Ying Yang, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, College of Medicine Molecular Pharmacology & Physiology

Contact Info 12901 Bruce B Downs Blvd, MDC08
Tampa FL 33612

Academic Email: yingyang@usf.edu

Academic Phone:(813) 974-8078

Education

Interdisciplinary and Emerging Signature Programs

• Cardiovascular
• Cardiovascular Sciences
• Cellular and Molecular Biology

Research Interests

• My laboratory studies the lymphatic vasculature and its related diseases. The main focus of my laboratory is to identify novel molecular mechanisms that regulates lymphangiogenesis and the formation of lymphatic valves. Dysfunction of both components is highly associated with a lymphatic disease, called lymphedema. Lymphedema can be caused by genetic mutations or lymph node removal surgery during cancer treatment. My laboratory uses state-of-art intravital and confocal microscopy combined with cell and molecular biology approaches to identify new molecular targets to treat the lymphatic vasculature.

Memberships

• Member (Microcirculatory Society, 2019 - Present)
• Member (Lymphatic Education & Research Network, 2016 - Present)
• Member (NAVBO, 2010 - Present)

Recent Publications

• Ololade Ogunsina, Richa Banerjee, Luz A. Knauer, Ying Yang. Pharmacological inhibition of FOXO1 promotes lymphatic valve growth in a congenital lymphedema mouse model. Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology. 10: 1024628, 2022.
• Derek C. Sung, Xiaowen Chen, Mei Chen, Jisheng Yang, Susan Schultz, Apoorva Babu, Yitian Xu, Siqi Gao, TC Stevenson Keller, IV, Patricia Mericko-Ishizuka, Michelle Lee, Ying Yang, Joshua P. Scallan, Mark L. Kahn. VE-cadherin enables trophoblast endovascular invasion and spiral artery remodeling during placental development. Elife. 11: 77241, 2022.
• Rafael S. Czepielewski, Emma C. Erlich, Emily J. Onufer, Shannon Young, Brian T. Saunders, Yong-Hyun Han, Mary Wohltmann, Peter L. Wang, Ki-Wook Kim, Shashi Kumar, Chyi-Song Hsieh, Ying Yang, Joshua P. Scallan, Bernd H. Zinselmeyer, Michael J. Davis, Gwendalyn J. Randolph. Ileitis-associated tertiary lymphoid organs arise at lymphatic valves and impede mesenteric lymph flow in response to tumor necrosis factor. Immunity. 54(12) : 2795-2811, 2021.
• Joshua P. Scallan, Luz A. Knauer, Huayan Hou, Jorge A. Castorena-Gonzalez, Michael J. Davis, Ying Yang. Foxo1 deletion promotes the growth of new lymphatic valves. Journal of Clinical Investigation. 131(14) : 142341, 2021.
• Drishya Iyer, Melanie Jannaway, Ying Yang, Joshua P. Scallan. Lymphatic valves and lymph flow in cancer-related lymphedema. Cancers (Basel). 12(8) : 2297, 2020.
• Ezinne F. Mong, Ying Yang, Kemal M. Akat, John Canfield, Jeffrey VanWye, John Lockhart, John C. M. Tsibris, Frederick Schatz, Charles J. Lockwood, Thomas Tuschl, Umit A. Kayisli, Hana Totary-Jain. Chromosome 19 microRNA cluster enhances cell reprogramming by inhibiting epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition. Scientific Reports. 10(1) : 1-13, 2020.
• Michiko Jo, Andrea N. Trujillo, Ying Yang, and Jerome W. Breslin. Evidence of functional ryanodine receptors in rat mesenteric collecting lymphatic vessels. American Journal of Physiology-Heart and Circulatory Physiology. 317(3) : H561-H574, 2019.
• Ying Yang, Boksik Cha, Zeinab Y. Motawe, R. Sathish Srinivasan, Joshua P. Scallan. VE-Cadherin Is Required for Lymphatic Valve Formation and Maintenance. Cell Reports. 28(9) : 2397-2412, 2019.
• Megan A. Sheridan*, Ying Yang*, Ashish Jain, Alex S. Lyons, Penghua Yang, Sambasiva R. Brahmasani, Aihua Dai, Yuchen Tian, Mark R. Ellersieck, Geetu Tuteja, Danny J. Schust, Laura C. Schulz, Toshihiko Ezashi, R. Michael Roberts. (*Co-first author) Early onset preeclampsia in a model for human placental trophoblast. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 116(10) : 4336-4345, 2019.
• Jerome Breslin, Ying Yang, Joshua Scallan, Richard Sweat, Shaquria Adderley, Walter Murfee. Lymphatic Vessel Network Structure and Physiology. Comprehensive Physiology. 9(1) : 207-299, 2018.
• R. Michael Roberts, Toshihiko Ezashi, Megan A. Sheridan, Ying Yang. Specification of trophoblast from embryonic stem cells exposed to BMP4. Biology of Reproduction. 99(1) : 212-224, 2018.
• R. Michael Roberts, Shinichiro Yabe, Ying Yang, Toshihiko Ezashi. A human stem cell model for creating placental syncytiotrophoblast, the major cellular barrier that limits fetal exposure to xenobiotics. Stem Cells in Toxicology and Medicine. : 179-195, 2017.
• Shinichiro Yabe, Andrei P. Alexenko, Mitsuyoshi Amita, Ying Yang, Danny J. Schust, Yoel Sadovsky, Toshihiko Ezashi, R. Michael Robert. Comparison of syncytiotrophoblast generated from human embryonic stem cells and from term placentas. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 133(19) : 2598-2607, 2016.
• Ying Yang*, Katsuyuki Adachi*, Megan Hollenbeck, Danny J. Schust, Laura C. Schulz, Toshihiko Ezashi, R. Michael Roberts. (*Co-first author) Heightened potency of human pluripotent stem cell lines created by transient BMP4 exposure. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 112(18) : 2337-2346, 2015.
• R, Sathish Srinivasan*, Noelia Escobedo*, Ying Yang*, Ashley Interiano, Miriam E. Dillard, David Finkelstein, Suraj Mukatira, Hyea Jin Gil, Harri Nurmi, Kari Alitalo, Guillermo Oliver. (*Co-first author) The Prox1–Vegfr3 feedback loop maintains the identity and the number of lymphatic endothelial cell progenitors. Genes & Development. 28(19) : 2175-2187, 2014.
• Ying Yang and Guillermo Oliver. Development of the mammalian lymphatic vasculature. Journal of Clinical Investigation. 124(3) : 888-897, 2014.
• Ying Yang and Guillermo Oliver. Transcriptional Control of Lymphatic Endothelial Cell Type Specification. Advances in Anatomy, Embryology and Cell Biology. (214) : 5-22, 2014.
• Ying Yang, José Manuel García-Verdugo, Mario Soriano-Navarro, R. Sathish Srinivasan, Joshua P. Scallan, Manvendra K. Singh, Jonathan A. Epstein, Guillermo Oliver. Lymphatic endothelial progenitors bud from the cardinal vein and intersomitic vessels in mammalian embryos. Blood. 120(11) : 2340-2348, 2012.
• Xiaoqing Zhang, Cindy T. Huang, Jing Chen, Matthew T. Pankratz, Jiajie Xi, Jin Li, Ying Yang, Timothy M. LaVaute, Xue-Jun Li Melvin Ayala, Gennadiy I. Bondarenko, Zhong-Wei Du, Ying Jin, Thaddeus G. Golos, Su-Chun Zhang. Pax6 Is a Human Neuroectoderm Cell Fate Determinant. Cell Stem Cell. 7(1) : 90-100, 2010.
• Hai Fang*, Ying Yang*, Chunliang Li, Shijun Fu, Zuqing Yang, Gang Jin, Kankan Wang, Ji Zhang, Ying Jin. (*Co-first author) Transcriptome Analysis of Early Organogenesis in Human Embryos. Developmental Cell. 19(1) : 174 -184, 2010.
• R. Sathish Srinivasan, Xin Geng, Ying Yang, Yingdi Wang, Suraj Mukatira, Michèle Studer, Marianna P. R. Porto, Oleg Lagutin, Guillermo Oliver. The nuclear hormone receptor Coup-TFII is required for the initiation and early maintenance of Prox1 expression in lymphatic endothelial cells. Genes & Development. 24(7) : 696-707, 2010.
• Lingjie Li, Lei Sun, Furong Gao, Jing Jiang, Ying Yang, Chunliang Li, Junjie Gu, Zhe Wei, Acong Yang, Rui Lu, Yu Ma, Fan Tang, Sung Won Kwon, Yingming Zhao, Jinsong Li, Ying Ji. Stk40 links the pluripotency factor Oct4 to the Erk/MAPK pathway and controls extraembryonic endoderm differentiation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 107(4) : 1402-1407, 2010.
• Ying Yang*, Junke Zheng*, Xiaofei Zhou, Zhuqin Yang, Yuedi Tan, Ailian Liu, Xiang Gao, Zai Chang, Hui Z. Sheng. (*Co-first author) Potential treatment of liver-related disorders with in vitro expanded human liver precursors. Differentiation. 75(10) : 928-938, 2007.

Awards/Honors

• NAVBO Springer Junior Investigator Award (NAVBO - 2021)