Yun Zhong

B.E., M.Eng., Osaka University
Biochemical and Genetic Studies of Beclin 1 Function in Autophagy
presented by Nathaniel Heintz

Yun Zhong arrived at Rockefeller from Osaka University, having completed both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in biophysical engineering. While at Osaka, Yun won a series of prestigious student awards, including a Japanese Government Scholarship that is awarded to only one student at Osaka University each year. Upon arriving at my laboratory, Yun expressed a strong interest in neurodegeneration, fueled by a recent paper from my lab demonstrating that the process of autophagy is induced during degeneration of a very particular neuron type, the cerebellar Purkinje cell, in a mouse model of ataxia. Autophagy, as the name suggests, is a tightly controlled catabolic process in which the cell recycles its constituents to provide nutrients for essential metabolic processes under conditions of stress. The cell literally eats itself. Of course, as we all know, too much eating can be a very dangerous thing; consequently, autophagy is very highly regulated in all organisms. Although pioneering work from several laboratories had defined a conserved pathway consisting of approximately 40 proteins that execute this program in yeast and invertebrates, the mechanisms controlling this pathway in the mammalian brain were largely unexplored. It is this topic that formed the basis for Yun’s doctoral studies.

Given our commitment to exploring the details of this pathway in the context of neurodegeneration in the mammalian brain, Yun chose to join forces with the laboratories of Zhenyu Yue and Brian Chait to identify the components of a protein complex regulating the induction of this pathway in the brain. Through a combination of mouse molecular genetics, biochemistry and mass spectroscopy, Yun and his colleagues were able to identify two new components of this very important pathway and demonstrate that they orchestrate its induction in neurons and other cells. Yun has gone on to show that this complex is also essential for maintenance of the complex membrane trafficking events that are so crucial for the function of this large and complex brain cell type.

Yun is a man of few words. Our conversations are brief and to the point. To tell you the truth, this worried me for a while. After all, all of us like to feel that we are important in the scientific pursuits of our young colleagues! But I soon realized that Yun speaks with his hands: The experiments he conducts and the astounding clarity of his results communicate his intelligence, creativity and impressive experimental facility much more effectively than the spoken or written word! In this way, Yun reminded me again that it is the well-done experiment that is the currency of our profession. Seeing his results unfold was a real pleasure, instilling in me the confidence that this young man would make important contributions to science, whether or not he heeded my advice.