Helen Yin, PhD

Professor
Endowed Title: Peter and Jean D. Dehlinger Professorship in Biomedical Science
Physiology
Graduate Program: Cell Regulation
Integrative Biology

Contact Information

UT Southwestern Medical Center
5323 Harry Hines Boulevard
Dallas, Texas 75390

Office Phone: 214-645-6000

helen.yin@utsouthwestern.edu

Biography

Dr. Yin’s research at UT Southwestern involves the study of the actin cytoskeleton which serves many essential functions. Actin polymerization drives membrane movements, and actin filaments assemble into a scaffold that supports the cells’ motors and signaling machinery. The scaffold is continually remodeled in proliferating cells, and is completely dismantled in apoptotic cells.

Dr. Yin is studying how phosphatidylinositol 4,5 bisphosphate (PIP2), a membrane lipid, regulates the actin scaffold in proliferating and apoptotic cells. She focuses on the lipid kinases that synthesize PIP2 and the regulatory proteins that respond to PIP2. Her lab is currently pursuing the following projects:

  • PIP2 regulates the actin cytoskeleton,vesicle transport, intracellular calcium signaling and apoptosis
  • PI4P regulation of Golgi trafficking
  • Effect of burn injury on PIP2 and PI4P homeostasis

Education

Graduate SchoolHarvard University (1976)
UndergraduateMount Holyoke College (1970)

Research Interests

Differential targeting of type II phosphatidylinositol 4 kinase alpha and beta to the Golgi and the plasma membrane
Phosphoinositide regulation of the actin cytoskeleton and apoptosis
Phosphoinositide regulation of the Golgi
Role of the extracellular actin scavenging system and hypertonic resuscitation in protection against burn and oxidant injuries.

Publications

Featured
Control of cytoplasmic actin gel-sol transformation by gelsolin, a calcium-dependent regulatory protein

Yin HL, Stossel TP , Nature , October 1979; (281(5732)):583-6

Featured
Phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate induces actin-based movement of raft-enriched vesicles through WASP-Arp2/3

Rozelle AL, Machesky LM, Yamamoto M, Driessens MH, Insall RH, Roth MG, Luby-Phelps K, Marriott G, Hall A, Yin HL , Curr Biol , March 2000; (10(6)):311-20

Featured
Actin filament disassembly is a sufficient final trigger for exocytosis in nonexcitable cells

Muallem S, Kwiatkowska K, Xu X, Yin HL , J Cell Biol , February 1995; (128(4)):589-98

Featured
gCap39, a calcium ion- and polyphosphoinositide-regulated actin capping protein

Yu FX, Johnston PA, Sudhof TC, Yin HL , Science , December 1990; (250(4986)):1413-5

Featured
Phosphatidylinositol 4 phosphate regulates targeting of clathrin adaptor AP-1 complexes to the Golgi

Wang YJ, Wang J, Sun HQ, Martinez M, Sun YX, Macia E, Kirchhausen T, Albanesi JP, Roth MG, Yin HL , Cell , August 2003; (114(3)):299-310

PI4P promotes the recruitment of the GGA adaptor proteins to the trans-Golgi network and regulates their recognition of the ubiquitin sorting signal

Wang J, Sun HQ, Macia E, Kirchhausen T, Watson H, Bonifacino JS, Yin HL , Mol Biol Cell , July 2007; (18(7)):2646-55

Essential and unique roles of PIP5K-gamma and -alpha in Fcgamma receptor-mediated phagocytosis

Mao YS, Yamaga M, Zhu X, Wei Y, Sun HQ, Wang J, Yun M, Wang Y, Di Paolo G, Bennett M, Mellman I, Abrams CS, De Camilli P, Lu CY, Yin HL , J Cell Biol , January 2009; (184(2)):281-96

Molecular determinants of activation and membrane targeting of phosphoinositol 4-kinase IIbeta

Jung G, Wang J, Wlodarski P, Barylko B, Binns DD, Shu H, Yin HL, Albanesi JP , Biochem J , January 2008; (409(2)):501-9

Palmitoylation Controls the Catalytic Activity and Subcellular Distribution of Phosphatidylinositol 4-Kinase IIalpha

Barylko B, Mao YS, Wlodarski P, Jung G, Binns DD, Sun HQ, Yin HL, Albanesi JP , J Biol Chem , February 2009; ([Epub ahead of print])

Flightless-I regulates proinflammatory caspases by selectively modulating intracellular localization and caspase activity

Li J, Yin HL, Yuan J , J Cell Biol , April 2008; (181(2)):321-33

Honors/Awards

2000 - 2004

Editorial Board, Journal of Biological Chemistry

2006

Peter and Jean D. Dehlinger Professorship in Biomedical Sciences

2006 - 2007

Fellow of the Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine Program, Drexel College of Medicine

Professional Associations/Affiliations

2008-Present: Director, Mechanisms of Disease and Translational Science Graduate Training Track, Southwestern Graduate School