How cells resolve traffic in protein homeostasis.

Keeping the proteostasis highway moving

The Cho lab is dedicated to understanding how cells keep traffic moving in the protein homeostasis network: the flow from pre-mRNA processing and alternative splicing, through translation by ribosomes, to folding cycles in the endoplasmic reticulum. Proteostasis is the dynamic balance between protein synthesis, folding, and quality control that sustains growth, development, and survival. When ribosomes collide on mRNA, when nascent peptides overwhelm the folding capacity of the ER, or when any other step jams, cells must rapidly sense the disruption and resolve it, or growth halts. In plants, these traffic jams along the proteostasis highway are increasingly recognized as decisive checkpoints for environmental adaptation, yet how cells detect, buffer, and clear them remains poorly understood.

To address this, we use two complementary research models. Arabidopsis thaliana provides the established framework for plant development and physiology, while the thermoacidophilic red alga Cyanidioschyzon merolae offers a uniquely simple, single-copy organelle architecture. We adopt a multidisciplinary strategy that integrates ribosome profiling (Ribo-seq, Disome-seq), phosphoproteomics, lipidomics, CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing, and quantitative imaging. Through this approach, we aim to dissect how translational control, ER stress signaling, and lipid metabolism intersect to maintain proteostasis from the organelle to the whole-organism scale.

Given that protein homeostasis defects underlie crop yield loss, developmental disorders, and metabolic disease across kingdoms, our research seeks to provide mechanistic insight into how cells preserve translational fidelity and folding capacity under pressure. Ultimately, our work aspires to lay the foundation for engineering stress-resilient crops and tunable proteostasis-based platforms for biomanufacturing.

1. Investigating how ribosome collisions and translational pauses are sensed and resolved during environmental stress.
2. Elucidating the molecular logic of ER stress signaling.
3. Unraveling how membrane lipid composition modulates organelle-level proteostasis and stress adaptation.

October 2026

Our first NSTC research grant has been awarded: Dissecting translational control in the ER stress-response mechanism of Arabidopsis thaliana, a New Investigator Research Grant (rolling review) from the NSTC Department of Life Sciences, 1 October 2026 to 30 September 2029.

September 2026

New on this site: a Join us guide with the lab's six principles, a first-month plan, a master's timeline, and example undergraduate projects.

September 2026

First semester of teaching at NTU: Introduction of Protein Homeostasis (BFN5013) and Plant Physiology and Stress Responses (BIOT7035), both taught in English.

9 July 2026

New publication in Frontiers in Plant Science: Spatiotemporal lipid dynamics tune plant capacity under environmental stress (Cho & Lin).

1 July 2026

Lab established at the Bachelor Program of Biotechnology and Food Nutrition, National Taiwan University.

Smaller updates go out on X: @RyanYuehCho.

The team

The Cho lab opened in July 2026 and is building its first team. Every open seat below is a real opening.

Yueh (Ryan) Cho, Ph.D.

Principal Investigator

Assistant Professor. Proteostasis, ER stress, and translational control.

About the PI →

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Master's student

A two-year thesis project through the Institute of Biotechnology.

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Undergraduate researcher (專題生)

Semester or summer projects, open to NTU undergraduates.

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Research assistant

Helps run day-to-day plant and algal experiments.

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Our first alumni will be listed here, along with where they went next.

Inside the lab

Organisms, assays and images from the bench — across confocal and electron microscopy, plate phenotyping and biochemistry.

As the lab grows, group photos, milestones, and everyday moments will appear here.

Research at Cho Lab

The lab aims to understand how proteostasis is coordinated across organelles and developmental contexts to support growth and stress adaptation. I am particularly interested in how translational control, endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress signaling, and lipid metabolism intersect to regulate cellular decision-making under environmental challenges.

Rather than treating these processes as isolated pathways, my work approaches proteostasis as an integrated, multi-scale system linking ribosome behavior, membrane dynamics, and organismal phenotypes. The lab pairs Arabidopsis thaliana, established for developmental and physiological readouts, with Cyanidioschyzon merolae, a minimal eukaryote whose single-copy organelles offer unmatched resolution for quantitative organelle proteostasis.

Projects and publications

Project 1

Plant proteostasis and ER stress signaling

Translational control, ER stress, and developmental regulation

Investigates how proteostasis is coordinated across organelles to support plant development and stress adaptation. A central theme is how translational control and protein folding regulation integrate environmental cues with growth decisions.

Conceptual contribution

Establishes proteostasis as a system-level property spanning translation, ER quality control, and developmental regulation, rather than a single stress-response pathway.

Y. Cho, G.-H. Chen, S.-H. Wu*. (2026) Fully tunable phosphorylation of RPS6A ensures the successful development of Arabidopsis seedlings. Plant, Cell and Environment. doi:10.1111/pce.70426

Y. Cho*. (2025) Arabidopsis heterotrimeric G beta variants shape plant development and modulate responses to ER stress and salt stress. Plant, Cell and Environment. doi:10.1111/pce.70220

Y. Cho*. (2024) Arabidopsis AGB1 participates in salinity response through bZIP17-mediated unfolded protein response. BMC Plant Biology 24(1): 586.

Y. Cho, K. Kanehara*. (2017) Endoplasmic reticulum stress response in Arabidopsis roots. Frontiers in Plant Science 8:144.

Y. Cho, C.-Y. Yu, T. Iwasa, K. Kanehara*. (2015) Heterotrimeric G protein subunits differentially respond to ER stress in Arabidopsis. Plant Signaling & Behavior 10(10): e1061162.

Project 2

Lipid regulation of ER stress and organelle homeostasis

Membrane dynamics, lipid signaling, and stress adaptation

Approaches ER stress and cellular homeostasis from a lipid-centric perspective, examining how membrane composition, lipid-derived signaling, and lipid metabolism shape stress responses.

Conceptual contribution

Reframes ER stress as a process tightly coupled to lipid homeostasis and membrane dynamics, bridging molecular signaling with biophysical constraints.

Y. Cho, Y.-C. Lin. (2026) Spatiotemporal lipid dynamics tune plant capacity under environmental stress. Frontiers in Plant Science 17: 1905753.

K. Kanehara*, C.-Y. Yu#, Y. Cho#. (2022) A lipid viewpoint on the plant endoplasmic reticulum stress response. Journal of Experimental Botany 73(9): 2835-2847.

C.-Y. Yu, Y. Cho, O. Sharma, K. Kanehara*. (2022) What's unique? The unfolded protein response in plants. Journal of Experimental Botany 73(5): 1268-1276.

K. Kanehara*, C.-Y. Yu, Y. Cho, et al. (2015) Arabidopsis AtPLC2 is a primary phosphoinositide-specific phospholipase C in PI metabolism and the ER stress response. PLoS Genetics 11(9): e1005511.

Project 3

Protein quality control, glycosylation, and developmental timing

Dolichol metabolism, ER function, and reproductive development

Links core ER biochemical pathways to whole-plant developmental decisions, demonstrating how perturbations in protein processing cascade into organismal phenotypes.

Conceptual contribution

Demonstrates how perturbations in protein processing cascade into organismal phenotypes such as flowering time and reproduction, connecting ER biochemistry to developmental biology.

Y. Cho, C.-Y. Yu, Y. Nakamura, K. Kanehara*. (2017) Arabidopsis dolichol kinase AtDOK1 is involved in flowering time control. Journal of Experimental Botany 68(12): 3243-3252.

K. Kanehara*, Y. Cho, Y.-C. Lin, C.-E. Chen, C.-Y. Yu, Y. Nakamura. (2014) Arabidopsis DOK1 encodes a functional dolichol kinase involved in reproduction. Plant Journal 81(2): 292-303.

Courses at NTU

From the 2026 fall semester (115-1), Yueh teaches the following courses at National Taiwan University. All are taught entirely in English.

Course outlines and weekly schedules will be added as each course is finalized.

Joining the Cho lab

What to know before you email: what you'll learn, what a project looks like, how we work together, and what happens in your first weeks. Questions are always welcome at yuehcho@ntu.edu.tw.

Starting points, not fixed assignments. We'll shape the question together.

1. Seedlings under pressure. Screen Arabidopsis mutants for growth under salt or ER stress on plates, and find out which proteostasis genes matter.
2. Life in hot acid. Grow C. merolae with and without ER stress and follow how its single ER copes.
3. Seeing protein jams. Image a protein-aggregation reporter in Arabidopsis roots and measure how stress changes it.

Six principles for how the lab runs. They will grow with the team, and everyone who joins can suggest changes.

Year 1 · Autumn

A question you own: training done, core methods learned, and a one-page project plan.

Year 1 · Spring

Your first figure: thesis proposal and your first full lab-meeting talk.

Summer

Momentum: main experiments and your first conference abstract.

Year 2 · Autumn

Your story: key experiments finished and presented at a conference.

Year 2 · Spring

A clean handover: thesis, defense, and data and materials the next person can pick up.

• Week 1 · Required training. NTU lab safety training (NTU EHS), biosafety training for recombinant DNA and GM plants, and, for graduate students, the online research ethics course (Taiwan Academic Ethics Education Resource Center).
• Week 1 · Tour and setup. Walk through the lab with me, then set up your notebook and data folder.
• Week 2 · Bench basics. With me or a labmate: sterile technique, sowing Arabidopsis plates, and sub-culturing C. merolae.
• Week 3 · Shadow an experiment. Join one that is already running and write your own notebook entry for it.
• Week 4 · Present one figure. Pick a figure from Cho 2025 or Cho & Lin 2026 and explain at lab meeting how it was made and what a reviewer would ask.

Community service and science communication

Beyond peer-reviewed research, Yueh contributes to plant biology community-building through editorial service, science writing, and early-career mentoring.

Full lists of Plantae research highlights (14+ articles in 2024) and preprint highlights available via Plantae and PreLights.

One place for everything

Interested in joining? Start with Join us for projects, expectations, and how to apply. Then email Dr. Yueh Cho at yuehcho@ntu.edu.tw with your CV and a few lines on your research interests.