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MCOM Graduate & Postdoctoral Affairs

PhD Students & Faculty

Yonggang Ma

Yonggang Ma, PhD

Assistant Professor, College of Medicine Molecular Pharmacology & Physiology

Contact Info 12901 Bruce B. Downs Blvd., MDC 2529
Tampa FL 33612

Academic Email: yma4@usf.edu

Academic Phone:(813) 974-1516

Education

  • PhD, Cardiovascular Pharmacology, Peking Union Medical College, 2010

Interdisciplinary and Emerging Signature Programs

  • Allergy, Immunology & Infectious Disease
  • Cardiovascular Sciences
  • Cellular and Molecular Biology

Research Interests

  • Myocardial infarction (MI)-induced ischemic heart failure is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States. Our research goals are to reveal the cellular and molecular mechanisms whereby innate and adaptive immunity regulate cardiac repair post-myocardial infarction and to accelerate the development of immunomodulatory agents for the treatment of patients with ischemic heart failure. We use mouse myocardial infarction model to investigate how distinct innate (e.g. neutrophils, macrophages, and eosinophils) and adaptive (T and B lymphocytes) immune cells regulate cardiac wound healing response. Current projects include: 1) T lymphopenia in ischemic heart failure; 2) detrimental role of age-associated thymic involution in cardiac remodeling post-MI; and 3) innate immune memory and cardiac repair.

Recent Publications

  • Ma Y, Chiao YA, Zhang J, Manicone AM, Jin YF, Lindsey ML. Matrix metalloproteinase-28 deletion amplifies inflammatory and extracellular matrix responses to cardiac aging. Microscopy and microanalysis. 18(1) : 81-90, 2012.
  • Ma Y, Zhang X, Bao H, Mi S, Cai W, Yan H, Wang Q, Wang Z, Yan J, Fan GC, Lindsey ML, Hu ZW. Toll-like receptor (TLR) 2 and TLR4 differentially regulate doxorubicin induced cardiomyopathy in mice. PLoS ONE. 7(7) , 2012.
  • Ma Y, Halade GV, Zhang J, Ramirez TA, Levin D, Voorhees A, Jin YF, Han HC, Manicone AM, Lindsey ML. Matrix metalloproteinase-28 deletion exacerbates cardiac dysfunction and rupture after myocardial infarction in mice by inhibiting M2 macrophage activation. Circulation research. 112(4) : 675-88, 2013.
  • Ma Y, Yabluchanskiy A, Lindsey, ML. Neutrophil roles in left ventricular remodeling following myocardial infarction. Fibrogenesis & Tissue Repair. 6(1) : 11, 2013.
  • Ma Y, Chiao YA, Clark R, Flynn ER, Yabluchanskiy A, Ghasemi O, Zouein F, Lindsey ML, Jin YF. Deriving a cardiac ageing signature to reveal MMP-9-dependent inflammatory signalling in senescence. Cardiovascular Research. 106(3) : 421-431, 2015.
  • Ma Y, Yabluchanskiy A, Iyer RP, Cannon PL, Flynn ER, Jung M, Henry J, Cates CA, Deleon-Pennell KY, Lindsey ML. Temporal neutrophil polarization following myocardial infarction. Cardiovascular Research. 110(1) : 51-61, 2016.
  • Lindsey ML, Jung M, Yabluchanskiy A, Cannon PL, Iyer RP, Flynn ER, DeLeon-Pennell KY, Valerio FM, Harrison CL, Ripplinger CM, Hall ME, Ma Y. Exogenous CXCL4 infusion inhibits macrophage phagocytosis by limiting CD36 signalling to enhance post-myocardial infarction cardiac dilation and mortality. Cardiovascular Research. 115(2) : 395-408, 2019.
  • Ma Y, Mouton AJ, Lindsey ML. Cardiac macrophage biology in the steady-state heart, the aging heart, and following myocardial infarction. Translational Research. 191: 15-28, 2018.
  • Ma Y, Yang X, Chatterjee V, Meegan JE, Beard RS, Yuan SY. Role of neutrophil extracellular traps and vesicles in regulating vascular endothelial permeability. Frontiers in Immunology. 10: 1037, 2019.
  • Ma Y, Zabell T, Creasy A, Yang X, Chatterjee V, Villalba N, Kistler EB, Wu MH, Yuan SY. Gut ischemia reperfusion injury induces lung inflammation via mesenteric lymph-mediated neutrophil activation. Frontiers in immunology. 11: 586685, 2020.
  • Ma Y Role of neutrophils in cardiac injury and repair following myocardial infarction. Cells. 10(7) : 1676, 2021.
  • Ma Y, Yang X, Chatterjee V, Wu MH, Yuan SY. The gut-lung axis in systemic inflammation: role of mesenteric lymph as conduit. American journal of respiratory cell and molecular biology. 64(1) : 19-28, 2021.
  • Ma Y, Yang X, Villalba N, Chatterjee V, Reynolds A, Spence S, Wu MH, Yuan SY. Circulating lymphocyte trafficking to the bone marrow contributes to lymphopenia in myocardial infarction. American journal of physiology. Heart and circulatory physiology. 322(4) : H622-H635, 2022.
  • Ma Y, Kemp SS, Yang X, Wu MH, Yuan SY. Cellular mechanisms underlying the impairment of macrophage efferocytosis. Immunology Letters. 254: 41-53, 2023.
  • Shane DX, Konovalova DM, Rajendran H, Yuan SY, Ma Y. Glucocorticoids impair T lymphopoiesis after myocardial infarction. American Journal of Physiology - Heart and Circulatory Physiology [03636135]. 327(2) : H533-H544, 2024.