Yun Lei, PhD - Lab

Yun Lei, PhD

Assistant Professor

Dept. of Neuroscience & Regenerative Medicine

Mailing Address:

Dept. of Neuroscience & Regenerative Medicine
1120 15th Street, Rm. CA-2012
Medical College of Georgia at »Æ¹Ï¶ÌÊÓƵ
Augusta, GA 30912

icon Phone:   (706) 446-3521
icon Office: CA-2012
icon E-mail:   ylei@augusta.edu 

Education:

  • 2010-2015  | Ph.D. in Neuropharmacology, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica Chinese Academy of Sciences, China 

Training:

  • 2015-2017 | Postdoctoral Fellowship, The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 
  • 2017-2019 | Postdoctoral Fellowship, Medical College of Georgia at »Æ¹Ï¶ÌÊÓƵ, Augusta, GA 

Research Interests

My lab studies how chronic social isolation-unpredictable stress (SIUS) accelerates aging and contributes to the onset and progression of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). We are particularly interested in how chronic stress induces persistent changes in epigenetic regulation, such as histone acetylation and methylation, in specific neuronal populations within brain regions affected in the early stages of AD, and how these molecular alternations increase cellular susceptibility to degeneration, leading to cognitive impairment and the exacerbation of amyloid-β and tau pathology.

My lab studies how chronic social isolation-unpredictable stress (SIUS) accelerates aging and contributes to the onset and progression of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). We are particularly interested in how chronic stress induces persistent changes in epigenetic regulation, such as histone acetylation and methylation, in specific neuronal populations within brain regions affected in the early stages of AD, and how these molecular alternations increase cellular susceptibility to degeneration, leading to cognitive impairment and the exacerbation of amyloid-β and tau pathology.

Recent Publications

  1. Lei Y*, Nougaisse J, Malek M, Mishu MM, Bai Y, Denney K, Du Q, Stranahan AM, Garza JC, Lu XY*. Chronic social isolation-unpredictable stress induces early-onset cognitive deficits and exacerbates Aβ accumulation in the 5xFAD mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. Molecular Psychiatry, 2025 Jun 4. Epub ahead of print. (*Co-corresponding author) 
  2. Fang X, Chen Y, Wang J, Zhang Z, Bai Y, Denney K, Gan L, Guo M, Weintraub NL, Lei Y, Lu XY. Increased intrinsic and synaptic excitability of hypothalamic POMC neurons underlies chronic stress-induced behavioral deficits.  Molecular Psychiatry. 2023 Mar;28(3):1365-1382. 
  3. Lei Y*, Wang D, Bai Y, Nougaisse J, Weintraub NL, Guo M, Lu XY*. Leptin enhances social motivation and reverses chronic stress-induced social anhedonia during adolescence. Molecular Psychiatry, 2022 Dec;27(12):4948–4958. (*Co-corresponding author) 
  4. Fang X, Jiang S, Wang J, Bai Y, Kim CS, Blake D, Weintraub NL, Lei Y, Lu XY. Chronic unpredictable stress induces depression-related behaviors by suppressing AgRP neuron activity. Molecular Psychiatry. 2021 Jun;26(6):2299-2315. 
  5. Lei Y, Wang J, Wang D, Li C, Liu B, Fang X, You J, Guo M, Lu XY. SIRT1 in forebrain excitatory neurons produces sexually dimorphic effects on depression-related behaviors and modulates neuronal excitability and synaptic transmission in the medial prefrontal cortex. Molecular Psychiatry, 2020 May;25(5):1094-1111. 
  6. Lei Y, Yang L, Ye CY, Zhang HY. Involvement of intracellular and mitochondrial Aβ in the ameliorative effects of huperzine A against oligomeric Aβ42-induced injury in primary rat neurons. PloS one. 2015,10(5):e0128366.  
 
 

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