Yangpo Cao is the assistant professor and Ph.D supervisor of the Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Southern University of Science and Technology. He graduated from Peking University in 2020 with a Doctoral degree of Philosophy and got Postdoctoral training at Boston Children's Hospital of Harvard Medical School from 2020 to 2023. In June 2023, he joined the Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Southern University of Science and Technology. Dr. Cao has published many papers as first author (including co-first) in prestigious journals, including Circulation, Circulation Research, PNAS, Dev Cell, Cardiovasc Res. His lab mainly focuses on transcriptional regulation of cardiac development and diseases. Combining cutting-edge technology in molecular biology, cell biology and epigenetics, his lab studies the molecular mechanism of cardiac physiology and pathophysiology (cardiac hypertrophy, heart failure, atrial fibrillation, etc.) and development new therapeutic targets for cardiac diseases.
1. Mechanism of Epigenetic regulation of cardiomyocyte fate decision
2. Mitochondrial quality control and cardiac pathophysiology
3. Development of high-throughput technology for analysis of genes and non-coding regions
2009.09-2014.06 Northwest A&F University, Bachelor of Science in Agriculture
2014.09-2020.01 Peking University, Doctor of Philosophy
2020.01-2023.03 Harvard Medical School/Boston Children’s Hospital, Research Fellow
2023.06-now Southern University of Science and Technology, Assistant Professor
2018 Academic Innovation Award in Peking University
2019 Academic New Talent Award of School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University
2020 Outstanding Graduates of Beijing City
2020 Outstanding Graduates of Peking University
2020 Excellent Doctoral Dissertation in Peking University
1. Sweat ME#, Cao Y#, Zhang X, Burnicka-Turek O, Perez-Cervantes C, Akerberg BN, Ma Q, Wakimoto H, Gorham JM, Song MK, Trembley MA, Wang P, Lu F, Gianeselli M, Prondzynski M, Bortolin RH, Seidman JG, Seidman CE, Moskowitz IP, Pu WT. Tbx5 maintains atrial identity by regulating an atrial enhancer network. bioRxiv [Preprint]. 2023 Apr 22:2023.04.21.537535. (revision in Nature Cardiovascular Research)
2. Guo Y#, Cao Y#, Jardin BD#, Mazumdar N, Guo C, Yang L, Lin J, Zhan C, Ma Q, Zhao M, Dong E, Pu WT. A shared role of the myocardin-family transcriptional coactivators in cardiomyocyte maturation. Sci China Life Sci (accepted)
3. Zhou P#, VanDusen NJ#, Zhang Y#, Cao Y#, Sethi I, Hu R, Zhang S, Wang G, Ye L, Mazumdar N, Chen J, Zhang X, Guo Y, Li B, Ma Q, Lee JY, Gu W, Yuan GC, Ren B, Chen K*, Pu WT*. Dynamic changes in P300 enhancers and enhancer-promoter contacts control mouse cardiomyocyte maturation. Dev Cell. 2023 May 22;58(10):898-914.e7
4. Cao Y#, Zhang X#, Akerberg BN#, Yuan H, Sakamoto T, Xiao F, VanDusen NJ, Zhou P, Sweat ME, Wang Y, Prondzynski M, Chen J, Zhang Y, Wang P, Kelly DP, Pu WT. In Vivo Dissection of Chamber-Selective Enhancers Reveals Estrogen-Related Receptor as a Regulator of Ventricular Cardiomyocyte Identity. Circulation. 2023 Mar 14;147(11):881-896
5. Zhou P#, Zhang Y#, Sethi I, Ye L, Trembley MA, Cao Y, Akerberg BN, Xiao F, Zhang X, Li K, Jardin BD, Mazumdar N, Ma Q, He A, Zhou B, Pu WT. GATA4 Regulates Developing Endocardium Through Interaction With ETS1. Circ Res. 2022 Nov 11;131(11):e152-e168
6. Liu R, Xu C, Zhang W, Cao Y, Ye J, Li B, Jia S, Weng L, Liu Y, Liu L, Zheng M. FUNDC1-mediated mitophagy and HIF1α activation drives pulmonary hypertension during hypoxia. Cell Death Dis. 2022 Jul 21;13(7):634
7. Guo Y#, Cao Y#, Jardin BD#, Zhang X, Zhou P, Guatimosim S, Lin J, Chen Z, Zhang Y, Mazumdar N, Lu F, Ma Q, Lu YW, Zhao M, Wang DZ, Dong E, Pu WT. Ryanodine receptor 2 (RYR2) dysfunction activates the unfolded protein response and perturbs cardiomyocyte maturation. Cardiovasc Res. 2023 Mar 17;119(1):221-235
8. Xu C, Cao Y, Liu R, Liu L, Zhang W, Fang X, Jia S, Ye J, Liu Y, Weng L, Qiao X, Li B, Zheng M. Mitophagy-regulated mitochondrial health strongly protects the heart against cardiac dysfunction after acute myocardial infarction. J Cell Mol Med. 2022 Feb;26(4):1315-1326
9. Li B, Ye J, Liu R, Weng L, Cao Y, Jia S, Xu C, Liu Y, Yan S, Zheng M. Programmed cell death 5 improves skeletal muscle insulin resistance by inhibiting IRS-1 ubiquitination through stabilization of MDM2. Life Sci. 2021 Nov 15;285:119918
10. Guo Y#, Cao Y#, Jardin BD#, Sethi I, Ma Q, Moghadaszadeh B, Troiano EC, Mazumdar N, Trembley MA, Small EM, Yuan GC, Beggs AH, Pu WT. Sarcomeres regulate murine cardiomyocyte maturation through MRTF-SRF signaling. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2021 Jan 12;118(2):e2008861118
11. Cao Y, Xu C, Ye J, He Q, Zhang X, Jia S, Qiao X, Zhang C, Liu R, Weng L, Liu Y, Liu L, Zheng M. Miro2 Regulates Inter-Mitochondrial Communication in the Heart and Protects Against TAC-Induced Cardiac Dysfunction. Circ Res. 2019 Sep 27;125(8):728-743. doi: 10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.119.315432
12. Hu H, Jiang M, Cao Y, Zhang Z, Jiang B, Tian F, Feng J, Dou Y, Gorospe M, Zheng M, Zheng L, Yang Z, Wang W. HuR regulates phospholamban expression in isoproterenol-induced cardiac remodelling. Cardiovasc Res. 2020 Apr 1;116(5):944-955
13. Cao YP, Zheng M. Mitochondrial dynamics and inter-mitochondrial communication in the heart. Arch Biochem Biophys. 2019 Mar 15;663:214-219
14. Ye J, Zheng Q, Jia S, Qiao X, Cao Y, Xu C, Weng L, Zhao L, Chen Y, Liu J, Wang T, Cheng H, Zheng M. Programmed Cell Death 5 Provides Negative Feedback on Cardiac Hypertrophy Through the Stabilization of Sarco/Endoplasmic Reticulum Ca2+-ATPase 2a Protein. Hypertension. 2018 Oct;72(4):889-901
15. Weng L, Jia S, Xu C, Ye J, Cao Y, Liu Y, Zheng M. Nogo-C regulates post myocardial infarction fibrosis through the interaction with ER Ca2+ leakage channel Sec61α in mouse hearts. Cell Death Dis. 2018 May 23;9(6):612
16. Zhang CL, Chen ZJ, Feng H, Zhao Q, Cao YP, Li L, Wang JY, Zhang Y, Wu LL. C1q/tumor necrosis factor-related protein-3 enhances the contractility of cardiomyocyte by increasing calcium sensitivity. Cell Calcium. 2017 Sep;66:90-97
17. Qiao X, Jia S, Ye J, Fang X, Zhang C, Cao Y, Xu C, Zhao L, Zhu Y, Wang L, Zheng M. PTPIP51 regulates mouse cardiac ischemia/reperfusion through mediating the mitochondria-SR junction. Sci Rep. 2017 Mar 27;7:45379
18. Jia S, Qiao X, Ye J, Fang X, Xu C, Cao Y, Zheng M. Nogo-C regulates cardiomyocyte apoptosis during mouse myocardial infarction. Cell Death Dis. 2016 Oct 20;7(10):e2432
