Yang Yang
Showed as first author that the liver-secreted protein hepassocin protects against age-related liver senescence and helps the liver regenerate
State Key Laboratory of Medical Proteomics, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Beijing · Department of Engineering Physics, Tsinghua University, Beijing
Yang is based at the State Key Laboratory of Medical Proteomics in Beijing, where the 2026 study on which Yang is first author asked why aged livers regenerate so poorly after injury. The team traced the answer to Hepassocin (HPS), a liver-secreted hormone whose levels fall with age in both mice and elderly humans, and that normally activates AMPK — restraining mTOR — through a relay running from Annexin A2 (ANXA2) through ERK and p90RSK to the LKB1 kinase.
In mice engineered to lack HPS, that restraint failed: aged animals showed elevated mTOR activity, impaired autophagy, worsened cellular senescence, and a severely blunted capacity to regrow liver tissue after partial hepatectomy. The AMPK activator AICAR rescued the liver aging phenotype and regenerative capacity of aged HPS-knockout mice, and giving HPS itself improved regeneration in aged normal mice, pointing to the HPS-AMPK-mTOR axis as a lever for age-related liver decline.
Milestones in the Atlas
| Year | Evidence | Study |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | A | Hepassocin prevents age-related liver senescence and facilitates liver regeneration by activating AMPK YAN2026B First author; led the identification of Hepassocin (HPS) as an AMPK-activating hepatokine that restrains mTOR and protects against age-related liver senescence and regeneration failure. |
Co-authors in the Atlas
People with a profile here who share at least one study with Yang Yang.
- Xiaoming Yang Showed as senior author that the liver-secreted protein hepassocin protects against age-related liver senescence and helps the liver regenerate