Event
BIOE Seminar: Local microenvironment regulates lung vascular homeostasis
Friday, February 28, 2025
9:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m.
A. James Clark Hall, Room #2121
Helim Aranda-Espinoza
helim@umd.edu
Yifan Yuan
Assistant Professor
University of Maryland, School of Medicine
Local microenvironment regulates lung vascular homeostasis
Abstract
Vascular homeostasis in the lungs is vital for maintaining the proper function of the pulmonary vascular system, ensuring efficient gas exchange, and preserving the integrity of the alveolar-capillary barrier. The lung microvascular niche components, including cell-cell crosstalk, extracellular matrix (ECM), and hemodynamic forces are all of pivotal importance for regulating endothelial maturation and maintaining tissue homeostasis. Our lab has previously developed decellularization techniques for various tissues and organs, preserving the structural, biological, and mechanical integrity of native ECM substrates. We have also established methods for culturing cells on decellularized tissues, enabling us to study the biological influence of native ECM. Additionally, we have developed scRNAseq-based computational tools to profile ligand/receptor interactions in the distal lung, identifying several native cell-cell crosstalk paracrine factors enriched in human lung microvascular niche that regulate endothelial cell functions. In this talk, I will present our efforts to understand the impact of local microenvironmental components in the lung vascular niche such as ECM and cell-cell paracrine signals in contributing to vascular homeostasis. I will also discuss how these insights can improve the fidelity of in vitro disease modeling systems and inform the development of therapeutic strategies for lung vascular disorders.
Speaker Bio
Dr. Yifan Yuan is a tenure-track assistant professor in the Department of Anesthesiology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. He received his B.S. in Biochemical Engineering and completed his PhD training in vascular biology and matrix biology in Dr. Duncan J. Stewart’s group at Ottawa Hospital Research Institute. He then joined Dr. Laura E. Niklason’s group at Yale School of Medicine for postdoctoral training in whole organ tissue engineering. Throughout his training, Dr. Yuan has explored how native lung extracellular matrix (ECM) regulates endothelial cells using decellularized whole lung scaffolds. Through this system, he developed a novel endothelial-repopulated lung model that mimics native cellular behaviors and physiological functions, providing a platform to study lung vascular diseases. His work has earned him several prestigious awards, including the American Heart Association (AHA) Postdoctoral Fellowship and the NIH K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award. In recent years, Dr. Yuan has been trained in computational biology from Dr. Naftali Kaminski’s group at Yale, where he specialized in single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNAseq) and comprehensive data analysis pipelines. Yuan lab aims to integrate molecular biology, bioengineering, and computational biology to investigate biological mechanisms within the lung vascular microenvironment, aiming to develop new model systems or therapeutic strategies for lung vascular diseases.
