Dr. Sichun Yang is an Associate Professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. He received his PhD in Biophysics at the University of California, San Diego and completed postdoctoral training at the University of Chicago.
At the intersection of experimental and computational biology, Dr. Yang develops integrated approaches that combine advanced experimental methods with molecular computations. His laboratory utilizes state-of-the-art biophysical techniques, including SAXS and NMR spectroscopy, to elucidate protein structure-function relationships.
His research on estrogen receptor regulation has revealed fundamental mechanisms of hormone signaling and drug resistance in breast cancer. His laboratory's identification of intrinsically disordered protein regions as “soft” molecular switches (Nature 2024, in press) has revealed novel regulatory pathways. These findings, combined with insights into allosteric communication between receptor domains (Nature Communications 2018), have led to translational advances, as evidenced by US Patent 12,135,332 (2024).
My research is in estrogen receptor biophysics, cancer biology, and drug discovery.
Teaching Information
Courses Taught
Office Hours
By appointment
Research Information
Research Interests
- Multifaceted integration for estrogen receptor
- Biophysics of estrogen receptor disorder
- Targeted disruption of estrogen receptor activation
- Drugging the undrugged for advanced ER-positive breast cancer
Research Projects
- Phospho-ER structure and function
- Intrinsic ER disorder
- Novel ER drug discovery
- Integrative data-driven computational modeling
Recent Funding
- NIH/NIGMS (R01GM114056), 08/01/15-07/31/25; Role: PI
- American Cancer Society, 01/01/24–12/31/25; Role: PI
- Mary Kay Ash Foundation, 07/01/2024–06/30/2026; Role: PI
- NIH/NCI (R01CA256161), 04/01/21–03/31/26; Role: PI of subaward
- Council to Advance Human Health, 10/01/2024–09/30/2025; Role: PI
Awards and Honors
Publications
Selected Publications
- Du Z, Wang H, Luo S, Yun Z, Wu C, Yang W, Buck M, Zheng W, Hansen AL, Kao HK, and Yang S. "The sequence-structure-function relationship of intrinsic ERalpha disorder," Nature, in press (2024)
- Yang S and Bernado P. "Integrative Biophysics: protein interaction and disorder," Journal of Molecular Biology, 432 (9) 2843-2845 (2020)
- Huang W, Peng Y, Kiselar J, Zhao X, Albaqami A, Mendez D, Chen Y-H, Chakravarthy S, Gupta S, Ralston C, Kao H-Y, Chance MR, and Yang S. "Multidomain architecture of estrogen receptor reveals interfacial cross-talk between its DNA-binding and ligand-binding domains," Nature Communications, 9 (1) 3520, (2018)
- Yang S. "Methods for SAXS-based structure determination of biomolecular complexes," Advanced Materials, 26 (46) 7902–7910, (2014)