Janet Yang

Janet Yang received her BS from Yale University and then promptly headed for the West Coast. She attended the University of California San Francisco for her PhD in Biochemistry, and then did her postdoctoral work at the California Institute of Technology. Prof. Yang has always been fascinated by molecular motor proteins that harness the energy from ATP binding and hydrolysis to perform work in the cell. Her research uses quantitative thermodynamic and kinetic measurements to understand how these motor proteins function and how they are regulated.

At USF, the Yang Group studies the mechanism of ATP Binding Cassette (ABC) transporters, specialized integral membrane proteins that regulate the movement of substrates across cellular membranes. These transporters must sequester and import essential nutrients with low availability, as well as identify and exclude toxic compounds. Using a variety of biochemical and biophysical techniques, studies focus on the coupling of ATP binding and hydrolysis to transport, the regulation of individual ABC transporters, and the interconnection between transporter systems within one cell.

• Enzymology
• Protein biochemistry
• ABC transporters

• Faculty Representative, Board of Trustees Facilities Committee (2023 – 2024)
• Faculty Representative, Board of Trustees Finance Committee (2020 – 2022)
• Faculty Co-Chair, University Budget Advisory Committee (2020 – 2022)
• Elected Science Representative, Full-time Faculty Association Policy Board (2018 – 2021)

• California Institute of Technology, Postdoctoral Fellow
• University of California San Francisco, PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
• Yale University, BS in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology

• Muscat Scholars Program Faculty & Staff Gratitude Award (in support of 1st gen college students), 2022
• USF Collective Achievement Award (for supporting women in STEM), 2018
• Jane Coffin Childs Memorial Fund Fellowship (declined), 2011 
• National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, 2005
• Phi Beta Kappa, 2001

• Yang JG, Chen HY, Guardado JH, Gardner M, Foronda MS.  (2025) Two stages of substrate discrimination dictate selectivity in the E. coli MetNI-Q ABC transporter system. J Biol Chem 301:110493.
• Kuznetsova A, Masrati G, Vigonsky E, Livnat-Levanon N, Rose J, Grupper M, , Baloum A, Yang JG, Rees DC, Ben-Tal N, Lewinson O. (2021) Titratable transmembrane residues and a hydrophobic plug are essential for manganese import via the Bacillus anthracis ABC transporter MntBC-A. J Biol Chem 297:101087.
• Sabrialabed S, Yang JG, Yariv E, Ben-Tal N, Lewinson O. (2020) Substrate Recognition and ATPase activity of the E. coli cysteine/cystine ABC transporter YecSC-FliY. J Biol Chem 295:5245-56.
• Yang JG and Rees DC. (2015) The allosteric regulatory mechanism of the E. coli MetNI methionine ABC transporter. J Biol Chem. 290:9135-40.
• Lee JY, Yang JG, Zhitnitsky D, Lewinson O, Rees DC.  (2014) Structural basis for heavy metal detoxification by an Atm1-type exporter.  Science 343:1133-6.

• Mechanisms of substrate selectivity and transport by a bacterial methionine ABC importer, NIH SC3GM144189 (2021-2025) Role: Principal Investigator