A photo of Ying Sun.

Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics

513-636-0344

513-636-3486

Biography & Affiliation

Biography

As a postdoctoral trainee at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, I became inspired by my mentor and by work on patient-related projects. These experiences led me to my current research interest in the molecular pathogenesis of and treatments for lysosomal storage diseases.

In our lab, we are working to understand the pathogenesis of Gaucher disease and other lysosomal storage diseases so that we can develop specific therapies. My research interests include glycosphingolipids metabolism in neurodegenerative disease, specifically lipidomics and transcriptome to the relationship of Gaucher disease and Parkinson’s disease. We also study pharmaceutical small molecule therapy and brain organoid modeling of Gaucher disease. Our research is supported by the National Institutes of Health, foundations and industry-sponsored programs.

We investigate the therapeutic value of induced pluripotent stem cell-derived neural progenitor cells on Parkinson’s disease by increasing lysosomal acid β-glucosidase. We are also exploring the role of progranulin, a novel factor of acid β-glucosidase, as a potential therapeutic treatment of Gaucher disease.

Our recent published research work includes a 2019 study in Human Molecular Genetics outlining a noninvasive cell therapy for neurogenerative disease, and a 2020 study in EBioMedicine highlighting a new treatment strategy using a nanovesicles-based system for neuronopathic Gaucher disease.

The ultimate goal of my research is to translate discoveries into effective therapies for treating Gaucher disease and other neurodegenerative diseases.

Research Interests

Molecular pathogenesis and therapy of lysosomal storage diseases; glycosphingolipids metabolism; neurodegeneration.

Academic Affiliation

Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics

Research Divisions

Human Genetics

Education

PhD: Pharmacology, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, 1992.

Post doctoral fellow: Human Genetics, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, 1996.

Publications

Biotherapy of Brain Tumors with Phosphatidylserine-Targeted Radioiodinated SapC-DOPS Nanovesicles. Davis, HW; Vallabhapurapu, SD; Chu, Z; Wyder, MA; Greis, KD; Fannin, V; Sun, Y; Desai, PB; Pak, KY; Gray, BD; et al. Cells. 2020; 9:1960-1960.

Systemic enzyme delivery by blood-brain barrier-penetrating SapC-DOPS nanovesicles for treatment of neuronopathic Gaucher disease. Sun, Y; Liou, B; Chu, Z; Fannin, V; Blackwood, R; Peng, Y; Grabowski, GA; Davis, HW; Qi, X. EBioMedicine. 2020; 55:102735-102735.

Lead Optimization of Benzoxazolone Carboxamides as Orally Bioavailable and CNS Penetrant Acid Ceramidase Inhibitors. Di Martino, S; Tardia, P; Cilibrasi, V; Caputo, S; Mazzonna, M; Russo, D; Penna, I; Realini, N; Margaroli, N; Migliore, M; et al. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. 2020; 63:3634-3664.

Characterization of the visceral and neuronal phenotype of 4L/PS-NA mice modeling Gaucher disease. Schiffer, V; Santiago-Mujika, E; Flunkert, S; Schmidt, S; Farcher, M; Loeffler, T; Schilcher, I; Posch, M; Neddens, J; Sun, Y; et al. PLoS ONE. 2020; 15:e0227077-e0227077.

Combination of acid beta-glucosidase mutation and Saposin C deficiency in mice reveals Gba1 mutation dependent and tissue-specific disease phenotype. Liou, B; Zhang, W; Fannin, V; Quinn, B; Ran, H; Xu, K; Setchell, KD R; Witte, D; Grabowski, GA; Sun, Y. Scientific Reports. 2019; 9.

Intravenous infusion of iPSC-derived neural precursor cells increases acid β-glucosidase function in the brain and lessens the neuronopathic phenotype in a mouse model of Gaucher disease. Peng, Y; Liou, B; Inskeep, V; Blackwood, R; Mayhew, CN; Grabowski, GA; Sun, Y. Human Molecular Genetics. 2019; 28:3406-3421.

Progranulin deficiency leads to reduced glucocerebrosidase activity. Zhou, X; Paushter, DH; Pagan, MD; Kim, D; Santos, MN; Lieberman, RL; Overkleeft, HS; Sun, Y; Smolka, MB; Hu, F. PLoS ONE. 2019; 14:e0212382-e0212382.

Progranulin associates with hexosaminidase A and ameliorates GM2 ganglioside accumulation and lysosomal storage in Tay-Sachs disease. Chen, Y; Jian, J; Hettinghouse, A; Zhao, X; Setchell, KD R; Sun, Y; Liu, C. Journal of Molecular Medicine. 2018; 96:1359-1373.

Chitinase-3-like Protein 1: A Progranulin Downstream Molecule and Potential Biomarker for Gaucher Disease. Jian, J; Chen, Y; Liberti, R; Fu, W; Hu, W; Saunders-Pullman, R; Pastores, GM; Chen, Y; Sun, Y; Grabowski, GA; et al. EBioMedicine. 2018; 28:251-260.

The effect of manganese exposure in Atp13a2-deficient mice. Fleming, SM; Santiago, NA; Mullin, EJ; Pamphile, S; Karkare, S; Lemkuhl, A; Ekhator, OR; Linn, SC; Holden, JG; Aga, DS; et al. NeuroToxicology. 2018; 64:256-266.