Email

yuqing.huo@bcm.edu

Positions

Professor and Danny B. Jones Chair in Ophthalmology

Department of Ophthalmology
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, Texas

Professor

Department of Medicine
Section of Cardiovascular Research
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, Texas United States

Professor

Molecular and Cellular Biology
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, Texas United States

Member

Cardiovascular Research Institute
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, Texas United States

Faculty member

Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences
Graduate Program in Development, Disease Models and Therapeutics (DDMT)
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, Texas United States

Education

PhD from Beijing Medical University (Peking University)

07/1998 - Beijing, P.R. China

Postdoctoral Training at University of Virginia

07/2001 - Charlottesville, Virginia United States

Professional Interests

• Metabolic and inflammatory pathways, including genetic and epigenetic regulation.
• Murine and human endothelial cells, vascular smooth muscle cells, fibroblasts, leukocytes, microglia, and bone marrow cells.
• Translational studies using animal models for microvascular diseases, such as retinopathy, and aortic diseases, including atherosclerosis, aneurysm, calcification, etc.

Professional Statement

Research interests of Dr. Huo's group focus on understanding the mechanisms underlying the interaction between vascular cells and leukocytes/immune cells that contribute to the development of cardiovascular and obesity/metabolic diseases. Specifically, Dr. Huo's group investigates the metabolic pathways that control leukocyte recruitment and activation, endothelial inflammation, the proliferation and migration of vascular smooth muscle cells and fibroblasts, as well as the mesenchymal transition of these cells in disease progression.

Microvascular diseases, such as retinopathies (retinopathy of prematurity [ROP]; proliferative diabetic retinopathy [PDR]; age-related macular degeneration [AMD]), stroke, dementia, Alzheimer’s Disease, diabetes/obesity, and pulmonary hypertension, as well as macrovascular diseases, including atherosclerosis, aortic aneurysm, and vascular calcification, are a central focus of their research endeavors. By studying the metabolic and inflammatory processes underlying these vascular diseases, Dr. Huo's group aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of these conditions and pave the way for developing novel therapeutic interventions for vascular-related diseases.

Dr. Huo's group applies in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo animal models of these diseases to various engineered mice, utilizing a variety of cellular, molecular, and genetic assays, as well as omics analyses, to determine the phenotypes of disease models and characterize the underlying genetic, molecular, and metabolic mechanisms involved in the development and progression of these diseases.

Websites

Selected Publications

• Xu J, Liu Z, Yang Q, Ma Q, Zhou Y, Cai Y, Zhao D, Zhao G, Lu T, Ouyang K, Hong M, Kim HW, Shi H, Zhang J, Fulton D, Miller C, Malhotra R, Weintraub NL, Huo Y. "Adenosine kinase inhibition protects mice from abdominal aortic aneurysm via epigenetic modulation of VSMC inflammation.." Cardiovasc Res.. 2024 Sep 2; Pubmed PMID: 38722818
• Wang Y, Xu Y, Yan S, Cao K, Zeng X, Zhou Y, Liu Z, Yang Q, Pan Y, Wang X, Boison D, Su Y, Jiang X, Patel VS, Fulton D, Weintraub NL, Huo Y "Adenosine kinase is critical for neointima formation after vascular injury by inducing aberrant DNA hypermethylation." Cardiovasc Res.. 2020 Feb 17; Pubmed PMID: 32065618
• Ma Q, Yang Q, Xu J, Zhang X, Kim D, Liu Z, Da Q, Mao X, Zhou Y, Cai Y, Pareek V, Kim HW, Wu G, Dong Z, Song WL, Gan L, Zhang C, Hong M, Benkovic SJ, Weintraub NL, Fulton D Jr, Asara JM, Ben-Sahra I, Huo Y "ATIC-Associated De Novo Purine Synthesis Is Critically Involved in Proliferative Arterial Disease." Circulation. 2022 Sep 8; Pubmed PMID: 36073366
• Liu Z, Xu J, Ma Q, Zhang X, Yang Q, Wang L, Cao Y, Xu Z, Tawfik A, Sun Y, Weintraub NL, Fulton DJ, Hong M, Dong Z, Smith LEH, Caldwell RB, Sodhi A, Huo Y "Glycolysis links reciprocal activation of myeloid cells and endothelial cells in the retinal angiogenic niche." Sci Transl Med.. 2020 Aug 5; Pubmed PMID: 32759274

Funding

Adenosine receptor 2A in subretinal fibrosis - #R01 EY033737

(04/27/2022 - 04/30/2027) Grant funding from NIH

This project will test the hypothesis that adenosine receptor 2A (Adora2a) mediated hypoxia inducible factor (Hif) signaling in choroidal endothelial cells (CECs) and infiltrated macrophages enhance fibrotic effects leading to increased formation of fibrotic lesions in choroidal neovascularization (CNV).

Myeloid PFKFB3 in Subretinal Fibrosis - #R01 EY033369

(04/01/2022 - 04/30/2026) Grant funding from NIH

This project will test the hypothesis that Pfkfb3-mediated glycolysis in macrophages induces their transition to mesenchymal cells and/or myofibroblasts and their production of profibrotic and proinflammatory factors by activating HIFs pathways, eventually leading to subretinal fibrosis formation.

Targeting myeloid glycolysis in pathological ocular angiogenesis - #R01 EY030500

(07/01/2019 - 06/30/2025) Grant funding from NIH

The aims of this project are to investigate the role of PFKFB3 in myeloid cells in retinal endothelial proliferation, migration as well as sprouting.

VSMC PFKFB3 in atherogenesis - #TPA 968801

(07/01/2022 - 06/30/2025) Grant funding from American Heart Association (AHA)

This project is to study whether PFKFB3 deficiency in VSMCs inhibits VSMC proliferation, migration and foam cell formation, ultimately reducing the formation of atherosclerotic lesions in mice.