2003.09 - 2007.06  B.S., Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China

2007.09 - 2012.09  Ph.D. in Microbiology, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China

2012.09 - 2015.12  Assistant Professor, National Laboratory of Biomacromolecules, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

2016.01 - 2023.12  Associate Professor, National Laboratory of Biomacromolecules, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

2024.01-                 Professor, National Laboratory of Biomacromolecules, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

Engaged in structural biology research on the dynamic regulation of chromatin, mainly focusing on the assembly and folding of chromatin, including nucleosome assembly and remodeling, and histone modification and recognition. I mainly studied the structural basis of histone chaperones, chromatin remodelers and histone modification enzymes in complex with their substrates through cryo-electron microscopy single particle analysis (cryo-EM SPA), and explored the structure and folding rules of higher-order heterochromatin in vivo through cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET).

NSFC State Key Program - "Study on the molecular mechanism of facultative heterochromatin formation", 2024-2028, main participant

Sub-project of the Strategic Priority Science and Technology Project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Category B) - "Structural study of complexes involved in multi-level chromatin assembly and regulation", 2020-2024, main participant

NSFC Major Research Plan - "Study of regulatory mechanisms and intervention strategies of histone acetylation", 2019-2022, main participant

NSFC Young Scientists Program - "Structure mechanism studies of oskar mRNA recognition by RNA-binding protein Smaug in Drosophila germ cell development", 2015-2017, project manager

NSFC General Program - "Structural and functional studies of important protein complexes during Drosophila germ cell development", 2014-2017, main participant

1. Chao-Pei Liu^#*, Zhenyu Yu^#, Jun Xiong^#, Jie Hu^#, Aoqun Song^#, Dongbo Ding^#, Cong Yu, Na Yang, Mingzhu Wang, Juan Yu, Peini Hou, Kangning Zeng, Zhenyu Li, Zhuqiang Zhang, Xinzheng Zhang, Wei Li, Zhiguo Zhang, Bing Zhu*, Guohong Li*, Rui-Ming Xu*. Structural insights into histone binding and nucleosome assembly by chromatin assembly factor-1. Science. 2023; 381(6660):eadd8673. (co-first author)

2. Weiran Ge^#, Cong Yu^#, Jingjing Li^#, Zhenyu Yu, Xiaorong Li, Yan Zhang, Chao-Pei Liu, Yingfeng Li, Changlin Tian, Xinzheng Zhang, Guohong Li, Bing Zhu*, and Rui-Ming Xu*. Basis of the H2AK119 specificity of the Polycomb repressive deubiquitinase. Nature. 2023; 616(7955):176-182.

3. Xiang Xu^#, Mingzhu Wang^#, Jixue Sun^#, Zhenyu Yu^#, Guohong Li, Na Yang*, and Rui-Ming Xu*. Structure specific DNA recognition by the SLX1-SLX4 endonuclease complex. Nucleic Acids Research. 2021; 49(13):7740-7752. (co-first author)

4. Na Yang*, Zhenyu Yu. Unraveling the mechanism of de novo nucleosome assembly. Science Bulletin. 2023; 68(24):3091-3093.

5. Fandi Shi^#, Kun Zhang^#, Qixuan Cheng, Shiyou Che, Shuxin Zhi, Zhenyu Yu, Fei Liu, Feifei Duan, Yangming Wang*, Na Yang*. Molecular mechanism governing RNA-binding property of mammalian TRIM71 protein. Science Bulletin. 2024; 69(1):72-81.

6. Na Yang^#*, Zhenyu Yu^#, Meng long Hu^#, Mingzhu Wang, Ruth Lehmann*, and Ruiming Xu*. Structure of Drosophila Oskar reveals a novel RNA binding protein. Proc Natl Acad Sci. 2015; 112(37):11541-6. (co-first author)

7. Zhenyu Yu, Hong Zhu, Guosong Zheng, Weihong Jiang*, Yinhua Lu*. A genome-wide transcriptomic analysis reveals diverse roles of the two-component system DraR-K in the physiological and morphological differentiation of Streptomyces coelicolor. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology. 2014; 98(22):9351-63.

8. Zhenyu Yu, Hong Zhu, Fujun Dang, Weiwen Zhang, Zhongjun Qin, Sheng Yang, Huarong Tan, Yinhua Lu*, and Weihong Jiang*. Differential regulation of antibiotic biosynthesis by DraR-K, a novel two-component system in Streptomyces coelicolor. Molecular Microbiology. 2012; 85(3):535-556.

9. Yinhua Lu, Juanmei He, Hong Zhu, Zhenyu Yu, Rui Wang, Fujun Dang, Sheng Yang, and Weihong Jiang. An orphan histidine kinase, OhkA, regulates both secondary metabolism and morphological differentiation in Streptomyces coelicolor. Journal of Bacteriology. 2011; 193(12):3020-3032.

10. Dan Shu, Lei Chen, Weihua Wang, Zhenyu Yu, Cong Ren, Sheng Yang, Yinhua Lu*, Weihong Jiang*. afsQ1-Q2-sigQ is a pleiotropic but conditionally required signal transduction system for both secondary metabolism and morphological development in Streptomyces coelicolor. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology. 2009; 81:1149-1160.

(From Zhenyu Yu, January 15, 2024)