
YU Miao
Research Fellow, Mechanobiology Institute, National University of Singapore
mbiyum@nus.edu.sg
Level 10 T-Lab
National University of Singapore
5A Engineering Drive 1
Singapore 117411
The Nano-Heartbuilder: BNIP-2 Influences Mechanosensing in Cardiomyoblast Differentiation
Researchers from the Low Lab at MBI discover a crucial role for the scaffold protein BNIP-2 in orchestrating focal adhesion dynamics during early heart development, offering new insights into heart regeneration strategies.
Shedding Light on Local Microtubule Regulation of Focal Adhesions
Researchers from the Bershadsky Lab at MBI utilized optogenetics to unlock the role of microtubules in regulating focal adhesion disassembly, an important step in cell migration. http://www.mbi.nus.edu.sg/featured-research/microtubules-and-cell-movement-a-closer-look-at-focal-adhesion-disassembly
A Warm Welcome to the 2025 Ph.D Cohort!
MBI is delighted to welcome the 2025 cohort of Ph.D students. Coming from a rich tapestry of countries – China, Vietnam, Singapore, India and the Philippines – these eleven outstanding individuals bring with them interdisciplinary expertise and fresh perspectives that will enrich MBI’s vibrant research community.
Yu Miao
Research Fellow
Recent Publications
- Huang M, Chen Y, Liang C, Narayan OP, Stallings C, Yu M, Traugot C, Li L, Li K, Vo Q, Wang H, Chou Y, Cech L, Parra D, Garzon L, Parsons D, Diaz E, Zhang C, Mackey C, Sussman H, Zmirska I, Chung M, Zhou C, Glynatsis G, Siemann DW, Licht JD, Li C, Kaye FJ, Xie M, Tan Y, Wu L, Bivona TG, Guan J, and Tang X. Drug resistant cancer cells show increased nuclear mechanotransduction and mechanically targetable YAP-regulated vulnerability. Biomaterials 2025; 329:123920. [PMID: 41443038]
- 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]
- Le S, Yu M, Fu C, Heier JA, Martin S, Hardin J, and Yan J. Single-molecule force spectroscopy reveals intra- and intermolecular interactions of Caenorhabditis elegans HMP-1 during mechanotransduction. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121(37):e2400654121. [PMID: 39236238]
- 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]
- Yu M, Lu J, Le S, and Yan J. Unexpected Low Mechanical Stability of Titin I27 Domain at Physiologically Relevant Temperature. J Phys Chem Lett 2021;:7914-7920. [PMID: 34384021]
- Gough RE, Jones MC, Zacharchenko T, Le S, Yu M, Jacquemet G, Muench SP, Yan J, Humphries JD, Jørgensen C, Humphries MJ, and Goult BT. Talin mechanosensitivity is modulated by a direct interaction with cyclin-dependent kinase-1. J Biol Chem 2021;:100837. [PMID: 34118235]
- Yu M, Zhao Z, Chen Z, Le S, and Yan J. Modulating mechanical stability of heterodimerization between engineered orthogonal helical domains. Nat Commun 2020; 11(1):4476. [PMID: 32900995]
- Le S, Yu M, and Yan J. Direct single-molecule quantification reveals unexpectedly high mechanical stability of vinculin-talin/α-catenin linkages. Sci Adv 2019; 5(12):eaav2720. [PMID: 31897422]
- Le S, Yu M, Bershadsky A, and Yan J. Mechanical regulation of formin-dependent actin polymerization. Semin. Cell Dev. Biol. 2019;. [PMID: 31813767]
- Le S, Yu M, and Yan J. Phosphorylation Reduces the Mechanical Stability of the α-Catenin/ β-Catenin Complex. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl. 2019;. [PMID: 31625226]

