Yingfeng Deng, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor

Dr. Deng is originally from China. She received her B.S degree in biology from Wuhan University in 1999 and M.S. degree in molecular genetics from Fudan University in 2002. Dr. Deng then joined the Sue Golding Graduate School of Albert Einstein College of Medicine, in New York in 2002 and completed her PhD in cell biology in 2008. Drawn by the opportunity for the harmonious integration of molecular genetics, cell biology and mouse model study to understand human disease, she completed her fellowship with Dr. Philipp E. Scherer in the Touchstone Diabetes Center in the Department of Internal Medicine here at UT Southwestern. Dr. Deng specializes in biochemistry and cell metabolism. She emphasizes the crosstalk between the canonic metabolic pathways and signaling pathways in understanding cell biology. Her past research has highlighted a housekeeping role of ER stress in cell metabolism. Her current research focuses on the interplay between ER stress and 1) insulin resistance, 2) obesity and diabetes, and 3) aging.

Graduate School

(2002), Molecular Genetics

Graduate School

Yeshiva University (2008), Cell Biology

Undergraduate

(2015), Biology

• Adipocyte Biology
• Aging
• Beta Cell and Alpha Cell Biology
• Hepatocyte Biology
• Obseity and Diabetes

Featured Publications

An adipo-biliary-uridine axis that regulates energy homeostasis.

Deng Y, Wang ZV, Gordillo R, An Y, Zhang C, Liang Q, Yoshino J, Cautivo KM, De Brabander J, Elmquist JK, Horton JD, Hill JA, Klein S, Scherer PE Science 2017 Mar 355 6330

Inflammation and ER Stress Regulate Branched Chain Amino Acid Uptake and Metabolism in Adipocytes.

Burrill JS, Long EK, Reilly B, Deng Y, Armitage IM, Scherer PE, Bernlohr DA Mol. Endocrinol. 2015 Jan me20141275

Xbp1s in Pomc Neurons Connects ER Stress with Energy Balance and Glucose Homeostasis.

Williams KW, Liu T, Kong X, Fukuda M, Deng Y, Berglund ED, Deng Z, Gao Y, Liu T, Sohn JW, Jia L, Fujikawa T, Kohno D, Scott MM, Lee S, Lee CE, Sun K, Chang Y, Scherer PE, Elmquist JK Cell Metab. 2014 Jul

PPAR? in Vagal Neurons Regulates High-Fat Diet Induced Thermogenesis.

Liu C, Bookout AL, Lee S, Sun K, Jia L, Lee C, Udit S, Deng Y, Scherer PE, Mangelsdorf DJ, Gautron L, Elmquist JK Cell Metab. 2014 Apr 19 4 722-30

Spliced X-box binding protein 1 couples the unfolded protein response to hexosamine biosynthetic pathway.

Wang ZV, Deng Y, Gao N, Pedrozo Z, Li DL, Morales CR, Criollo A, Luo X, Tan W, Jiang N, Lehrman MA, Rothermel BA, Lee AH, Lavandero S, Mammen PP, Ferdous A, Gillette TG, Scherer PE, Hill JA Cell 2014 Mar 156 6 1179-92

The Xbp1s/GalE axis links ER stress to postprandial hepatic metabolism.

Deng Y, Wang ZV, Tao C, Gao N, Holland WL, Ferdous A, Repa JJ, Liang G, Ye J, Lehrman MA, Hill JA, Horton JD, Scherer PE J. Clin. Invest. 2013 Jan 123 1 455-68

Adipokines as novel biomarkers and regulators of the metabolic syndrome.

Deng Y, Scherer PE Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 2010 Nov 1212 E1-E19

Identification and characterization of a promoter cassette conferring adipocyte-specific gene expression.

Wang ZV, Deng Y, Wang QA, Sun K, Scherer PE Endocrinology 2010 Jun 151 6 2933-9

Proangiogenic contribution of adiponectin toward mammary tumor growth in vivo.

Landskroner-Eiger S, Qian B, Muise ES, Nawrocki AR, Berger JP, Fine EJ, Koba W, Deng Y, Pollard JW, Scherer PE Clin. Cancer Res. 2009 May 15 10 3265-76

• Keystone Symposia Scholarship
  (2013)
• Postdoctoral Fellowship Award
  American Diabetes Association (2008-2012)