a transcription factor called CREB3L1. Unlike a typical transcription factor, CREB3L1 is synthesized as an inactive transmembrane precursor. Ceramide stimulates proteolysis of CREB3L1 so that the N-terminal domain of the protein can reach nucleus to active genes that block progression of the cell cycle. His lab further demonstrates that ceramide induces cleavage of CREB3L1 by inverting the membrane topology of a transmembrane protein called TM4SF20, turning it from an inhibitor to an activator of CREB3L1 cleavage. This novel mechanism, which has been designated by his group as “Regulated Alternative Translocation”, appears to be crucial for ceramide-mediated signaling. In addition to ceramide, his group is also interested in the roles of abnormal cholesterol and fatty acid metabolism on progression of kidney cancers. He is currently appointed as a full member of the graduate faculty in the Biological Chemistry and Integrated Biology Program.

Education

Graduate School
Case Western Reserve Univ (1995), Biochemistry
Graduate School
Univ of Tx Southwestern Med Ct (2000), Cell Regulation

Research Interest

  • Lipid-mediated signaling in cancer development and treatment
  • Regulation of lipid metabolism

Publications

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Books

Featured Books Legend Featured Books

Regulated Intramembrane Proteolysis. In Encyclopedia of Biological Chemistry, 2nd edition

Jin Ye (2013). Oxford, United Kingdom, Elsevier Inc.

Regulation of Cholesterol and Fatty Acid Metabolism. In Discoveries in Modern Science: Exploration, Invention, Technology

Jin Ye (2015). Farmington Hills, MI, Gale

Professional Associations/Affiliations

  • Department of Molecular Genetics (2004)
  • Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center (2016)