DU Yanan

E-mail: duyanan@tsinghua.edu.cn

Tel: +86-10-62781691

Resume

2019-present Professor, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University

2018-present Principal Investigator, Tsinghua-PKU, Center of Life Science

2017-2019 Tenured Associate professor, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University

2014-2017 Tenure-track Associate professor, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University

2010-2014 Principal Investigator, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University

2007-2010 Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard-MIT Division of Health Science and Technology, MIT; Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, USA

2003-2007 Ph.D. in Bioengineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore

1998-2002B.Eng. in Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China

Research Fields & Emphasis

By integrating micro/nano-fabrication technologies with biomaterials engineering, biomechanics, and gene editing, our research constructs "precise" and "scalable" 3D microscale regenerative and pathological microenvironments, providing an innovative theoretical foundation and solutions for regenerative medicine. The primary focus is on constructing various stem cell microenvironments, immune cell microenvironments, and pathological microenvironments such as fibrosis. It also emphasizes the study of cell-cell and cell-matrix interaction mechanisms within these microenvironments, alongside their translational applications in regenerative medicine.

Notably, utilizing the stem cell 3D microtissue-based regenerative microenvironment, our research has achieved scalable, high-quality in vitro cell expansion, as well as minimally invasive, targeted, and highly efficient in vivo delivery and regenerative therapies. This addresses the issues of insufficient cell quantity and unstable quality in current stem cell regenerative therapies, along with challenges such as poor in vivo localization, low survival rates, and limited therapeutic efficacy.

Simultaneously, a "3D fibrotic microtissue-based biomimetic pathological model" was established. This model inspired the discovery of novel mechanisms revealing how the pathomechanical microenvironment—formed by blood vessels and the extracellular matrix—promotes the progression of tissue fibrosis and inhibits tissue regeneration, thereby offering new insights and therapeutic approaches for tissue repair and regeneration.

The core technologies of microtissue engineering have been successfully translated from Tsinghua University to facilitate the downstream large-scale manufacturing of 3D stem cell microtissues and the clinical translation of pharmaceutically assisted stem cell and microtissue regenerative therapies. Its core product, gelatin 3D microcarriers, became the first pharmaceutical excipient microcarrier for cellular therapies from the Center for Drug Evaluation (CDE) of the China NMPA in 2020 and the U.S. FDA in 2021, respectively. Furthermore, the associated 3D cell intelligent manufacturing and processing technologies empowered China's first stem cell drug to receive approval for clinical application in 2025.

Lab web:http://dulab-tsinghua.net/

Representative Papers

1.Tension-induced directional migration of hepatic stellate cells potentially coordinates liver fibrosis progression, Nature Biomedical Engineering, 2025. DOI:10.1038/s41551-025-01381-0

2.Hepatic hypertension on-a-chip identifies GPR116 as a hydrostatic pressure mechanosensor to regulate vascular injury in cirrhosis, Science Advances, 2025. DOI:10.1126/sciadv.adu7596

3.Artificial Cells with Liquid-liquid Phase Separation-Regulated Cell-free Protein, Synthesis, PNAS, 2025. DOI:10.1073/pnas.2511283122

4.Water Transport-Induced Liquid-Liquid Phase Separation Facilitates Gelation for Controllable and Facile Fabrication of Physically Crosslinked Microgels, Advanced Materials, 2024. DOI:10.1002/adma.202405109

5.Scar-Degrading Endothelial Cells as a Treatment for Advanced Liver Fibrosis, Advanced Science, 2023. DOI:10.1002/advs.202203315

6.Advanced glycation end-products as mediators of the aberrant crosslinking of extracellular matrix in scarred liver tissue,Nature Biomedical Engineering, 2023. DOI:10.1038/s41551-023-01019-z

7.GMP‐grade microcarrier and automated closed industrial scale cell production platform for culture of MSCs, Journal of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, 2022. DOI:10.1002/term.3341

8.Exendin-4 gene modification and microscaffold encapsulation promote self-persistence and antidiabetic activity of MSCs, Science Advances, 2021. DOI:10.1126/sciadv.abi4379

9.Dispersible and Dissolvable Porous Microcarrier Tablets Enable Efficient Large-Scale Human Mesenchymal Stem Cell Expansion, Tissue Engineering Part C, 2020. DOI:10.1089/ten.tec.2020.0039

10.Matrix-transmitted paratensile signaling enables myofibroblast–fibroblast cross talk in fibrosis expansion, PNAS, 2020. DOI:10.1073/pnas.1910650117

11.Mechanotransduction-modulated fibrotic microniches reveal the contribution of angiogenesis in liver fibrosis, Nature Materials, 2017. DOI:10.1038/nmat5024