Energy-precision trade-off in mitotic oscillators revealed by ATP modulation in artificial cells.

S. Wang^*, L. Yourston^*, G. Maryu^**, Y. Kim^**, D. Walker, U. Kadiyala, Q. Yang^†

bioRxiv (2026).
DOI: 10.64898/2026.03.02.709190 | Link 

Matrix Rigidity Governs Switch-Like Oscillatory State Transitions of the Segmentation Clock in Isolated Presomitic Mesoderm Cells.

C.Y. Sung^*, Y. Yang^*, U. Kadiyala^**, O. Blanchard^**, L. Yourston^**, D. Walker, L. Li, S. Sun, Z. Xu, M. Gonzalez, J. Fu, Q. Yang^†

bioRxiv (2026).
DOI: 10.1101/2024.07.02.601712v2 | Link 

Featured in PreLights: (2026) “The clock under pressure: How presomitic mesoderm cells sense physical rigidity to control developmental timing”
DOI: 10.1242/prelights.44472 | Link 

Mechanistic origins of temperature scaling in the early embryonic cell cycle.

J. Rombouts^*, F.Tavella^*, A. Vandervelde, C. Phong, J. Ferrell, Q. Yang^†, L. Gelens^†

Nature Communications (2025).
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-62918-0 | Link 

Spatial heterogeneity accelerates phase-to-trigger wave transitions in frog egg extracts.

O. Puls^*, D.R. Reynés^*, F. Tavella, M. Jin, Y. Kim, L. Gelens^†, Q. Yang^†

Nature Communications (2024).
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-54752-7 | Link 

A human pluripotent stem cell-based somitogenesis model using microfluidics.

Y. Liu, Y.S. Kim, X. Xue, N. Kobayashi, S. Sun, Q. Yang, O. Pourquié, J. Fu^†

Cell Stem Cell (2024).
DOI: 10.1016/j.stem.2024.06.004 | Link 

Comprehensive parameter space mapping of cell cycle dynamics under network perturbations.

Z Li, S Wang, M Sun, M Jin, D Khain, Q Yang^†

ACS Synthetic Biology (2024).
DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.3c00631 | Link 

Nuclear-cytoplasmic compartmentalization promotes robust timing of mitotic events by cyclin B1-Cdk1

G Maryu, Q Yang^†

Cell Reports 41, 111870 (2022).
DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2022.111870 | Link 

In vitro cell cycle oscillations exhibit a robust and hysteretic response to changes in cytoplasmic density

M Jin^*, F Tavella^*, S Wang, Q Yang^†

PNAS 119, 6 (2022).
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2109547119 | Link 

Monitoring spontaneous quiescence and asynchronous proliferation-quiescence decisions in prostate cancer cells.

A Pulianmackal, D Sun, K Yumoto, Z Li, Y Chen, M Patel, Y Wang, E Yoon, A Pearson, Q Yang, R Taichman, F Cackowski, L Buttitta^†

Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology 9, 3494 (2021).
DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2021.728663 | Link 

Plug-in tubes removing oil and packing droplets for time-controlled droplet-based assays.

M Sun, G Maryu, S Wang, Q Yang^†, RC Bailey^†

Biomicrofluidics 15, 024108 (2021).
DOI: 10.1063/5.0047924 | Link 

Real-Time Monitoring of APC/C-Mediated Substrate Degradation Using Xenopus laevis Egg Extracts.

J Kamenz, R Qiao, Q Yang, JE Ferrell^†

Methods Mol Biol 2329, 29 (2021).
DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-1538-6_3 | Link 

High-resolution mapping of the period landscape reveals polymorphism in cell cycle frequency tuning.

Z Li, S Wang, M Sun, M Jin, D Khain, Q Yang^†

bioRxiv (2021).
DOI: 10.1101/2021.05.10.442602 | Link 

Engineering spatiotemporal organization and dynamics in synthetic cells.

A. Groaz, H. Moghimianavval, F. Tavella, T. Giessen^*, A. Vecchiarelli^*, Q. Yang^*, A. Liu^*†

WIREs Nanomedicine and Nanobiotechnology e1685 (2020).
DOI: 10.1002/wnan.1685 | Link 

Building Dynamic Cellular Machineries in Droplet-Based Artificial Cells with Single-Droplet Tracking and Analysis.

M. Sun, Z. Li, S. Wang, G. Maryu, and Q. Yang^†

Analytical Chemistry 91, 9813 (2019).
DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.9b01481 | Link 

μdroPi: A Hand-Held Microfluidic Droplet Imager and Analyzer Built on Raspberry Pi.

M. Sun, Z. Li, and Q. Yang^†

Journal of Chemical Education 96, 1152 (2019).
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.8b00975 | Link 

The Rise of Ultrafast Waves.

O. Puls and Q. Yang^†

Developmental Cell 47, 532 (2018).
DOI: 10.1016/j.devcel.2018.11.026 | Link 

Reconstitution of Cell-cycle Oscillations in Microemulsions of Cell-free Xenopus Egg Extracts.

Y. Guan, S. Wang, M. Jin, H. Xu, and Q. Yang^†

J. Vis. Exp. 139, e58240 (2018).
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A robust and tunable mitotic oscillator in artificial cells.

Y. Guan*, Z. Li*, S. Wang, P. Barnes, X. Liu, H. Xu, M. Jin, A.P. Liu, and Q. Yang^†

eLife 7, e33549 (2018).
DOI: 10.7554/eLife.33549 | Link 

Systems and synthetic biology approaches in understanding biological oscillators.

Z. Li and Q. Yang^†

Quantitative Biology 6, 1 (2018).
DOI: 10.1007/s40484-017-0120-7 | Link 

Incoherent Inputs Enhance the Robustness of Biological Oscillators.

Z. Li, S. Liu, and Q. Yang^†

Cell Systems 5, 72 (2017).
DOI: 10.1016/j.cels.2017.06.013 | Link 

The Cdk1-APC/C cell cycle oscillator circuit functions as a timedelayed, ultrasensitive switch.

Q. Yang and J. E. Ferrell Jr.

Nature Cell Biology 15, 519 (2013).
PDF  | Link 

Modeling the cell cycle: why do certain circuits oscillate?

J. E. Ferrell Jr., T. Tsai, and Q. Yang

Cell 144, 874 (2011).
PDF  | Link 

Circadian gating of the cell cycle revealed in single cyanobacterial cells.

Q. Yang*, B. F. Pando*, G. Dong, S. S. Golden, and A. van Oudenaarden

Science 327, 1522 (2010).
PDF  | Link 

Elevated ATPase activity of KaiC applies a circadian checkpoint on cell division in Synechococcus elongatus.

G. Dong, Q. Yang, Q. Wang, Y. Kim, T. L. Wood, K. W. Osteryoung, A. van Oudenaarden, and S. S. Golden

Cell 140, 529 (2010).
PDF  | Link | Editorial 

Heritable stochastic switching revealed by single-cell genealogy.

B. B. Kaufmann*, Q. Yang*, J. T. Mettetal, and A. van Oudenaarden

PLos Biology 5, e239 (2007).
PDF  | Link