Contact Information
505 Goodwin Ave, Urbana, IL 61801
Biography
Postdoctoral research – Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA.
Postdoctoral research – Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN.
PhD (Developmental Biology) – Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO
MSc (Biochemistry) – Western University, London, ON, Canada
BSc (Biotechnology) – Nankai University, Tianjin, China
Research Interests
Epigenetic mechanisms of stem cell pluripotency, differentiation, and tissue maturation.
Research Description
Epigenetic mechanisms sculpture hundreds of cell type-specific gene expression programs from the same genome. Our research focuses on epigenetic regulation of cell-environment interactions in pluripotency modulation during the peri-implantation stages, and the maturation process that transforms fetal and neonatal immature cells to functionally mature cells to establish normal physiology. Differentiation of vertebrate pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) will be combined with epigenomic and gene expression profiling, bioinformatic analyses, biochemistry, and cell biology approaches in three directions:
First, basic research aimed to provide insights for fundamental epigenetic questions including mechanisms regulating locus-specific epigenetic modifications, coordination between metabolism and epigenetic regulation, and integration of environmental cues on epigenetic control.
Second, application in disease research. The insight from epigenetic regulations could be applied to discover new approaches to address unmet medical needs, especially for many common human diseases that are associated with epigenetic dysregulation.
The third area of research is technology platform development including new ways of differentiating mature cell types from pluripotent stem cells; sequencing and genomic approaches to analyze gene expression and epigenetic properties during development, normal physiology, and in disease.
Education
BSc (Biotechnology) – Nankai University, Tianjin, China
MSc (Biochemistry) – Western University, London, ON, Canada
PhD (Developmental Biology) – Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO
External Links
Highlighted Publications
Ma H, de Zwaan E, Guo YE, Cejas P, Thiru P, van de Bunt M, Jeppesen JF, Syamala S, Dall'Agnese A, Abraham BJ, Fu D, Garrett-Engele C, Lee TI, Long HW, Griffith LG, Young RA, Jaenisch R. The nuclear receptor THRB facilitates differentiation of human PSCs into more mature hepatocytes. Cell Stem Cell. 2022 May 5;29(5):795-809.e11. doi: 10.1016/j.stem.2022.03.015. Epub 2022 Apr 21. PubMed PMID: 35452598; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC9466295.
Ma H, Jeppesen JF, Jaenisch R. Human T Cells Expressing a CD19 CAR-T Receptor Provide Insights into Mechanisms of Human CD19-Positive β Cell Destruction. Cell Rep Med. 2020 Sep 22;1(6):100097. doi: 10.1016/j.xcrm.2020.100097. eCollection 2020 Sep 22. PubMed PMID: 33205073; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7659530.
Ma H, Wert KJ, Shvartsman D, Melton DA, Jaenisch R. Establishment of human pluripotent stem cell-derived pancreatic β-like cells in the mouse pancreas. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2018 Apr 10;115(15):3924-3929. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1702059115. Epub 2018 Mar 29. PubMed PMID: 29599125; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5899428.
Yang YP*, Ma H*, Starchenko A, Huh WJ, Li W, Hickman FE, Zhang Q, Franklin JL, Mortlock DP, Fuhrmann S, Carter BD, Ihrie RA, Coffey RJ. A Chimeric Egfr Protein Reporter Mouse Reveals Egfr Localization and Trafficking In Vivo. Cell Rep. 2017 May 9;19(6):1257-1267. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2017.04.048. PubMed PMID: 28494873; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5517093. *: equal contributions.
Li C*, Ma H*, Wang Y, Cao Z, Graves-Deal R, Powell AE, Starchenko A, Ayers GD, Washington MK, Kamath V, Desai K, Gerdes MJ, Solnica-Krezel L, Coffey RJ. Excess PLAC8 promotes an unconventional ERK2-dependent EMT in colon cancer. J Clin Invest. 2014 May;124(5):2172-87. doi: 10.1172/JCI71103. Epub 2014 Apr 1. PubMed PMID: 24691442; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4001536. *: equal contributions.
Wu C*, Ma H*, Brown KR, Geisler M, Li L, Tzeng E, Jia CY, Jurisica I, Li SS. Systematic identification of SH3 domain-mediated human protein-protein interactions by peptide array target screening. Proteomics. 2007 Jun;7(11):1775-85. doi: 10.1002/pmic.200601006. PubMed PMID: 17474147. *: equal contributions.
Recent Publications
Ma H, de Zwaan E, Guo YE, Cejas P, Thiru P, van de Bunt M, Jeppesen JF, Syamala S, Dall'Agnese A, Abraham BJ, Fu D, Garrett-Engele C, Lee TI, Long HW, Griffith LG, Young RA, Jaenisch R. The nuclear receptor THRB facilitates differentiation of human PSCs into more mature hepatocytes. Cell Stem Cell. 2022 May 5;29(5):795-809.e11. doi: 10.1016/j.stem.2022.03.015. Epub 2022 Apr 21. PubMed PMID: 35452598; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC9466295.
Ma H, Jeppesen JF, Jaenisch R. Human T Cells Expressing a CD19 CAR-T Receptor Provide Insights into Mechanisms of Human CD19-Positive β Cell Destruction. Cell Rep Med. 2020 Sep 22;1(6):100097. doi: 10.1016/j.xcrm.2020.100097. eCollection 2020 Sep 22. PubMed PMID: 33205073; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7659530.
Ma H, Wert KJ, Shvartsman D, Melton DA, Jaenisch R. Establishment of human pluripotent stem cell-derived pancreatic β-like cells in the mouse pancreas. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2018 Apr 10;115(15):3924-3929. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1702059115. Epub 2018 Mar 29. PubMed PMID: 29599125; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5899428.
