Dr. Yang’s laboratory investigates the pathogenesis of Bacterial infection, with the focus of two groups of pathogens, the spirochetal pathogens (the causative agents of Lyme disease, Syphilis, and Leptospirosis) and the vector-borne pathogens.
The team employs the Lyme disease agent, Borrelia burgdorferi, as a model system to study the host-pathogen interactions. Lyme disease is the number one vector-borne disease in the US, but little is known on how B. burgdorferi causes disease (Lyme arthritis, Lyme carditis, neuroborreliosis). B. burgdorferi infects humans as accidental host via tick bites. The team identified two key regulatory networks that modulate expression of many Borrelia genes; one network appears to be essential for bacteria to infect mice, whereas the other is important for spirochetes to survive in the tick vector. Current focus is to elucidate the mechanisms of how B. burgdorferi senses the signals from each host and turns on each regulatory network and what the downstream effectors the networks control, with the goal to develop new strategies for early detection and prevention of Lyme disease, as well as elimination of the pathogen in ticks.
Expertise: Microbiology & Immunology
