Rate My Professor Weidong Yang

Weidong Yang is a Professor in the Department of Biology at Temple University's College of Science and Technology. His laboratory is deeply committed to advancing transformative research tools to address complex biological and biomedical challenges. Building on a strong legacy of innovation, the research integrates cell and molecular biology, single-molecule biophysics, and super-resolution microscopy to investigate mechanisms of molecular transport and intracellular and intercellular trafficking in normal physiology and disease contexts. The lab has developed groundbreaking imaging technologies, including single-molecule narrow-field epifluorescence microscopy for high-precision molecular visualization, SPEED (single-point edge-excitation sub-diffraction) microscopy for high-speed super-resolution real-time tracking of molecular transport, single-point fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (sp-FRAP) for quantitative probing of nanoscale molecular kinetics, and recently Paired-Objectives Photon Enhancement (POPE) microscopy to enhance photon collection in fluorescence imaging. These innovations have provided critical insights into nuclear transport mechanisms, revealing dynamic behaviors of mRNAs, viral particles, cytosolic proteins, membrane-associated complexes, and intrinsically disordered proteins through the nuclear pore complex. Discoveries have been published in high-impact journals such as Nature Communications, PNAS, and iScience.

Ongoing research focuses on three major areas: the molecular basis of nucleocytoplasmic transport of soluble and membrane-bound proteins, mRNAs, pre-ribosomal subunits, and viral particles through the nuclear pore complex; trafficking of macromolecules from the cytoplasm to the primary cilium; and disruptions of these pathways under cellular stress and aging, with implications for age-related diseases and therapeutics. Key publications include 'O-GlcNAc modulation of nuclear pore complexes orchestrates mRNA export efficiency' (PNAS, 2025), 'Nuclear export dynamics of pre-ribosomal subunits revealed by high-speed single-molecule microscopy in live cells' (iScience, 2024), 'Quantifying Nucleoporin Stoichiometry Inside Single Nuclear Pore Complexes in Live Cells' (Structure, 2015), and 'Spelling out the roles of individual nucleoporins in nuclear pore complex disassembly' (Channels, 2022). Professor Yang received the 2024 Dean's Distinguished Excellence in Research Award from the College of Science and Technology. He contributes to the Molecular and Cellular Biology program and mentors students in advanced imaging techniques.