Yang Zong
Pathologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who works on the diagnosis of kidney and genitourinary tumours, senior author of a 2026 study proposing GPR143 as a marker for kidney tumours driven by the FLCN/TSC/mTOR-TFE pathway
Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison (by 2024 to present) · Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of California Los Angeles (earlier)
Some kidney tumours are driven by faults in one signalling chain: the genes FLCN, TSC1/TSC2 and MTOR, which control mTORC1, and the TFE family of transcription factors that sit downstream. These tumours can look like other kidney cancers under the microscope, and getting the diagnosis right matters for treatment and for spotting inherited syndromes such as Birt-Hogg-Dube and tuberous sclerosis complex. The 2026 study in Virchows Archiv, led by Q. Li with Yang Zong as senior author, tested GPR143, a protein that can be stained in tissue sections.
GPR143 staining was both sensitive and specific for renal tumours with FLCN/TSC/MTOR-TFE alterations, which makes it a practical addition to the tests pathologists already use. The study is based on human tumour samples and is a diagnostic tool, not a treatment.
Zong was at the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine of the University of California Los Angeles, where a 2024 Modern Pathology paper as first author described the genetic diversity of embryonic-type neuroectodermal tumours arising from testicular germ cell tumours; that paper notes the move to the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In Madison Zong also co-authored a 2026 study on the CXCL13-CXCR5 signal that draws CD8 T cells into clear cell renal cell carcinoma. A lab or profile page could not be checked.
Milestones in the Atlas
A selection, not a full bibliography: only papers that meet the Atlas inclusion criteria.
| Year | Evidence | Study |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | M | GPR143, a novel immunohistochemical marker for renal tumors with FLCN/TSC/MTOR-TFE alterations. LI2026 Senior author: led the study showing that GPR143 immunostaining is a sensitive and specific marker for renal tumours with FLCN/TSC/MTOR-TFE pathway alterations. |
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