Contact

Location: 5.025V.3 Medical

Department

Microbiology, Immunology & Molecular Genetics

Ma, Chaoyu, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, Research

Personal Statement:

Dr. Ma obtained her Ph.D. in Pharmacology and Cancer Biology from Duke University, Durham, NC. During her Ph.D. thesis research in the laboratory of Dr. Xiao-Fan Wang, she focused on TGF-b-induced tumor metastasis. Dr. Ma joined Dr. Nu Zhang’s lab at UTHSCSA in 2014 to study the differentiation and maintenance of memory CD8+ T cells. She is interested in CD8+ T cell responses to chronic antigen exposure, including chronic viral infection and tumors.

Education

Ph.D., Pharmacology and Cancer Biology at Duke University

Research

My current research is focused on the biology of Tcf-1+ CD8+ T cells during chronic antigen exposure. During chronic infection or tumor challenge, antigen-specific CD8+ T cells enter a differentiation state called “exhaustion” with greatly reduced effector function. Exhausted T cells are not homogenous. A less exhausted subset expresses the transcription factor Tcf-1. Tcf-1+CD8+ T cells are the population sustaining T cell response during chronic antigen exposure and represent a key to improving current T-cell-based immunotherapies. We are using both tumor and chronic viral infection models to determine the key molecular regulators for Tcf-1+CD8+ T cells.

Awards & Accomplishments

2007                           Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center Young Investigator Awards, NC, USA

2015                           Best Postdoctoral Researcher Award, Department of Microbiology, Immunology & Molecular Genetics, UTHSCSA, TX, USA.

2016                           Poster Presentation Award 1st place winner, MIMG Department Annual Retreat, San Antonio, TX, USA.

Publications

  1. Chaoyu Ma and Nu Zhang. Lymphoid tissue residency – a key to understand Tcf-1+PD-1+ T cells. Front. Immunol. Dec. 7, 2022. DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.1074698.
  2. Guo Li, Saranya Srinivasan, Liwen Wang, Chaoyu Ma, Kai Guo, Wenhao Xiao, Wei Liao, Shruti Mishra, Xin Zhang, Yuanzheng Qiu, Qianjin Lu, Yong Liu, and Nu Zhang. TGF-b-dependent lymphoid tissue residency of stem-like T cells limits response to tumor vaccine. Nat Commun. 2022. 13:6043. doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-33768-x.
  3. Chaoyu Ma, Liwen Wang, Wei Liao, Yong Liu, Shruti Mishra, Guo Li, Xin Zhang, Yuanzheng Qiu, Qianjin Lu, and Nu Zhang. TGF-b promotes stem-like T cells via enforcing their lymphoid retention. J. Exp. Med. 2022, 219 (10): e20211538. (Selected by JEM editors to join Special Collection: Lymphatic Vessels in Health and Disease 2022)
  4. Yinghong Hu, William Hudson, Christopher Medina, Antonio Baptista, Chaoyu Ma, Wei Liao, Ronald Germain, Nu Zhang, and Rafi Ahmed. TGF-b regulates the transcriptional program and quiescence of virus-specific PD-1+Tcf-1+ CD8 T cells during chronic LCMV infection. J. Exp. Med. 2022, 219 (10): e20211574.
  5. Shruti Mishra, Saranya Srinivasan, Chaoyu Ma, and Nu Zhang. CD8+ regulatory T cell – A mystery to be revealed. Front. Immunol. 18 Aug. 2021. DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2021. 708874.
  6. Wei Liao, Yong Liu, Chaoyu Ma, Guo Li, Shruti Mishra, Liwen Wang, Saranya Srinivasan, Kenneth Ka-Ho Fan, Haijing Wu, Qianwen Li, Ming Zhao, Xun Liu, Erika L. Demel, Xin Zhang, Yuanzheng Qiu, Qianjin Lu, and Nu Zhang. The downregulation of IL-18R defines bona fide kidney-resident CD8+ T cells. iScience. 2021 Jan 22; 24 (1), 101975. Doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2020.101975.
  7. Shruti Mishra, Wei Liao, Yong Liu, Ming Yang, Chaoyu Ma, Haijing Wu, Ming Zhao, Xin Zhang, Yuanzheng Qiu, Qianjin Lu, and Nu Zhang. TGF-b and Eomes control the homeostasis of CD8+ regulatory T cells. J. Exp. Med. 2020. Sep 29; 218 (1). e20200030. (Selected by JEM editors to join Special Collections: 2020: The Year in Experimental Medicine, Cytokine Collection 2021. Commentary by Harvey Cantor and Hye-Jung Kim, “A new chapter in the CD8 Treg story”)
  8.  Wei Liao, Chaoyu Ma, Nu Zhang. Isolation of Mouse Kidney-Resident CD8+ T cells for Flow Cytometry Analysis. J. Vis. Exp. 2020. Jun 27; (160). Doi:10.3791/61559
  9. Henrique Borges da Silva, Changwei Peng, Haiguang Wang, Kelsey M. Wanhainen, Chaoyu Ma, Sharon Lopez, Alexander Khoruts, Nu Zhang, Stephen C. Jameson. Extracellular ATP sensing via P2RX7 promotes CD8+ tissue-resident memory T cells by enhancing TGF-β sensitivity. Immunity. 2020 Jul 14; 53(1): 158-171.e6. doi:10.1016/ j.immuni.2020.06.010.
  10. Yong Liu, Chaoyu Ma, and Nu Zhang. Tissue-specific control of tissue resident memory T cells. Crit. Rev. Immunol. 2018 DOI:10.1615/CritRevImmunol.2018025653
  11. Chaoyu Ma, Shruti Mishra, Erika L. Demel, Yong Liu, and Nu Zhang. TGF-b controls the formation of kidney-resident T cells via promoting effector T cell extravasation. J. Immunol. 2017 Jan 15;198(2):749-756. doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.1601500. (Highlighted “In This Issue” section)
  12. Chaoyu Ma and Nu Zhang. Transforming growth factor-b signaling is constantly shaping memory T cell population. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2015;Sep 1;112 (35): 11013-7. doi: 10.1073/ pnas. 1510119112.
  13. Chaoyu Ma and Xiao-Fan Wang. (2008) In vitro Assays for the Extracellular Matrix Protein-Regulated Extravasation Process. Cold Spring Harbor Protocols; 2008; doi:10.1101/ pdb. prot5034.
  14. Ma C., Rong Y., Radiloff D. R., Datto M. B., Centeno B., Bao S., Cheng A. W. M., Lin F., Jiang S., Yeatman T. J., Wang X.-F. (2008) Extracellular Matrix Protein ßig-h3/TGFBI Promotes Metastasis of Colon Cancer by Enhancing Cell Extravasation. Genes & Development, 22 (3), 308-21
  15. Bao, S., Ouyang, G., Huang, Z., Bai, X., Liu, M., Ma, C., Shao, R. Anderson, R. M., Wang, X.-F. (2004) Periostin potently promotes metastatic growth of colon cancer by augmenting cell survival via the Akt/PKB pathway. Cancer Cell, 5, 329-339
  16. Wooldridge, A. A., MacDonald, J. A., Erdodi, F., Ma, C., Borman, M. A., Hartshorne, D. J., Haystead, T. A. J. (2004) Smooth muscle phosphatase is regulated in vivo by exclusion of phosphorylation of Threonine 696 of MYPT1 by phosphorylation of Serine 695 in response to cyclic nucleotides. J. Biol. Chem., 279, 34496-34504