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Conghui Yao

TitleAssistant Professor
InstitutionUniversity of Chicago
DepartmentRadiation and Cellular Oncology
AddressChicago IL 60637
ORCID ORCID Icon0000-0003-3922-1874 Additional info
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    Collapse Overview 
    Collapse overview
    My laboratory aims to elucidate the metabolic regulation in diseases such as cancer and obesity. We utilize a cross-disciplinary platform that integrates analytical, biochemical, cell biological, and organismal approaches to study immune cell metabolism and cancer metabolism with a goal to 1) identify new mechanisms that regulate immune cell metabolism and their anti-tumor immune response, 2) discover novel metabolic vulnerability in cancer cells and tumor-immune crosstalk and 3) apply this knowledge to deepen our understanding of fundamental cancer biology and develop therapeutic targets for cancer immunotherapy. To achieve these goals, my laboratory employs cutting-edge mass spectrometry-based metabolomics with advanced data analysis, mitochondrial biochemistry, cell biology, in vivo stable isotope tracing, and genetic tools to identify novel metabolic nodes relevant to cancer and anti-tumor immunity.

    Collapse Biography 
    Collapse education and training
    Peking University, ChinaBS07/2013Chemical Biology
    Washington University in St. Louis, USAPhD05/2019Chemistry
    Harvard Medical School, USAPostdoc09/2024Cell Biology

    Collapse Bibliographic 
    Collapse selected publications
    Publications listed below are automatically derived from MEDLINE/PubMed and other sources, which might result in incorrect or missing publications. Faculty can login to make corrections and additions.
    Newest   |   Oldest   |   Most Cited   |   Most Discussed   |   Timeline   |   Field Summary   |   Plain Text
    PMC Citations indicate the number of times the publication was cited by articles in PubMed Central, and the Altmetric score represents citations in news articles and social media. (Note that publications are often cited in additional ways that are not shown here.) Fields are based on how the National Library of Medicine (NLM) classifies the publication's journal and might not represent the specific topic of the publication. Translation tags are based on the publication type and the MeSH terms NLM assigns to the publication. Some publications (especially newer ones and publications not in PubMed) might not yet be assigned Field or Translation tags.) Click a Field or Translation tag to filter the publications.
    1. Georgiev P, Han S, Huang AY, Nguyen TH, Drijvers JM, Creasey H, Pereira JA, Yao CH, Park JS, Conway TS, Fung ME, Liang D, Peluso M, Joshi S, Rowe JH, Miller BC, Freeman GJ, Sharpe AH, Haigis MC, Ringel AE, Georgiev P, Han S, Huang AY, Nguyen TH, Drijvers JM, Creasey H, Pereira JA, Yao CH, Park JS, Conway TS, Fung ME, Liang D, Peluso M, Joshi S, Rowe JH, Miller BC, Freeman GJ, Sharpe AH, Haigis MC, Ringel AE. Age-Associated Contraction of Tumor-Specific T Cells Impairs Antitumor Immunity. Cancer Immunol Res. 2024 Nov 04; 12(11):1525-1541. PMID: 39186561; PMCID: PMC11532741.
      Citations:    Fields:    
    2. Kung CP, Barnoud T, Yao CH, Bertolini I, Murphy ME. Editorial: Double-edged swords: important factors connecting metabolic disorders and cancer development - from basic research to translational applications, volume II. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2024; 15:1441828. PMID: 38962679; PMCID: PMC11220460.
      Citations:    Fields:    Translation:HumansAnimals
    3. Kurmi K, Liang D, van de Ven R, Georgiev P, Gassaway BM, Han S, Notarangelo G, Harris IS, Yao CH, Park JS, Hu SH, Peng J, Drijvers JM, Boswell S, Sokolov A, Dougan SK, Sorger PK, Gygi SP, Sharpe AH, Haigis MC. Metabolic modulation of mitochondrial mass during CD4+ T cell activation. Cell Chem Biol. 2023 09 21; 30(9):1064-1075.e8. PMID: 37716347; PMCID: PMC10604707.
      Citations: 1     Fields:    Translation:AnimalsCells
    4. Yao CH, Park JS, Kurmi K, Hu SH, Notarangelo G, Crowley J, Jacobson H, Hui S, Sharpe AH, Haigis MC. Uncoupled glycerol-3-phosphate shuttle in kidney cancer reveals that cytosolic GPD is essential to support lipid synthesis. Mol Cell. 2023 04 20; 83(8):1340-1349.e7. PMID: 37084714; PMCID: PMC10131091.
      Citations: 5     Fields:    Translation:HumansCells
    5. Weiss-Sadan T, Ge M, Hayashi M, Gohar M, Yao CH, de Groot A, Harry S, Carlin A, Fischer H, Shi L, Wei TY, Adelmann CH, Wolf K, Vornbäumen T, Dürr BR, Takahashi M, Richter M, Zhang J, Yang TY, Vijay V, Fisher DE, Hata AN, Haigis MC, Mostoslavsky R, Bardeesy N, Papagiannakopoulos T, Bar-Peled L. NRF2 activation induces NADH-reductive stress, providing a metabolic vulnerability in lung cancer. Cell Metab. 2023 Apr 04; 35(4):722. PMID: 37019082; PMCID: PMC10103906.
      Citations: 4     Fields:    
    6. Kung CP, Barnoud T, Yao CH, Murphy ME. Editorial: Double-edged swords: Important factors connecting metabolic disorders and cancer development - from basic research to translational applications. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2023; 14:1168700. PMID: 36936168; PMCID: PMC10019277.
      Citations:    Fields:    Translation:Humans
    7. Weiss-Sadan T, Ge M, Hayashi M, Gohar M, Yao CH, de Groot A, Harry S, Carlin A, Fischer H, Shi L, Wei TY, Adelmann CH, Wolf K, Vornbäumen T, Dürr BR, Takahashi M, Richter M, Zhang J, Yang TY, Vijay V, Fisher DE, Hata AN, Haigis MC, Mostoslavsky R, Bardeesy N, Papagiannakopoulos T, Bar-Peled L. NRF2 activation induces NADH-reductive stress, providing a metabolic vulnerability in lung cancer. Cell Metab. 2023 03 07; 35(3):487-503.e7. PMID: 36841242; PMCID: PMC9998367.
      Citations: 19     Fields:    Translation:HumansCells
    8. Sebastiani P, Song Z, Ellis D, Tian Q, Schwaiger-Haber M, Stancliffe E, Lustgarten MS, Funk CC, Baloni P, Yao CH, Joshi S, Marron MM, Gurinovich A, Li M, Leshchyk A, Xiang Q, Andersen SL, Feitosa MF, Ukraintseva S, Soerensen M, Fiehn O, Ordovas JM, Haigis M, Monti S, Barzilai N, Milman S, Ferrucci L, Rappaport N, Patti GJ, Perls TT. A metabolomic signature of the APOE2 allele. Geroscience. 2023 02; 45(1):415-426. PMID: 35997888; PMCID: PMC9886693.
      Citations: 3     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    9. Victorino F, Bigley TM, Park E, Yao CH, Benoit J, Yang LP, Piersma SJ, Lauron EJ, Davidson RM, Patti GJ, Yokoyama WM. HIF1a is required for NK cell metabolic adaptation during virus infection. Elife. 2021 08 16; 10. PMID: 34396954; PMCID: PMC8382296.
      Citations: 10     Fields:    Translation:AnimalsCells
    10. Zee BM, Poels KE, Yao CH, Kawabata KC, Wu G, Duy C, Jacobus WD, Senior E, Endress JE, Jambhekar A, Lovitch SB, Ma J, Dhall A, Harris IS, Blanco MA, Sykes DB, Licht JD, Weinstock DM, Melnick A, Haigis MC, Michor F, Shi Y. Combined epigenetic and metabolic treatments overcome differentiation blockade in acute myeloid leukemia. iScience. 2021 Jun 25; 24(6):102651. PMID: 34151238; PMCID: PMC8192696.
      Citations: 4     
    11. Ringel AE, Drijvers JM, Baker GJ, Catozzi A, García-Cañaveras JC, Gassaway BM, Miller BC, Juneja VR, Nguyen TH, Joshi S, Yao CH, Yoon H, Sage PT, LaFleur MW, Trombley JD, Jacobson CA, Maliga Z, Gygi SP, Sorger PK, Rabinowitz JD, Sharpe AH, Haigis MC. Obesity Shapes Metabolism in the Tumor Microenvironment to Suppress Anti-Tumor Immunity. Cell. 2020 12 23; 183(7):1848-1866.e26. PMID: 33301708; PMCID: PMC8064125.
      Citations: 265     Fields:    Translation:HumansAnimalsCells
    12. Drijvers JM, Gillis JE, Muijlwijk T, Nguyen TH, Gaudiano EF, Harris IS, LaFleur MW, Ringel AE, Yao CH, Kurmi K, Juneja VR, Trombley JD, Haigis MC, Sharpe AH. Pharmacologic Screening Identifies Metabolic Vulnerabilities of CD8+ T Cells. Cancer Immunol Res. 2021 02; 9(2):184-199. PMID: 33277233; PMCID: PMC7864883.
      Citations: 62     Fields:    Translation:HumansAnimalsCells
    13. Ke W, Saba JA, Yao CH, Hilzendeger MA, Drangowska-Way A, Joshi C, Mony VK, Benjamin SB, Zhang S, Locasale J, Patti GJ, Lewis N, O'Rourke EJ. Dietary serine-microbiota interaction enhances chemotherapeutic toxicity without altering drug conversion. Nat Commun. 2020 05 22; 11(1):2587. PMID: 32444616; PMCID: PMC7244588.
      Citations: 23     Fields:    Translation:AnimalsCells
    14. Chen H, Shi Z, Guo J, Chang KJ, Chen Q, Yao CH, Haigis MC, Shi Y. The human mitochondrial 12S rRNA m4C methyltransferase METTL15 is required for mitochondrial function. J Biol Chem. 2020 06 19; 295(25):8505-8513. PMID: 32371392; PMCID: PMC7307190.
      Citations: 26     Fields:    Translation:HumansCells
    15. Yao CH, Wang L, Stancliffe E, Sindelar M, Cho K, Yin W, Wang Y, Patti GJ. Dose-Response Metabolomics To Understand Biochemical Mechanisms and Off-Target Drug Effects with the TOXcms Software. Anal Chem. 2020 01 21; 92(2):1856-1864. PMID: 31804057; PMCID: PMC7354698.
      Citations: 9     Fields:    Translation:HumansCells
    16. Yao CH, Wang R, Wang Y, Kung CP, Weber JD, Patti GJ. Mitochondrial fusion supports increased oxidative phosphorylation during cell proliferation. Elife. 2019 01 29; 8. PMID: 30694178; PMCID: PMC6351101.
      Citations: 136     Fields:    Translation:HumansAnimalsCells
    17. Lam WY, Jash A, Yao CH, D'Souza L, Wong R, Nunley RM, Meares GP, Patti GJ, Bhattacharya D. Metabolic and Transcriptional Modules Independently Diversify Plasma Cell Lifespan and Function. Cell Rep. 2018 08 28; 24(9):2479-2492.e6. PMID: 30157439; PMCID: PMC6172041.
      Citations: 58     Fields:    Translation:HumansCells
    18. Yao CH, Liu GY, Wang R, Moon SH, Gross RW, Patti GJ. Identifying off-target effects of etomoxir reveals that carnitine palmitoyltransferase I is essential for cancer cell proliferation independent of ß-oxidation. PLoS Biol. 2018 03; 16(3):e2003782. PMID: 29596410; PMCID: PMC5892939.
      Citations: 99     Fields:    Translation:HumansCells
    19. Yao CH, Liu GY, Yang K, Gross RW, Patti GJ. Inaccurate quantitation of palmitate in metabolomics and isotope tracer studies due to plastics. Metabolomics. 2016 Sep; 12. PMID: 27721678; PMCID: PMC5049887.
      Citations: 22     Fields:    
    20. Leamy AK, Hasenour CM, Egnatchik RA, Trenary IA, Yao CH, Patti GJ, Shiota M, Young JD. Knockdown of triglyceride synthesis does not enhance palmitate lipotoxicity or prevent oleate-mediated rescue in rat hepatocytes. Biochim Biophys Acta. 2016 09; 1861(9 Pt A):1005-1014. PMID: 27249207; PMCID: PMC4947436.
      Citations: 13     Fields:    Translation:AnimalsCells
    21. Yao CH, Fowle-Grider R, Mahieu NG, Liu GY, Chen YJ, Wang R, Singh M, Potter GS, Gross RW, Schaefer J, Johnson SL, Patti GJ. Exogenous Fatty Acids Are the Preferred Source of Membrane Lipids in Proliferating Fibroblasts. Cell Chem Biol. 2016 04 21; 23(4):483-93. PMID: 27049668; PMCID: PMC5510604.
      Citations: 72     Fields:    Translation:HumansAnimalsCells
    22. Lei T, Dou JH, Ma ZJ, Yao CH, Liu CJ, Wang JY, Pei J. Ambipolar polymer field-effect transistors based on fluorinated isoindigo: high performance and improved ambient stability. J Am Chem Soc. 2012 Dec 12; 134(49):20025-8. PMID: 23194175.
      Citations: 11     Fields:    
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