People

Research Interests

The Gu lab is interested in studying the nuclear envelope, the hallmark of the eukaryote cell. We focus on investigating the function of nuclear membrane proteins in chromatin organization, signal transduction, and regulation of gene expression. We also explore the specialization of different nuclear transport receptors in mediating nuclear shuttling of signaling cargos and its significance in determining plant immune responses. 

Selected Publications

See the complete publication list on our lab website https://nature.berkeley.edu/gu_lab/

• Tang, Y., Yang, X., Huang, A., Seong, K., Ye, M., Li, M., Zhao, Q., Krasileva, K., and Gu, Y. (2024). Proxiome assembly of the plant nuclear pore reveals an essential hub for gene expression regulation. Nature Plants 10: 1005.
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• Jia, M., Chen, X., Shi, X., Fang, Y. and Gu, Y. (2023). Nuclear transport receptor KA120 regulates molecular condensation of MAC3 to coordinate plant immune activation. Cell Host & Microbe  31: 1685.
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• Tang, Y., Ho, M., Kang, B., and Gu, Y. (2022). GBPL3 localizes to the nuclear pore complex and functionally connects the nuclear basket with the nucleoskeleton in plants. PLOS Biology 20 (10): 23001831.
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• Wang, W. and Gu, Y. (2022). The emerging role of biomolecular condensates in plant immunity. The Plant Cell  34: 1568.
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• Tang, Y., Dong, Q., Wang, T., Gong, L., and Gu, Y. (2022). PNET2 is a component of the plant nuclear lamina and is required for proper genome organization and activity. Developmental Cell 57: 19. 
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• Fang, Y. and Gu, Y. (2021). Regulation of plant immunity by nuclear membrane-associated mechanisms. Frontiers in Immunology 12: 771065.
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• Jia, M., Shen, X., Tang, Y., Shi, X., and Gu, Y. (2021). A karyopherin constrains nuclear activity of the NLR protein SNC1 and is essential to prevent autoimmunity in Arabidopsis. Molecular Plant 14: 1733. 
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• Xu, F., Jia, M., Li, X., Tang, Y., Jiang, K., Bao, J., and Gu, Y. (2021). Exportin-4 Coordinates Nuclear Shuttling of TOPLESS Family Transcription Corepressors to Regulate Plant Immunity. The Plant Cell  33: 697.
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• Li, X., and Gu, Y. (2020). Structural and functional insight into the nuclear pore complex and nuclear transport receptors in plant stress signaling. Current Opinion in Plant Biology 58: 60.
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• Tang, Y., Huang, A., and Gu, Y. (2020). Global profiling of plant nuclear membrane proteome in Arabidopsis. Nature Plants 6: 838-847 
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• Huang, A., Tang, Y., Shi, X., Jia, M., Zhu, J., Yan, X., Chen, H., and Gu, Y. (2020). Proximity labeling proteomics reveals critical regulators for inner nuclear membrane protein degradation in plants. Nature Communications 11: 3284.
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• Gu, Y. (2018). The nuclear pore complex: a strategic platform for regulating cell signaling. New Phytologist 219: 25-30. (Tansley Insight by Tansley Medal Finalist 2017)
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• Gu, Y., Zavaliev, R. and Dong X. (2017). Membrane trafficking in plant immunity. Molecular Plant 10: 1026-1034.
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• Gu, Y., Zebell, S., Liang, Z., Wang, S., Kang, B. and Dong, X. (2016). Nuclear pore permeabilization is a convergent signaling event in effector-triggered immunity. Cell 166: 1526-1538.
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• Gu, Y. and Dong X. (2015). Stromules: signal conduits for plant immunity. Developmental Cell 34: 3-4.
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• Wang, S.*, Gu, Y.*, Zebell, S.*, Anderson, L.K., Wang, W., Mohan, R., and Dong, X. (2014). A noncanonical role for the CKI-RB-E2F cell-cycle signaling pathway in plant effector-triggered immunity. Cell Host-Microbe 16: 787-794.
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• Serrano, I.*, Gu, Y.*, Qi, D., Dubiella, U. and Innes, R.W. (2014). The Arabidopsis EDR1 protein kinase negatively regulates the ATL1 E3 ubiquitin ligase to suppress cell death. The Plant Cell 26: 4532-4546.
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• Gu, Y. and Innes, R.W. (2012). The Keep On Going (KEG) protein of Arabidopsis regulates intracellular protein trafficking and is degraded during fungal infection. The Plant Cell 24: 4717-4730.
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• Gu, Y. and Innes, R.W. (2011). The Keep On Going (KEG) protein of Arabidopsis physically interacts with the Enhanced Disease Resistance 1 (EDR1) protein and recruits it to early endosomes. Plant Physiology 115: 1827-1838.

Awards, Honors, and Appointments

Presidential Medalist in Cell Biology 2023 (Society of Experimental Biology, "Scientists with Impact" interview)

Rising Stars in Plant Sciences 2022 (Molecular Plant/Cell Press)

Reviewing Editors - The Plant Cell (since 2021)

Teaching

PLANTBI-135  Physiology and Biochemistry of Plants
PLANTBI-200D  Plant Cell Biology
UGIS-192  Undergraduate Interdisciplinary Studies