About the Lab
The research in the lab is primarily focused on understanding how the brain senses and integrates internal and external signals to maintain energy balance and physiological stability. Our research focuses on dissecting the neural circuits and molecular pathways that govern fundamental processes, such as feeding, thermoregulation, and immune function.
Lab Members
Publications
Liu Y, Liu H, Wong H, Auld N, Conde KM, Li Y, Yu M, et at., Xu Y, He Y. Prolonged exposure to food odors suppresses feeding via an olfactory bulb-to-hypothalamus circuit. Nature Communications. PMID: 40849319 PMCID: PMC12375006 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-63170-2
Liu H, Li V, Liu Q, Liu Y, Wong H, Yin N, Liu H, Fang X, et al., He Y (Corresponding author), Long JZ, Xu Y. Lac-Phe induces hypophagia via inhibiting lactate dehydrogenase in AgRP neurons. Nature Metabolism. (In press).
Liu H, Bean JC, Li Y, Yu M, Ginnard OZ, Conde KM, Wang M, Fang X, Liu H, Tu L, Yin N, Han J, Yang Y, Tong Q, Arenkiel BR, Wang C, He Y (Corresponding author), Xu Y. Distinct basal forebrain-originated neural circuits promote homoeostatic feeding and suppress hedonic feeding in male mice. Nature Metabolism. 2024 Sep;6(9):1775-1790. doi: 10.1038/s42255-024-01099-4. Epub 2024 Aug 7. PubMed PMID: 39112722.
Liu H, Liu Z, Wong HK, Xu N, Liu Q, Li Y, Liu Y, Wong H, Burt ME, Jossy SV, Han J, He Y. Therapeutic Strategies Against Metabolic Imbalance in a Male Mouse Model With 5-HT2CR Loss-of-Function. Endocrinology. 2024 May 27;165(7). doi: 10.1210/endocr/bqae063. PubMed PMID: 38815086.
Pre-PI (selected):
He Y, Brouwers B, Liu H, Liu H, Lawler K, Mendes de Oliveira E, Lee DK, Yang Y, Cox AR, Keogh JM, Henning E, Bounds R, Perdikari A, Ayinampudi V, Wang C, Yu M, Tu L, Zhang N, Yin N, Han J, Scarcelli NA, Yan Z, Conde KM, Potts C, Bean JC, Wang M, Hartig SM, Liao L, Xu J, Barroso I, Mokrosinski J, Xu Y, Sadaf Farooqi I. Human loss-of-function variants in the serotonin 2C receptor associated with obesity and maladaptive behavior. Nat Med. 2022 Dec;28(12):2537-2546. doi: 10.1038/s41591-022-02106-5. Epub 2022 Dec 19. PubMed PMID: 36536256; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC9800280.
Liu H, He Y (co-first author), Liu H, Brouwers B, Yin N, Lawler K, Keogh JM, Henning E, Lee DK, Yu M, Tu L, Zhang N, Conde KM, Han J, Yan Z, Scarcelli NA, Liao L, Xu J, Tong Q, Zheng H, Sun Z, Yang Y, Wang C, He Y, Farooqi IS, Xu Y. Neural circuits expressing the serotonin 2C receptor regulate memory in mice and humans. Sci Adv. 2024 Jun 28;10(26):eadl2675. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adl2675. Epub 2024 Jun 28. PubMed PMID: 38941473; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC11212768.
Li Y, Cacciottolo TM, Yin N, He Y (co-first author), Liu H, Liu H, Yang Y, Henning E, Keogh JM, Lawler K, Mendes de Oliveira E, Gardner EJ, Kentistou KA, Laouris P, Bounds R, Ong KK, Perry JRB, Barroso I, Tu L, Bean JC, Yu M, Conde KM, Wang M, Ginnard O, Fang X, Tong L, Han J, Darwich T, Williams KW, Yang Y, Wang C, Joss S, Firth HV, Xu Y, Farooqi IS. Loss of transient receptor potential channel 5 causes obesity and postpartum depression. Cell. 2024 Aug 8;187(16):4176-4192.e17. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2024.06.001. Epub 2024 Jul 2. PubMed PMID: 38959890.
Liu H, He Y (co-first author), Bai J, Zhang C, Zhang F, Yang Y, Luo H, Yu M, Liu H, Tu L, Zhang N, Yin N, Han J, Yan Z, Scarcelli NA, Conde KM, Wang M, Bean JC, Potts CHS, Wang C, Hu F, Liu F, Xu Y. Hypothalamic Grb10 enhances leptin signaling and promotes weight loss. Nat Metab. 2023 Jan;5(1):147-164. doi: 10.1038/s42255-022-00701-x. Epub 2023 Jan 2. PubMed PMID: 36593271.
Li VL, He Y (co-first author), Contrepois K, Liu H, Kim JT, Wiggenhorn AL, Tanzo JT, Tung AS, Lyu X, Zushin PH, Jansen RS, Michael B, Loh KY, Yang AC, Carl CS, Voldstedlund CT, Wei W, Terrell SM, Moeller BC, Arthur RM, Wallis GA, van de Wetering K, Stahl A, Kiens B, Richter EA, Banik SM, Snyder MP, Xu Y, Long JZ. An exercise-inducible metabolite that suppresses feeding and obesity. Nature. 2022 Jun;606(7915):785-790. doi: 10.1038/s41586-022-04828-5. Epub 2022 Jun 15. PubMed PMID: 35705806; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC9767481.
He Y, Wei M, Wu Y, Qin H, Li W, Ma X, Cheng J, Ren J, Shen Y, Chen Z, Sun B, Huang FD, Shen Y, Zhou YD. Amyloid β oligomers suppress excitatory transmitter release via presynaptic depletion of phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate. Nat Commun. 2019 Mar 13;10(1):1193. doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-09114-z. PubMed PMID: 30867420; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6416269.
