On May 12, 2023, Prof. Yu Huang from the City University of Hong Kong, delivered a lecture titled "NO to Vascular Diseases" at the Lihu Campus of Shenzhen University. Prof. Yu Huang was invited by Prof. Liu Jie from the School of Basic Medical Science of Shenzhen University Medical School, to help mark the 40th-anniversary celebration of Shenzhen University. These celebrations involved a series of 800 academic activities in total, with this event being the 719th, and the 72nd lecture of the Shenzhen University Medicine Forum.

During the lecture, Professor Huang provided an in-depth introduction to the history of endothelial cell research and the regulation of vasodilatory function, as well as the discovery of nitric oxide, and the mechanism of nitric oxide-mediated endothelial diastolic function. By sharing the stories of several Nobel laureates who discovered nitric oxide, Professor Huang inspired students and young scientists to strive to solve important scientific problems rather than limit their research to publishing high impact factor papers.

Professor Huang also summarized his work on the vascular endothelium over the past 30 years. One standout paper that he discussed was published in ARS in 2010, which showed that the mechanism of endothelial dysfunction in type 2 diabetic mice is due to angiotensin-induced oxidative stress in endothelial cells. Another of his papers published in the European Heart Journal in 20XX showed that calcitriol can improve diastolic dysfunction in hypertensive renal arteries by inhibiting oxidative stress. Professor Huang Yu also presented his more recent findings on vascular-related diseases – namely, shear stress and atherosclerosis. One of his papers published in Nature in 2016 confirmed that activation of YAP/TAZ in the Hippo pathway is involved in inducing endothelial inflammation by oscillatory shear stress. He proposed that targeted inhibition of YAP/TAZ signaling could significantly improve the development of atherosclerosis. Currently, Professor Huang’s research team are establishing a drug screening platform targeting YAP/TAZ. So far, they have identified various YAP/TAZ inhibitors, which might provide a new approach to atherosclerosis treatment.

Brief introduction of the Speaker

Professor Huang Yu is the first Senior Research Scholar of the Hong Kong Research Grants Council and Head of the Department of Biomedicine at the City University of Hong Kong. He received his Bachelor degree from the Shanghai Medical School of Fudan University, China and his Ph.D. from Cambridge University, UK. He was formerly the Chair Professor of Biomedical Sciences at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Director of the Institute of Cardiology and Vascular Research, President of the Asian Society of Vascular Biology, and Vice President of the Chinese Society of Vascular Medicine. He is currently Vice-Chairman of the Chinese Branch of the International Society for Cardiology Research (ISHR), Vice-Chairman of the Chinese Physiological Society, a member of the Academic Committee of the National Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Diseases, and a member of the National Cardiovascular Expert Committee of China. He is also one of the first Chinese Fellows of the International Heart Research Association. His team mainly studies the molecular mechanism of endothelial dysfunction in diseases such as hypertension, atherosclerosis, obesity, and diabetes. He has published 482 research papers in academic journals including Nature, Science, Cell Metabolism, Circulation Research, European Heart Journal, PNAS, Diabetes, Hypertension, and ATVB, with >31,800 citations and an H-index of 92. He has received the Croucher Excellent Researcher Award from the Hong Kong Croucher Foundation (2014), the second prize of the State Natural Science Award of China (2015), the Award for Outstanding Scientific Research Achievements in Higher Education Institutions from the Ministry of Education (the first in 2019, second prize in 2017 and 2011), and the 2020 WuXi AppTec Life Chemistry Research Award.