Affiliations
Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, NUS.
Education
| Degree and Institution | Year(s) |
| PhD. University of Hamburg, Germany | 2008 |
| Bsc. Hanoi National University, Vietnam | 2000 |
Professional Experience
| Position and Institute | Year(s) |
| Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, NUS. | 2015–present |
| Senior Research Fellow, Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, Singapore | 2012-2015 |
| Research Fellow, SIgN, A*STAR, Singapore | 2011-2012 |
| Research Fellow, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, USA | 2008-2011 |
| Research Assistant, Academy of Science and Technology, Hanoi, Vietnam | 2000-2004 |
Awards
| Award | Year(s) |
| NUS Young Investigator Award (YIA) | 2016 |
| BMBF (Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Germany) graduate scholarship | 2005 |
| Young Investigator Award from human proteome organization (HUPO) | 2004 |
Patents and Invention Disclosures
| Patents and Invention | Year(s) |
| Invention disclosure: ILO: 2016-310 (role: inventor) | Dec, 2016 |
| US Provisional Patent Application (role: co-inventor) | Sept, 2013 |
| U.S. Provisional Patent Application (role: co-inventor) | April, 2014 |
| Invention Disclosure (role: co-inventor) | May, 2014 |
Research Interest
Lipids play vital roles in health and diseases. Dr. Nguyen has significant contributions to the field of lipid transport by discovery of the functions of Mfsd2a as the first lipid transporter in brain during his postdoc training. This breakthrough discovery explains the long sought for mechanism by which the essential lipid DHA enters human brains and unravels for the first time that plasma-derived lysolipids, namely LPCs, are essential for normal human brain growth and functions. The major research focuses in our lab are mechanistic characterizations of novel nutritionally regulated genes that involve in lipid, nutrient transport and metabolism. We employ gene-knockout mouse models as well as molecular cell biology, biochemistry, lipidomics techniques to mechanistically unravel the physiological functions of these novel proteins. The ultimate goals are to translate these discoveries into therapeutic applications to treat lipid-related diseases such as obesity and improve health. Staffs working in our lab are expected to gain knowledge and skills in protein and lipid biochemistry, cell culture assays as well as the physiological characterizations of knockout mice.
Research projects are available for graduate and undergraduate students. Candidates interested in joining our laboratory please directly contact Dr. Long Nguyen at bchnnl@nus.edu.sg
Selected Publications
- Vu, T. M., A.-N. Ishizu, J. C. Foo, X. R. Toh, F. Zhang, D. M. Whee, F. Torta, A. Cazenave-Gassiot, T. Matsumura, S. Kim, S.-A. E. S. Toh, T. Suda, D. L. Silver, M. R. Wenk and Nguyen, L. N.* (2017). Mfsd2b is essential for the sphingosine-1-phosphate export in erythrocytes and platelets. Nature. *corresponding author.
- Quek, D.Q., Nguyen, L.N., Fan, H., and Silver, D.L. (2016). Structural insights into the transport mechanism of the human sodium-dependent lysophosphatidylcholine transporter Mfsd2a. J Biol Chem.
- Wong, B.H., Chan, J.P., Cazenave-Gassiot, A., Poh, R.W., Foo, J.C., Galam, D.L., Ghosh, S., Nguyen, L.N., Barathi, V.A., Wey, Y.S., et al. (2016). Mfsd2a is a transporter for the essential omega-3 fatty acid DHA in eye and important for photoreceptor cell development. J Biol Chem.
- Mihu, M.R., Roman-Sosa, J., Varshney, A.K., Eugenin, E.A., Shah, B.P., Ham Lee, H., Nguyen, L.N., Guimaraes, A.J., Fries, B.C., Nosanchuk, J.D., et al. (2015). Methamphetamine Alters the Antimicrobial Efficacy of Phagocytic Cells during Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Skin Infection. MBio 6, e01622-01615.
- *Guemez-Gamboa, A., *Nguyen, L.N., Yang, H., Zaki, M.S., Kara, M., Ben-Omran, T., Akizu, N., Rosti, R.O., Rosti, B., Scott, E., et al. (2015). Inactivating mutations in MFSD2A, required for omega-3 fatty acid transport in brain, cause a lethal microcephaly syndrome. Nature Genetics. Comments in Nature Genetics.
- Alakbarzade, V., Hameed, A., Quek, D.Q., Chioza, B.A., Baple, E.L., Cazenave-Gassiot, A., Nguyen, L.N., Wenk, M.R., Ahmad, A.Q., Sreekantan-Nair, A., et al. (2015). A partially inactivating mutation in the sodium-dependent lysophosphatidylcholine transporter MFSD2A causes a non-lethal microcephaly syndrome. Nature Genetics. Comments in Nature Genetics.
- Nguyen, L.N., Ma, D., Shui, G., Wong, P., Cazenave-Gassiot, A., Zhang, X., Wenk, M.R., Goh, E.L., and Silver, D.L. (2014). Mfsd2a is a transporter for the essential omega-3 fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid. Nature. Comments by Nature News and View; Neuron Previews;
- Miranda, D.A., Kim, J.H., Nguyen, L.N., Cheng, W., Tan, B.C., Goh, V.J., Tan, J.S., Yaligar, J., Kn, B.P., Velan, S.S., et al. (2014). Fat storage-inducing transmembrane protein 2 is required for normal fat storage in adipose tissue. J Biol Chem.
- Kim, H.J., Cho, H., Alexander, R., Patterson, H.C., Gu, M., Lo, K.A., Xu, D., Goh, V.J., Nguyen, L.N., Chai, X., et al. (2014). MicroRNAs are required for the feature maintenance and differentiation of brown adipocytes. Diabetes.
- Nguyen, L.N., Cesar, G.V., Le, G.T., Silver, D.L., Nimrichter, L., and Nosanchuk, J.D. (2012). Inhibition of Candida parapsilosis fatty acid synthase (Fas2) induces mitochondrial cell death in serum. PLoS Pathogens.
- Nguyen, L.N., and Nosanchuk, J.D. (2011). Lipid droplet formation protects against gluco/lipotoxicity in Candida parapsilosis: An essential role of fatty acid desaturase Ole1. Cell Cycle. Cover image
- Nguyen, L.N., Trofa, D., and Nosanchuk, J.D. (2009). Fatty acid synthase impacts the pathobiology of Candida parapsilosis in vitro and during mammalian infection. PLoS One.