As imbalanced energy homeostasis can lead to metabolic disorders such as obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease, we are dedicated to investigating topics of metabolism and energy homeostasis with a focus on human health and disease biology (Physiology) from a pharmacological perspective (Pharmacology).
In this regard, fat cells (adipocytes) serve as a unique model because adipose tissue is not only the unsung hero that delays metabolic diseases but also plays an active role in regulating whole-body metabolism and energy balance. Our group employs a combination of state-of-the-art molecular technologies and pharmacological approaches to study the role of fat plasticity and metabolic status (catabolic and anabolic) on energy homeostasis to reveal druggable mechanisms and potential drugs that target them, which have fundamental implications for achieving metabolic health and combating metabolic diseases.
Our research is currently funded by:
Lab news-New lab photo!
Lab news
Prof. Yongguo Li receives ERC Grant!
He was granted this funding for this cutting edge research in the field of lipid metabolism and how it can be influenced to increase calory consumption.
Brown fat biology
Brown fat is an unique thermogenic organ that burns energy to produce heat to keep mammals warm. This tremendous energy dissipation capacity enables it to function as a metabolic sink beyond increasing energy expenditure and consequently holds great promise for achieving metabolic health. Understanding the fundamental biology of brown fat is essential for harnessing its magically metabolic power. However obviousness tenets, such as "brown fat does not produce heat without activation"; "brown fat ultimately is an energy-wasting organ, a constrained strategy that minimizes brown fat activity unless obligate will have been favored during natural selection to safeguard metabolic thriftiness", are frequently ignored or unappreciated. To allow efficiently and fully harness the energy-consuming potential of BAT for therapeutic interventions, we are especially inteteresed in understanding (1) the molecular regulators and ignitors of brown fat, (2) how brown fat cells tolerate or cope effectively the heating stress and (3) the energy saving mechnisms of this energy wasting organ.
White fat plasticity
White adipose tissue, one of the largest and most dynamic organs, plays a major role in the regulation of whole-body energy homeostasis. Indeed, adipose tissue remodeling is an emerging therapeutic strategy for the treatment of obesity-related disorders like diabetes. Notably, white fat can acquire a brown fat-like phenotype in a process named browning. This plasticity represents a promising strategy to convert a mere energy-storing organ into an energy-dissipating one. Nonetheless, a comprehensive understanding of the regulatory mechanisms mediating white fat browning is still lacking, especially under non-adrenergically stimulated conditions. Variation in white fat browning propensity among inbred mouse strains provides a unique opportunity to zoom in on the core regulators of the browning program across different genotypes. Here, we exploit the large natural variation in WAT browning propensity among inbred mouse strains to gain an inclusive view of the core regulatory network coordinating this cellular process.
Technique Development
The development of a novel method, technique or technology can revolutionize the way in which we perform experiments and facilitate addressing fundamental knowledge gaps in our field of research. For example, the development of three-dimensional cultures will advance our understanding of key developmental questions, such as tissue morphogenesis, organogenesis and cellular crosstalk, single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) technologies allow the dissection of gene expression at single-cell resolution, label-free metabolic imaging enables spatiotemporal monitoring of tissue heterogeneity and plasticity in a non-invasive way, microplate-based high-resolution cellular respirometry facilitates bioenergetic analysis of intact cells in real-time and super-resolution microscopes enable the optical imaging of cellular components with resolutions at the nanometre scale. In our group, we have strong interests and engaged ourselves in developing, optimizing and employing novel techniques to understand the fundamental biology of fat tissue in metabolism and energy balance.
Yongguo Li (Lab leader)
Yongguo studied life sciences and biotechnology in Beijing, China.
Following his doctorate and postdoctoral research at the Technical University of Munich, Germany, he has headed up an Emmy Noether research unit since 2020 with funding from the German Research Foundation (DFG). He was appointed Assistant Professor at the Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University Hospital Bonn in 2022.
In 2023, he secured the European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant, which is the most competitive and prestigious grant in Europe.
Email: yongguo.li@uni-bonn.de
Laura Heimerl (PhD student)
Laura completed her Master’s degree in Nutrition and Biomedicine at the Technical University Munich in 2022. Since January 2023, She is a Ph.D. student in the Li lab.
Her primary objectives are to discover novel regulatory networks of Ucp1 via genome-wide CRISPR/Cas9 Screening and to understand the molecular control of the stability of UCP1 protein.
Her master thesis was honored as one of the best master thesis of the TUM life science department in 2022.
Email: heimerl@uni-bonn.de
Dr. Sha Jin (Lab Manager,Scientist )
Sha finished her education at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (B.Sc, M.Sc, and Ph.D) and has a strong background in human medicine, biophysics and teaching (human medicine, Master).
Her research focuses on stimuli-induced stress response as well as cell-cell communication using fluorescence-based techniques and cutting-edge super-resolution microscopy.
At the moment, her project is selected, incubated, and supported by DFG-TRR333 Start-up Funding.
Email: shajin@uni-bonn.de
Mireia Llerins (PhD student)
Mireia completed her bachelor’s degree in Biomedicine at the University of Barcelona, Spain. She moved to Germany to do a master’s degree in Nutrition and Biomedicine at the Technische Universität München. Her master thesis was honored as one of the best master thesis of the TUM life science department in 2022.
Since October 2022, she is working on her PhD in Project 12 of the TRR 333 consortium. Her main aim is to unravel the physiological effects of the adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) on brown adipose tissue activation, as well as the interplay between ACTH and glucocorticoids in this tissue.
Email: mllerins@uni-bonn.de
Alexander Wolf (PhD student)
Alexander studied Nutrition and Biomedicine at the Technical University of Munich. He started his PhD in April 2022 at the Li lab, after completing his Master Thesis there. His research aims to unravel the genomic regulation of brown fat identity genes.
During his PhD he will investigate the cellular and metabolic heterogeneity of thermogenic adipose tissue using a combination of single-nucleus RNA sequencing, epigenomic approaches and metabolic imaging via mid-infrared optoacoustic microscopy.
His master thesis was honored as the best master thesis of Freising in 2022.
Email: wolfa@uni-bonn.de
Zhen Li (PhD student)
Zhen completed the MSc in the major of Developmental Biology in China.
He joined Li lab as a Ph.D. student in Oct 2020. His project focuses on lipolysis and thermogenesis in brown adipocytes, aiming to elucidate how endogenous heat production in brown adipose tissue is rapidly fine-tuned via balance of phosphorylation and dephosphorylation.
Meanwhile, he puts attention to the dynamic changes of phosphoproteomics during lipolysis on and off, exploring the rapid regulation network of lipolysis.
Email: zhenli@uni-bonn.de
Yuanyuan Wang (PhD student)
Yuanyuan completed her master’s study at Shandong University, China.
She joined Li Lab as a Ph.D. candidate in Nov. 2021. In her Ph.D project, she is developing, functionally characterizing and molecular analyzing brown adipocyte in 3D cell culture systems via a systematic mutil-omics approach. Her aims are to understand the intricate cell-cell crosstalk and signaling in the thermogenic microenvironment.
She is honored with the Rising Star awards of TRR333 research consortium in 2023 for her research on 3D culture of brown adipocytes.
Email: yy.wang@uni-bonn.de
Huixuan Jiao (PhD student)
Huixuan completed her bachelor’s degree in Bioengineering at Sichuan University in China. Following that, she completed her master’s degree in the major of Molecular Biotechnology at the Technical University of Munich in Germany. She joined Prof. Dr. Yongguo Li‘s group for her internship and master’s thesis in 2022 and will start her Ph.D. with his group in Nov. 2023.
Her project focuses on the epigenomic and transcriptional mechanisms of white fat browning capacity, aiming to unravel the trans- or cis-regulatory elements such as epigenetic and TF binding basis that affect the browning among different inbred mouse strains.
Email: hjiao@uni-bonn.de
Sophie Kronisch (Technician)
Sophie did her apprenticeship as a biological-technical assistant in Olsberg where she grew up.
In 2021, she moved to Bonn to work in a company that is developing biotherapeutics.
Based on her interest in research, she joined the working group of Prof. Dr. Li since August 2023.
Email: s57717@uni-bonn.de
Mohamad Issa Basha (Medical Student)
Mohamad is a fifth-year medical student, and currently an intern in our lab. His supervisor, Mireia, is guiding him as he takes his initial steps in lab work and techniques. This preparation will enable him to undertake a one-year research stay at Harvard Medical School, where he will be working on his medical dissertation (Dr.med.) under the guidance of Professor Li.
Mohamad has been granted a scholarship from the German Academic Scholarship Foundation (Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes).
Email: issabash@uni-bonn.de
Alesia Hysenaj (PhD student)
Alesia completed both her Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Biochemistry at the Heinrich-Heine University of Düsseldorf (HHUD), Germany.
Alesia started her Ph.D. in AG Li in October 2023. She is interested in revealing the energy energy-saving mechanisms of BAT ( Brown Adipose Tissue), known for being energy wasting: it burns energy to produce heat.
Email:ahys@uni-bonn.de
Zoe Meerholz (Msc student)
Zoe Meerholz completed her bachelor’s degree in Biology at University Bonn in Germany.
Afterwards, she joined the Molecular Cell Biology Master Programm at the University Bonn and is currently writing her master thesis in our lab.
She supports Yuanyuan Wang in characterizing and analyzing murine and human 3D cultured brown adipocytes on a molecular level and aims to understand the molecular differences between 2D and 3D cultures via epigenomics.
Email: s6zomeer@uni-bonn.de
You as BATman/BATwoman
Come join us! We are enthusiastic to have you as new colleague and team member!
Join our friendly team in the mighty fine Institute!
We truly believe you will accomplish amazing things and we look forward to supporting you in any way we can along your journey!
You as WATman/WATwoman
Come join us! We are enthusiastic to have you as new colleague and team member!
Join our friendly team in the mighty fine Institute!
We truly believe you will accomplish amazing things and we look forward to supporting you in any way we can along your journey!
Li Y*, Fromme T. (2022). Uncoupling Protein 1 Does Not Produce Heat without Activation. Int J Mol Sci,23(5):2406. doi: 10.3390/ijms23052406
. PMID: 35269549
Li Y, Li Z, Ngandiri DA, Llerins Perez M, Wolf A, Wang Y. The Molecular Brakes of Adipose Tissue Lipolysis. Front Physiol. 2022 Feb 24;13:826314. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2022.826314
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Bast-Habersbrunner A, Kiefer C, Weber P, Fromme T, Schießl A, Schwalie PC, Deplancke B, Li Y*, Klingenspor M* (2021). Long noncoding RNA Ctcflos orchestrates transcriptional and post-transcriptional alternative splicing programs essential for thermogenic gene expression. EMBO Reports, 22(7):e51289. doi: 10.15252/embr.202051289.PMID:
34056831
Laurila S, Sun L, Lahesmaa M, Schnabl K, Laitinen K, Klén R, Li Y, Balaz M, Wolfrum C, Steiger K, Niemi T, Taittonen M, U-Din M, Välikangas T, Elo LL, Eskola O, Kirjavainen AK, Nummenmaa L, Virtanen KA, Klingenspor M, Nuutila P. Secretin activates brown fat and induces satiation. Nat Metab. 2021 Jun;3(6):798-809.
Oeckl J, Bast-Habersbrunner A, Fromme T, Klingenspor M, Li Y (2020). Isolation, culture, and functional analysis of murine thermogenic adipocytes STAR Protocols, 1 (3), 100118
Li Y*, Schwalie PC *, Bast-Habersbrunner A, Mocek S, Russeil J, Fromme T, Deplancke B, Klingenspor M (2019). Systems-Genetics-Based Inference of a Core Regulatory Network Underlying White Fat Browning.Cell Rep, 29(12):4099-4113. IF: 8.109
Li Y *, Braun K *, Gabler S, Willershäuser M, Reber J, Karlas A, Laurila S, Lahesmaa M, u Din M, Bast A, Virtanen KA, Fromme T, Bolze F, O’Farrell L, Alsina-Fernandez J, Coskun T, Ntziachristos V, Nuutila P, Klingenspor M (2018). Secretin-activated brown fat mediates prandial thermogenesis to induce satiation. Cell, 175(6):1561-1574.
Li Y, Fromme T, Schweizer S, Schöttl T, Klingenspor M (2014).Taking control over intracellular fatty acid levels is essential for the analysis of thermogenic function in cultured primary brown and brite/beige adipocytes.EMBO Rep,15(10):1069-76.
* co-contribution.
Come join us! We are always looking for enthusiastic candidates for internships, master thesis, PhD and Postdoc projects. Please feel free to contact:
Prof. Dr. Yongguo Li
Institut für Pharmakologie und Toxikologie, Biomedizinischen Zentrum 1 (Gebäude 13), Universitätsklinikum Bonn, Universität Bonn
Tel. +49 (0)228/28751381
E-Mail: yongguo.li@uni-bonn.de