Ying Wei, MD
Professor
Medicine
School of Medicine

After moving from Harvard to UCSF, I was committed to understanding and targeting the emerging relationship between hypoxia, EMT, and tissue remodeling during fibrogenesis and cancer progression. I pioneered the in vivo investigation of the role of epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) in pulmonary fibrosis and uncovered mechanistic insight as to how integrins and hypoxia regulate epithelial cell plasticity. In the past few years, I have been focusing on cell-based high throughput screen of TGFbeta1 inhibitors and identified small molecules that inactivate lysyl oxidase activity and selectively block TGFbeta1 responses in tumor cells and fibroblasts. These compounds greatly attenuated pulmonary fibrosis and blocked lung cancer metastasis in mouse disease models. I have led the efforts to the dissection of MOAs of the lead compounds and I am the main contributor to the pilot clinical study of the lead compound on blocking fibrotic biomarkers in patient lungs with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF). My future goal is to bring the most promising drug candidate that specifically blocks the TGFbeta1-induced collagen program in fibroblasts to the clinical arena.

• Local lung hypoxia determines epithelial fate decisions during alveolar regeneration.
  Nature cell biology 2017 Xi Y, Kim T, Brumwell AN, Driver IH, Wei Y, Tan V, Jackson JR, Xu J, Lee DK, Gotts JE, Matthay MA, Shannon JM, Chapman HA, Vaughan AE
• Urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR) ligation induces a raft-localized integrin signaling switch that mediates the hypermotile phenotype of fibrotic fibroblasts.
  The Journal of biological chemistry 2014 Grove LM, Southern BD, Jin TH, White KE, Paruchuri S, Harel E, Wei Y, Rahaman SO, Gladson CL, Ding Q, Craik CS, Chapman HA, Olman MA
• Inhibition of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and pulmonary fibrosis by methacycline.
  American journal of respiratory cell and molecular biology 2014 Xi Y, Tan K, Brumwell AN, Chen SC, Kim YH, Kim TJ, Wei Y, Chapman HA
• Suppression of tumor invasion and metastasis by concurrent inhibition of c-Met and VEGF signaling in pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors.
  Cancer discovery 2012 Sennino B, Ishiguro-Oonuma T, Wei Y, Naylor RM, Williamson CW, Bhagwandin V, Tabruyn SP, You WK, Chapman HA, Christensen JG, Aftab DT, McDonald DM
• Axin pathway activity regulates in vivo pY654-β-catenin accumulation and pulmonary fibrosis.
  The Journal of biological chemistry 2011 Ulsamer A, Wei Y, Kim KK, Tan K, Wheeler S, Xi Y, Thies RS, Chapman HA
• Integrin a6ß4 identifies an adult distal lung epithelial population with regenerative potential in mice.
  Journal of Clinical Investigation 2011 Harold A. Chapman, Xiaopeng Li, Jonathan P. Alexander, Alexis Brumwell, Walter Lorizio, Kevin Tan, Arnoud Sonnenberg, Ying Wei, Thiennu H. Vu
• Antagonistic anti-urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR) antibodies significantly inhibit uPAR-mediated cellular signaling and migration.
  The Journal of biological chemistry 2010 Duriseti S, Goetz DH, Hostetter DR, LeBeau AM, Wei Y, Craik CS
• Integrin alpha3beta1-dependent beta-catenin phosphorylation links epithelial Smad signaling to cell contacts.
  The Journal of cell biology 2009 Kim Y, Kugler MC, Wei Y, Kim KK, Li X, Brumwell AN, Chapman HA
• Epithelial cell alpha3beta1 integrin links beta-catenin and Smad signaling to promote myofibroblast formation and pulmonary fibrosis.
  The Journal of clinical investigation 2008 Kim KK, Wei Y, Szekeres C, Kugler MC, Wolters PJ, Hill ML, Frank JA, Brumwell AN, Wheeler SE, Kreidberg JA, Chapman HA
• Signaling through urokinase and urokinase receptor in lung cancer cells requires interactions with beta1 integrins.
  Journal of cell science 2008 Tang CH, Hill ML, Brumwell AN, Chapman HA, Wei Y
• Urokinase receptors are required for alpha 5 beta 1 integrin-mediated signaling in tumor cells.
  The Journal of biological chemistry 2006 Wei Y, Tang CH, Kim Y, Robillard L, Zhang F, Kugler MC, Chapman HA
• Functional relevance of urinary-type plasminogen activator receptor-alpha3beta1 integrin association in proteinase regulatory pathways.
  The Journal of biological chemistry 2006 Ghosh S, Johnson JJ, Sen R, Mukhopadhyay S, Liu Y, Zhang F, Wei Y, Chapman HA, Stack MS
• Regulation of alpha5beta1 integrin conformation and function by urokinase receptor binding.
  The Journal of cell biology 2005 Wei Y, Czekay RP, Robillard L, Kugler MC, Zhang F, Kim KK, Xiong JP, Humphries MJ, Chapman HA
• Distinct ligand binding sites in integrin alpha3beta1 regulate matrix adhesion and cell-cell contact.
  The Journal of cell biology 2003 Zhang F, Tom CC, Kugler MC, Ching TT, Kreidberg JA, Wei Y, Chapman HA
• Urokinase receptor and integrin interactions.
  Current pharmaceutical design 2003 Kugler MC, Wei Y, Chapman HA
• Urokinase receptors promote beta1 integrin function through interactions with integrin alpha3beta1.
  Molecular biology of the cell 2001 Wei Y, Eble JA, Wang Z, Kreidberg JA, Chapman HA
• Identification of a urokinase receptor-integrin interaction site. Promiscuous regulator of integrin function.
  The Journal of biological chemistry 2000 Simon DI, Wei Y, Zhang L, Rao NK, Xu H, Chen Z, Liu Q, Rosenberg S, Chapman HA
• A role for caveolin and the urokinase receptor in integrin-mediated adhesion and signaling.
  The Journal of cell biology 1999 Wei Y, Yang X, Liu Q, Wilkins JA, Chapman HA
• Plasmin and plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 promote cellular motility by regulating the interaction between the urokinase receptor and vitronectin.
  The Journal of clinical investigation 1997 Waltz DA, Natkin LR, Fujita RM, Wei Y, Chapman HA
• Mac-1 (CD11b/CD18) and the urokinase receptor (CD87) form a functional unit on monocytic cells.
  Blood 1996 Simon DI, Rao NK, Xu H, Wei Y, Majdic O, Ronne E, Kobzik L, Chapman HA
• Regulation of integrin function by the urokinase receptor.
  Science (New York, N.Y.) 1996 Wei Y, Lukashev M, Simon DI, Bodary SC, Rosenberg S, Doyle MV, Chapman HA
• Identification of the urokinase receptor as an adhesion receptor for vitronectin.
  The Journal of biological chemistry 1994 Wei Y, Waltz DA, Rao N, Drummond RJ, Rosenberg S, Chapman HA