Ge, Yong, Ph.D.

Research

Digestive disorders are a growing problem worldwide. Each year, about 62 million Americans are diagnosed with a digestive disorder. The prevalence of these diseases increases with age. In 2019, the U.S. spent around $136 billion on GI conditions—which was more than heart disease, trauma, or mental health—and the number is continuing to grow. Some common conditions include, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), celiac disease, and gallstones. Additionally, increasing evidences suggest that dysbiotic gut microbiota is linked to various extraintestinal diseases, such as hypertension, type II diabetes, metabolic syndromes, and ischemic stroke. Thus, discovering novel probiotic gut commensals and their associated gene products as well as understanding how they transduce beneficial microbial signaling into a gene epigenetic, transcriptional, and metabolic program of the hosts is of great importance to develop novel preventive and therapeutical strategies against diseases and improve host fitness.

Over the past seven years’ studies in the field of gut microbiota and mucosal immunology, I have accumulated extensive experiences with investigating the microbe-host interactions and understanding the molecular mechanisms by which gut commensal bacteria sustain gut homeostasis against intestinal disorders. I will dedicate my future efforts to study the gut microbiota and their interaction with mucosal immune and epithelial cells to fortify the intestinal barrier function against pathogen infection.

I am fascinated by the complexed interplay between gut microbes and their environment, including intestinal epithelium and intestinal immunity. Specifically, how the signaling is initiated by the recognition of bacterial surface structures by innate sensing receptors, such as C-type lectins. Additionally, specific microbes can be isolated and cultured anaerobically and their relationship with disease progression can be thoroughly investigated using different mouse models and various infectious models. The function of the microbes can be further investigated using germ-free mouse model and their potential impacts on intestinal immunity and epithelium can be investigated by multi-omic analysis, including epigenetic, transcriptomic, metabolomic, and single-cell RNA-seq analyses, which I have been well-trained for.

Another focus of my future research would be essential metabolites including short-chain fatty acids (e.g., propionate) and vitamins (e.g., VB12) that are solely produced by gut microbiota. I am currently studying investigating how VB12 is involved in regulation of intestinal epithelial cells (IECs). We identified a previously unrecognized role of VB12 in regulating IEC mitochondrial function. Using the Salmonella Typhimurium infection model, we found that enhanced epithelial mitochondrial respiration requires VB12 as a cofactor, resulting in transcriptomic and metabolomic reprogramming of IECs. This regulation in turn elevated oxygen consumption by epithelial cells with diminished oxygen being diffused in the gut lumen, thereby limiting oxygen-dependent aerobic Salmonella expansion. I have gained extensive knowledge in microbiology and immunology with extensive training in designing and supervising projects and performing experiments. I believe all these scientific merits and skills will greatly help me establish myself being a pioneer researcher in the field

Publications

Link to my Bibliography:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/yong.ge.3/bibliography/public/

Publications: ^1-19

1. Ge, Y., Zadeh, M., Yang, C., Candelario-Jalil, E., and Mohamadzadeh, M. (2022). Ischemic Stroke Impacts the Gut Microbiome, Ileal Epithelial and Immune Homeostasis. iScience 25, 105437. 10.1016/j.isci.2022.105437.
2. Ge, Y., Zadeh, M., and Mohamadzadeh, M. (2022). Vitamin B12 regulates the transcriptional, metabolic, and epigenetic programing in human ileal epithelial cells. Nutrients 14. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14142825.
3. Ge, Y., Zadeh, M., and Mohamadzadeh, M. (2022). Vitamin B12 coordinates ileal epithelial cell and microbiota functions to resist Salmonella infection in mice. Journal of Experimental Medicine 219. 10.1084/jem.20220057.
4. Roth, W., Zadeh, K., Vekariya, R., Ge, Y., and Mohamadzadeh, M. (2021). Tryptophan Metabolism and Gut-Brain Homeostasis. Int J Mol Sci 22. 10.3390/ijms22062973.
5. Kumar, A., Priyamvada, S., Ge, Y., Jayawardena, D., Singhal, M., Anbazhagan, A.N., Chatterjee, I., Dayal, A., Patel, M., Zadeh, K., et al. (2021). A Novel Role of SLC26A3 in the Maintenance of Intestinal Epithelial Barrier Integrity. Gastroenterology 160. 10.1053/j.gastro.2020.11.008.
6. Li, J., Ge, Y., Zadeh, M., Curtiss, R., 3rd, and Mohamadzadeh, M. (2020). Regulating vitamin B12 biosynthesis via the cbiMCbl riboswitch in Propionibacterium strain UF1. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 117, 602-609. 10.1073/pnas.1916576116.
7. Ge, Y., Gong, M., Zadeh, M., Li, J., Abbott, J.R., Li, W., Morel, L., Sonon, R., Supekar, N.T., Azadi, P., et al. (2020). Regulating colonic dendritic cells by commensal glycosylated large surface layer protein A to sustain gut homeostasis against pathogenic inflammation. Mucosal Immunol 13, 34-46. 10.1038/s41385-019-0210-0.
8. Choi, S.C., Brown, J., Gong, M., Ge, Y., Zadeh, M., Li, W., Croker, B.P., Michailidis, G., Garrett, T.J., Mohamadzadeh, M., and Morel, L. (2020). Gut microbiota dysbiosis and altered tryptophan catabolism contribute to autoimmunity in lupus-susceptible mice. Sci Transl Med 12. 10.1126/scitranslmed.aax2220.
9. Morffy Smith, C.D., Gong, M., Andrew, A.K., Russ, B.N., Ge, Y., Zadeh, M., Cooper, C.A., Mohamadzadeh, M., and Moore, J.M. (2019). Composition of the gut microbiota transcends genetic determinants of malaria infection severity and influences pregnancy outcome. EBioMedicine 44, 639-655. 10.1016/j.ebiom.2019.05.052.
10. Ge, Y., Gong, M., Colliou, N., Zadeh, M., Li, J., Jones, D.P., Li, S., and Mohamadzadeh, M. (2019). Neonatal intestinal immune regulation by the commensal bacterium, P. UF1. Mucosal Immunology 12, 434-444. 10.1038/s41385-018-0125-1.
11. Bostick, J.W., Wang, Y., Shen, Z., Ge, Y., Brown, J., Chen, Z.E., Mohamadzadeh, M., Fox, J.G., and Zhou, L. (2019). Dichotomous regulation of group 3 innate lymphoid cells by nongastric Helicobacter species. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 116, 24760-24769. 10.1073/pnas.1908128116.
12. Tedesco, D., Thapa, M., Chin, C.Y., Ge, Y., Gong, M., Li, J., Gumber, S., Speck, P., Elrod, E.J., Burd, E.M., et al. (2018). Alterations in intestinal microbiota lead to production of interleukin 17 by intrahepatic gammadelta T-cell receptor-positive cells and pathogenesis of cholestatic liver disease. Gastroenterology 154, 2178-2193. 10.1053/j.gastro.2018.02.019.
13. Sahay, B., Colliou, N., Zadeh, M., Ge, Y., Gong, M., Owen, J.L., Valletti, M., Jobin, C., and Mohamadzadeh, M. (2018). Dual-route targeted vaccine protects efficiently against botulinum neurotoxin A complex. Vaccine 36, 155-164. 10.1016/j.vaccine.2017.11.008.
14. Hu, Y., Cai, Q., Tian, S., Ge, Y., Yuan, Z., and Hu, X. (2018). Regulator DegU is required for multicellular behavior in Lysinibacillus sphaericus. Research in Microbiology 169, 177-187. 10.1016/j.resmic.2017.12.006.
15. Fu, P., Ge, Y., Hu, Y., Yuan, Z., and Hu, X. (2018). A toxin-antitoxin system is essential for the stability of mosquitocidal plasmid pBsph of Lysinibacillus sphaericus. Microbiological Research 214, 114-122. 10.1016/j.micres.2018.06.013.
16. Colliou, N., Ge, Y., Gong, M., Zadeh, M., Li, J., Alonzo, F., 3rd, and Mohamadzadeh, M. (2018). Regulation of Th17 cells by P. UF1 against systemic Listeria monocytogenes infection. Gut Microbes 9, 279-287. 10.1080/19490976.2017.1417731.
17. Fu, P., Xiang, X., Ge, Y., Yuan, Z., and Hu, X. (2017). Differential expression of duplicated binary toxin genes binA/binB in Lysinibacillus sphaericus C3-41. Letters in Applied Microbiology 65, 90-97. 10.1111/lam.12752.
18. Fu, P., Ge, Y., Wu, Y., Zhao, N., Yuan, Z., and Hu, X. (2017). The LspC3-41I restriction-modification system is the major determinant for genetic manipulations of Lysinibacillus sphaericus C3-41. BMC Microbiology 17, 116. 10.1186/s12866-017-1014-6.
19. Colliou, N., Ge, Y., Sahay, B., Gong, M., Zadeh, M., Owen, J.L., Neu, J., Farmerie, W.G., Alonzo, F., 3rd, Liu, K., et al. (2017). Commensal Propionibacterium strain UF1 mitigates intestinal inflammation via Th17 cell regulation. Journal of Clinical Investigation 127, 3970-3986. 10.1172/JCI95376.