Education
2003-2007 B.S. in Biology
College of Biology, Hunan University, China
2007-2013 Ph. D. in Biology, Supervisor: Dr. Bing Zhou
School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, China
Working Experiences
2013-2015 Postdoctoral Researcher, Supervisor: Dr. Bing Zhou
School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, China
2015-2019 Postdoctoral Researcher and Assistant project scientist,
Supervisor: Dr. Susan Ferro-Novick, School of Medicine, University of California San Diego, USA
2020-present Professor; Principle Investigator
Medical Research Institute, Wuhan University, China
Research Direction：Our lab is studying the molecular mechanism of selective autophagy (mainly focused on ER-phagy) and its disease relevance (mainly focused on neurodegeneration). We use yeast, fruit fly and mouse as research model organisms.
Selected Publications
[1] Yixian Cui, Smriti Parashar, Muhammad Zahoor, Patrick G. Needham, Muriel Mari, Ming Zhu, Shuliang Chen, Hsuan-Chung Ho, Fulvio Reggiori, Hesso Farhan, Jeffrey L. Brodsky, Susan Ferro-Novick*. A COPII subunit acts with an autophagy receptor to target endoplasmic reticulum for degradation. Science, 2019
[2] Yuting Zhang#, Jun Sun#, Yang Cai, Ziyan Xu, Xiang Li, Wei Wei, Pai Liu, Qiming Sun, Zhi-Hao Wang, Yixian Cui*. FAM134B-mediated ER-phagy degrades APP and suppresses Alzheimer’s disease pathology. The EMBO Journal, 2026
[3] Jiejie Yang, Yang Dong, Jiaxin Xu, Xuehong Qian, Yang Cai, Yanjun Chen, Pei Zhang, Ding Gao, Zongqiang Cui, Yixian Cui*. TM9SF3 is a Golgi-resident ATG8-binding protein essential for Golgi selective autophagy. Developmental Cell, 2025
[4] Yang Dong#, Sufang Tian#, Xueying Peng, Ping Wang, Xuehong Qian, Chenxi Xie，Rongfu Tu, Xinghuan Wang*, Yixian Cui* CCPG1-mediated reticulophagy promotes tumorigenesis and cisplatin resistance in bladder cancer. Autophagy, 2025
[5] Xueying Peng and Yixian Cui*. PDZD8 orchestrates synaptic remodeling through autophagy. Trends in Neurosciences, 2025
[6] Jiejie Yang and Yixian Cui*. TM9SF3 is a mammalian Golgiphagy receptor that safeguards Golgi integrity and glycosylation fidelity. Autophagy, 2025
[7] Wenqing Mou, Yinglu Tang, Yunpeng Huang, Zhihao Wu*, Yixian Cui*. Upregulation of neuronal ER-phagy improves organismal ?tness and alleviates APP toxicity. Cell Reports, 2024
[8] Wenqing Mou, Yixian Cui*. Enhancing neuronal reticulophagy: a strategy for combating aging and APP toxicity. Autophagy, 2024
[9] Xuehong Qian, Lingang He, Jiejie Yang, Jiajia Sun, Xueying Peng, Yuting Zhang, Yizhou Mao, Ying Zhang, Yixian Cui*. UVRAG cooperates with cargo receptors to assemble the ER-phagy site. The EMBO Journal, 2023
[10] Xuehong Qian, Jiajia Sun, Yixian Cui*. UVRAG: orchestrating the initiation of reticulophagy. Autophagy, 2023
[11] Lingang He, Xuehong Qian, Yixian Cui*. Advances in ER-phagy and its diseases relevance. Cells, 2021
[12] Yixian Cui, Smriti Parashar, Susan Ferro-Novick*. A new role for a COPII cargo adaptor in autophagy. Autophagy, 2020
[13] Shuliang Chen, Muriel Mari, Smriti Parashar, Dongmei Liu, Yixian Cui, Fulvio Reggiori, Peter J. Novick*, Susan Ferro-Novick*. Vps13 is required for the packaging of the ER into autophagosomes during ER-phagy. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 2020
[14] Shuliang Chen, Yixian Cui, Smriti Parashar, Peter J. Novick*, Susan Ferro-Novick*. ER-phagy requires Lnp1, a protein that stabilizes rearrangements of the ER network. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 2018
[15] Yixian Cui#, * Shanke Zhao#, Xudong Wang, Bing Zhou*. A novel Drosophila mitochondrial carrier protein acts as a Mg2+ exporter in fine-tuning mitochondrial Mg2+ homeostasis. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) –Molecular Cell Research, 2016
[16] Yixian Cui#, *, Shanke Zhao#, Juan Wang, Xudong Wang, Bingquan Gao, Qiangwang Fan, Fei Sun, Bing Zhou*. A novel mitochondrial carrier protein Mme1 acts as a yeast mitochondrial magnesium exporter. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) –Molecular Cell Research, 2015
[17] Yixian Cui, Shanke Zhao, Zhihao Wu, Pinghua Dai, Bing Zhou*. Mitochondrial release of the NADH dehydrogenase Ndi1 induces apoptosis in yeast. Molecular Biology of the Cell, 2012
