Professor, Department of Biomedical Sciences & Pathobiology
Program Focus
Dr. Yuan’s research interest focuses on host-pathogen interactions in enteric viral diseases including infectivity, pathogenesis and immunity, and on intervention strategies to reduce viral diarrhea including prophylactics, therapeutics, vaccines and influences of probiotics/prebiotics and gut microbiota. She develops and uses gnotobiotic pig and human-gut-microbiota transplanted pig models of human rotavirus and norovirus infection and disease to study the mechanisms of immune modulation by probiotics/prebiotics, to evaluate anti-diarrheal and anti-viral drugs, and to develop novel approaches and delivery systems to improve the protective efficacy of human rotavirus and norovirus vaccines.
Selected Publications
1. Yugo DM, Heffron CL, Ryu J, Uh K, Subramaniam S, Matzinger SR, Overend C, Cao D, Kenney SP, Sooryanarain H, Cecere T, LeRoith T, Yuan L, Jue N, Clark-Deener S, Lee K, Meng XJ. 2018. Infection dynamics of hepatitis E virus in wild-type and immunoglobulin heavy chain knockout JH (-/-) gnotobiotic piglets. J Virol. Epub Date 8/17/2018. doi:10.1128/JVI.01208-18.
2. Cao D, Cao QM, Subramaniam S, Yugo DM, Heffron CL, Rogers AJ, Kenney SP, Tian D, Matzinger SR, Overend C, Catanzaro N, LeRoith T, Wang H, Pineyro P, Lindstrom N, Clark-Deener S, Yuan L, Meng XJ. 2017. Pig model mimicking chronic hepatitis E virus infection in immunocompromised patients to assess immune correlates during chronicity. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 114:6914-6923. doi:10.1073/pnas.1705446114.
3. Tin CM, Yuan L, Dexter RJ, Parra GI, Bui T, Green KY, Sosnovtsev SV. 2017. A Luciferase Immunoprecipitation System (LIPS) assay for profiling human norovirus antibodies. J Virol Methods 248:116-129. doi:10.1016/j.jviromet.2017.06.017.
4. Sheng, J, Lei S, Yuan L, Feng X. 2017. Cell-free protein synthesis of norovirus virus-like particles. RSC Advances 7(46):28837-28840.
5. Bui T, Li G, Ke W, Twitchell E, Lei S, Ramesh A, Weiss M, Yang X, Clark-Deener S, Choy R, Yuan L*. 2017. Racecadotril reduces human rotavirus diarrhea and prevents body weight loss in neonatal gnotobiotic pigs. Comparative Med. 67(2):157-164. PMC5402735.
6. Nealon NJ, Yuan L, Yang X, Ryan EP. 2017. Rice bran and probiotics alter the porcine large intestine and serum metabolomes for protection against human rotavirus diarrhea. Front. Microbiol. 8:653. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2017.00653. PMC5399067.
7. Becker-Dreps S, Vilchez S, Bucardo F, Twitchell E, Choi S K, Hudgens MG, Perez J, Yuan L. 2017. The association between fecal biomarkers of environmental enteropathy and rotavirus vaccine response in Nicaraguan infants. Pediatr Infect Dis J. 36(4):412-416. DOI: 10.1097/INF.0000000000001457.
8. Twitchell EL, Tin C, Wen K, Zhang H, Becker-Dreps S, Azcarate-Peril MA, Vilchez S, Li G, Ramesh A, Weiss M. Lei S, Bui T, Yang X, Schultz-Cherry S, Yuan L*. 2016. Modeling human enteric dysbiosis and rotavirus immunity in gnotobiotic pigs. Gut Pathog. 8, 51. doi: 10.1186/s13099-016-0136-y. PMC5100090.
9. Borresen EC, Guajardo MC, Zambrana LE, Perez J, Perez C, Stallones L, Becker-Dreps S, Yuan L, Vilchez S, Ryan EP. 2016. Association between infant feeding practices and nutritional status in healthy Nicaraguan infants. J. Food Nutri Diete 1 (3):110.
10. Mahsoub HM, Evans NP, Beach NM, Yuan L, Zimmerman K, Pierson FW. 2016. Real-time PCR-based infectivity assay for the titration of turkey hemorrhagic enteritis virus, an adenovirus, in live vaccines. J Virol Methods. 239:42-49.
11. Lei S, Ramesh A, Twitchell E, Wen K, Bui T, Weiss M, Yang X, Kocher J, Li G, Giri-Rachman E, Nguyen VT, Jiang X, Ryan EP, Yuan L*. 2016. High protective efficacy of probiotics and rice bran against human norovirus infection and diarrhea in gnotobiotic pigs. Front. Microbiol. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2016.01699. PMC5090003.
12. Lei S, Ryu J, Wen K, Twitchell E, Bui T, Ramesh A, Weiss M, Li G, Samuel H, Clark-Deener S, Jiang X, Lee K*, Yuan L*. 2016. Increased and prolonged human norovirus infection in RAG2/IL2RG deficient gnotobiotic pigs with severe combined immunodeficiency. Sci. Rep. 6, 25222; doi:10.1038/srep25222. PMC4846862.
13. Lei S, Samuel H, Twitchell E, Bui T, Ramesh A, Wen K, Weiss M, Li G, Yang X, Jiang X, Yuan L*. 2016. Enterobacter cloacae inhibits human norovirus infectivity in gnotobiotic pigs. Sci. Rep. 6, 25017; doi:10.1038/srep25017. PMC4845002.
14. Wang H, Gao K, Wen K, Allen IC, Li G, Zhang W, Kocher J, Yang X, Giri-Rachman E, Li GH, Clark-Deener S, Yuan L*. 2016. Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG modulates innate signaling pathway and cytokine responses to rotavirus vaccine in intestinal mononuclear cells of gnotobiotic pigs transplanted with human gut microbiota. BMC Microbiology 16:109. doi:10.1186/s12866-016-0727-2.
15. Wen K, Bui T, Weiss M, Li G, Kocher J, Yang X, Jobst P, Vaught T, Ramsoondar, Ball S, Clark-Deener S, Ayares D, Yuan L*. 2016. B-Cell-deficient and CD8 T-cell-depleted gnotobiotic pigs for the study of human rotavirus vaccine-induced protective immune responses. Viral Immunol 29:112-27 (doi: 10.1089/vim.2015.0105). PMC4782039.
16. Wen, K, R. Yuan, M. Weiss, J. Kocher, X. Yang, and L. Yuan. 2016. Enhanced toll-like receptor-1 and 9 responses by rotavirus plus Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG are associated with decreased autophagic activity in porcine intestinal T cells. International Journal of Probiotics & Prebiotics. 11 (2):57-66.
17. Yang X, Twitchell E, Li G, Wen K, Weiss M, Kocher J, Lei S, Ramesh A, Ryan EP, Yuan L*. 2015. High protective efficacy of rice bran against human rotavirus diarrhea via enhancing probiotic growth, gut barrier function, and innate immunity. Sci Rep 5, 15004. (doi:10.1038/srep15004). PMC4602212.
18. Wen X, Cao D, Jones RW, Hoshino Y, Yuan L*. 2015. Tandem truncated rotavirus VP8* subunit protein with T cell epitope as non-replicating parenteral vaccine is highly immunogenic. Hum Vaccin Immunother 11, 2483-2489. (doi:10.1080/21645515.2015.1054583). PMC4635725.
19. Ma Y, Wen X, Hoshino Y, Yuan L*. 2015. Cloning and nucleotide sequence analyses of 11 genome segments of two American and one British equine rotavirus strains. Vet Microbiol 176, 172-178. (doi:10.1016/j.vetmic.2015.01.008). PMC4329044.
20. Wen K, Liu F, Li G, Bai M, Kocher J. Yang X, Wang H, Clark-Deener S, Yuan L*. 2015. Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG dosage affects the adjuvanticity and protection against rotavirus diarrhea in gnotobiotic pigs. J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr. 60(6):834-843. (doi:10.1097/MPG.0000000000000694).
Book chapters
1. Lei S, Yuan L*. 2019. Chapter 21, Rice bran usage in diarrhea. In Dietary Interventions in Gastrointestinal Disease: Food, Nutrients and Dietary Supplements. Ronald R. Watson and Victor R. Preedy edit, Elsevier Sciences. p257-264.
2. Lei S, Twitchell E, Yuan L*. 2018. Chapter 3. Pathogenesis, immunity and the role of microbiome/probiotics in enteric virus infections in human and animal models. In Mechanisms underlying host-microbiome interactions in pathophysiology of human diseases. Sun, J., Dudeja, P.K. edit, Springer. p56-78.
3. Yuan L*, Jobst P, Weiss M. 2017. Chapter 5. Gnotobiotic pigs: from establishing facility to modeling human infectious diseases. In Gnotobiotics. American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine (ACLAM) series. Trenton Schoeb, Kathryn Eaton edit, Academic Press. p349-368.
4. Yuan L* and Wen K. 2017. Chapter 6. Rotavirus. In Laboratory Models for Foodborne Infections. Food Microbiology Series. Edited by Donyou Liu. CRC Press/Taylor & Francis Group, Boca Roton, FL. p95-116.