Shivashankar Group

WANG Yejun

Alumni, Mechanobiology Institute, National University of Singapore

mbiwye@nus.edu.sg
Level 10 T-Lab
National University of Singapore
5A Engineering Drive 1
Singapore 117411

Is Mechanosensing an Active Process?

Is Mechanosensing an Active Process?Types of MechanosensingWhen a cell periodically tests its external environment, a mechanical signal is converted to a chemical signal across the cell membrane. Adhesion receptors located on the external cell membrane [...]

By Management|Nov 30th, 2023|Categories: About Mechanobiology, MBInfo|Comments Off on Is Mechanosensing an Active Process?

How is Energy Transferred Across the Cellular System?

How is Energy Transferred Across the Cellular System?Cellular systems function at a nanometer level and use a highly dynamic set of components. Both of these factors act as primary constraints that prevent the generation of [...]

By Management|Nov 30th, 2023|Categories: About Mechanobiology, MBInfo|Comments Off on How is Energy Transferred Across the Cellular System?

How are forces transduced in a cellular environment?

How are forces transduced in a cellular environment?The application of the tensegrity, semiflexible chain and dipole polarization models to biological scenarios has proven most successful in the case of the tensegrity hypothesis (as reviewed in [...]

By Management|Nov 30th, 2023|Categories: About Mechanobiology, MBInfo|Comments Off on How are forces transduced in a cellular environment?

What is Mechanobiology?

What is Mechanobiology?Mechanobiology describes how physical factors, such as forces and mechanics, are able to influence biological systems at the molecular, cellular, and tissue level. The fundamental process which drives mechanobiology is mechanotransduction, the ability [...]

By Management|Nov 30th, 2023|Categories: About Mechanobiology, MBInfo|Comments Off on What is Mechanobiology?

How do Focal Adhesions Facilitate Mechanosensing?

How do Focal Adhesions Facilitate Mechanosensing?Focal adhesions are known to sense both chemical and physical properties of their matrix environment. Chemical sensing is mediated by the different types of receptors that may function additively, synergistically [...]

By Management|Nov 30th, 2023|Categories: About Mechanobiology, MBInfo|Comments Off on How do Focal Adhesions Facilitate Mechanosensing?

How does the cytoskeleton transmit mechanical forces?

How does the cytoskeleton transmit mechanical forces?It is clear that mechanical forces and structural cues influence cell behavior by regulating signal processes. These signals go on to alter gene expression and reorganize the cytoskeleton and [...]

By Management|Nov 30th, 2023|Categories: About Mechanobiology, MBInfo|Comments Off on How does the cytoskeleton transmit mechanical forces?

Wang Yejun

Alumni

Principal Investigator

GV Shivashankar

Research Interests

Molecular Mechanisms of Mechanobiology

I decided to switch into the world of biology after I received my BS in chemistry from Zhejiang University. With the interest in things happening inside nucleus, I joined Prof. Shiva’s lab as a graduate student, to study the role of external mechanical signals on gene regulation in eukaryotic cells. During my first one and a half years I developed a method to visualize active transcription sites on open chromatin spreads using super-resolution microscopy. Presently I’m studying the role of cell geometric constraints on 3D organization of chromosomes by using multiple techniques such as fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), confocal imaging, and super-resolution imaging.

Recent Publications

  1. Wang Y, Li X, Xia R, Wan Y, Lu J, Zhao Z, Zhang W, Wang Q, Saunders TE, and Yin J. Hedgehog-driven adaxial cell constriction patterns slow muscle fate and somite boundary remodeling in the presomitic mesoderm. Cell Rep 2026; 45(5):117319. [PMID: 42065961]
  2. Yang J, Guan Z, Zeng D, Qin Y, Zhao C, Wang S, Wu Q, Wang Q, Li H, Wu J, Huang H, Wang Y, Wu E, Thalmann NM, Lim CT, Wong TY, Jia W, Li H, Fregni F, and Sheng B. Extended reality in clinical neurology: From interdisciplinary innovations to clinical practice. Cell Rep Med 2026;:102696. [PMID: 41903546]
  3. Yang B, Li B, Zhu Y, Zhao M, Cheng Y, Zhao X, En-Jie DT, Wang Y, Zhang M, Tang X, Jin S, Sun Y, Zhang X, Xue B, Yan J, Wu G, Lin Z, Luo M, Yu H, Zhang L, Chen X, and Ni Q. Rational design of rigid mRNA folding architecture to enhance intracellular processing and protein production. Nat Nanotechnol 2026;. [PMID: 41772191]
  4. Liu X, Liu J, Wang Y, Yao M, Baker KB, Klapholz B, Brown NH, Goult BT, and Yan J. The mechanical response of vinculin. Sci Adv 2025; 11(44):eady6949. [PMID: 41171905]
  5. Wang Y, Zhang Y, Yu M, Xiu P, Jia Y, Chen H, Le S, Qian J, and Yan J. Salt-bridge mediated cooperativity and mechanical stabilization of tandem spectrin repeats. Nanoscale Horiz 2025;. [PMID: 40492359]
  6. Wang W, Huang Z, Wang Y, Li H, and Kanchanawong P. Vortex Interference Enables Optimal 3D Interferometric Nanoscopy. Phys Rev Lett 2025; 134(7):073802. [PMID: 40053988]
  7. Wang Y, Wang Y, Zhu Y, Yu P, Zhou F, Zhang A, Gu Y, Jin R, Li J, Zheng F, Yu A, Ye D, Xu Y, Liu Y, Saw TB, Hu G, Lim CT, and Yu F. Angiomotin cleavage promotes leader formation and collective cell migration. Dev Cell 2024;. [PMID: 39389053]
  8. Zhang Y, Du J, Liu X, Shang F, Deng Y, Ye J, Wang Y, Yan J, Chen H, Yu M, and Le S. Multi-domain interaction mediated strength-building in human α-actinin dimers unveiled by direct single-molecule quantification. Nat Commun 2024; 15(1):6151. [PMID: 39034324]
  9. Morales-Camilo N, Liu J, Ramírez MJ, Canales-Salgado P, Alegría JJ, Liu X, Ong HT, Barrera NP, Fierro A, Toyama Y, Goult BT, Wang Y, Meng Y, Nishimura R, Fong-Ngern K, Low CSL, Kanchanawong P, Yan J, Ravasio A, and Bertocchi C. Alternative molecular mechanisms for force transmission at adherens junctions via β-catenin-vinculin interaction. Nat Commun 2024; 15(1):5608. [PMID: 38969637]
  10. Zhang X, Ruan L, Wang H, Zhu J, Li T, Sun G, Dong Y, Wang Y, Berreby G, Shay A, Chen R, Ramachandran S, Dawson VL, Dawson TM, and Li R. Enhancing mitochondrial proteolysis alleviates alpha-synuclein-mediated cellular toxicity. NPJ Parkinsons Dis 2024; 10(1):120. [PMID: 38906862]
By Management|2018-03-05T16:22:36+08:00Mar 23rd, 2017|Categories: Alumni|Comments Off on Wang Yejun

About the National University of Singapore

About NUSA leading global university centred in Asia, NUS is Singapore's flagship university, offering a global approach to education and research with a focus on Asian perspectives and expertise.

About the Mechanobiology Institute, National University of Singapore

About MBIOne of four Research Centres of Excellence at NUS, MBI is working to identify, measure and describe how the forces for motility and morphogenesis are expressed at the molecular, cellular and tissue level.
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