CELLULAR METABOLISM IN HUMAN HEALTH AND DISEASES

The Shen laboratory takes an integrated approach spanning biochemistry, cell biology, genetics (including CRISPR screen), genomics (comparative genomics and human genetics), and metabolomics (mass spec-based) to address fundamental questions in cellular metabolism. We aim to discover new biochemical mechanisms underlying human diseases by characterizing disease-associated metabolic enzymes and transporters of unknown functions.
In humans, metabolic enzymes and transporters are critical for extracting energy from the diet, making building blocks for macromolecules, and producing critical signaling molecules for cellular communications. Extensive biochemical and genetic studies have already reconstructed major carbohydrate, amino acid, nucleotide, and lipid metabolism pathways. However, hundreds of metabolic enzymes and transporters encoded in the human genome remain “orphans”. We aim to focus on characterizing these “orphan” enzymes and transporters implicated in human diseases. Each project represents a small step towards a holistic understanding of all catalysis encoded in the human genome. We divided our research program into three directions:
- Orphan metabolic enzymes
- Orphan metabolite transporters
- Molecular Evolution of metabolic biochemistry
updated 2021-09-22
THE SHEN LABORATORY
Integrated Science and Technology Center (IST) Lab Rm113, Office Rm120
Systems Biology Institute, Yale West Campus
850 West Campus Drive
West Haven, CT 06516
Email: hongying.shen@yale.edu