CAI Lab

News

March 25, 2019 Novel findings that DHFR-deficiency-dependent mitochondrial dysfunction mediates hypertension and AAA formation Our studies establishing a critical role of DHFR deficiency-dependent mitochondrial dysfunction in the development of hypertension and abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) using novel in house generated DHFR KO mice have been published in the top redox journal Redox Biology.
January 01, 2019 Discovery of novel therapy for hypertension, featured as a “High Impact Paper in Hypertension” article by the best hypertension research journal Hypertension. We are excited to report that our latest discoveries on a novel treatment of hypertension were published in the AHA journal Hypertension, and the article was selected to be a “High Impact Paper in Hypertension”! Our study identifies a novel role of E2F1/2/3a-dependent mechanism in the reduction of blood pressure.
October 31, 2018 Welcome to our new postdoctoral fellow Dr. Zhen Guo Welcome to our new postdoctoral fellow Dr. Zhen Guo, who recently graduated from the top institution in China, Sun Yat-sen University.
July 22, 2018 Wellcome to our new SRP undergraduate research students Welcome to our new SRP undergraduate research students Marie Bae, Jared Ngao and Nerissa Low!
May 30, 2018 Congratulations to Dr. NorikaMengchia Liu! Congratulations to Dr. NorikaMengchia Liu!  Norika graduated with an outstanding thesis defense and will move on to receive postdoctoral training in Japan’s #1 cardiovascular research institution.  We wish her all the best and success with her professional and personal endeavors!
February 15, 2018 Dr. Qiang Li took a Senior Scientist position in the LA based Fulgent Genetics Dr. Qiang Li took a Senior Scientist position in the LA based Fulgent Genetics.  Congratulations and all the best and success with his new chapter of professional and personal lives!
January 18, 2018 New Year Outing We have had Xmas or New Year Outings every year but often forgot to the take the photos when the dishes were empty!  This year we had a 8.3 pound lobster as a central dish.
November 01, 2017 Surviving With Smog and Smoke: Precision Interventions? Environmental pollution is a major public health problem affecting people worldwide to increase prevalence of cardiovascular, cerebrovascular and respiratory diseases.  While history has proved that it takes up to half a century to solve severe pollution, we propose for the first time to prevent and treat disease in exposed individuals through strategies of precision medicine.  This highly insightful and perspective review is published in Chest in the Special Collection of “Ahead of the Curves”
October 15, 2017 Welcome to our new co-educational PhD student Yabing Zhang Our lab welcomes a new co-educational PhD student Yabing Zhang (MD 2013, PhD expected 2019) from one of the top medical schools in China, West China School of Medicine, Sichuan University.
October 01, 2017 Graphical review: The redox dark side of e-cigarettes; exposure to oxidants and public health concerns In this perspective review, the potential mechanistic insights into the pathological consequences of e-cig usage is fully discussed, with particular focuses on cardiovascular and respiratory diseases.
September 01, 2017 Welcome to our new postdoctoral fellow Dr. Kai Huang Our lab welcomes a new postdoctoral fellow Dr. Kai Huang who graduated from one of the top 10 academic institutions in China (Shanghai Jiaotong University, PhD 2017)
August 30, 2017 Editorial commentary: Endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition: When the good one goes bad We were invited to write an editorial commentary to discuss an emerging and controversial topic of endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition, which is a phenomenon that is both physiological and pathologically relevant with different implications.
August 28, 2017 Welcome to our co-educational PhD student Chuang Li Our lab welcomes a new co-educational PhD student Chuang Li (MD 2012, PhD expected 2019) from one of the top medical schools in China, Capital Medical University.
June 01, 2017 Endothelial cell calpain as a critical modulator of angiogenesis In this invited perspective review, we discussed an important and emerging role of endothelial cell calpain in the modulation of angiogenic signaling. 
April 13, 2017 NOX isoforms in the development of abdominal aortic aneurysm In this work we identified novel NADPH oxidase (NOX) isoforms that are required to induce eNOS uncoupling and formation of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA), employing double knockout mice of NOX isoforms and hph-1 mice (a new model of AAA established in our lab).
April 01, 2017 Welcome to new SPR student Ashley Choi Welcome to new SPR student Ashley Choi
March 01, 2017 Attenuation of neointimal formation with netrin-1 and netrin-1 preconditioned endothelial progenitor cells One of Norika’s thesis publications in which we demonstrated an innovative role of netrin-1 and netrin-1 preconditioned endothelial progenitor cells in attenuating post endothelial injury neointimal formation/restenosis.
January 13, 2017 IMPLICATIONS IN VEGF-DEPENDENT ANGIOGENESIS AND DIABETIC WOUND HEALING. Our studies revealed for the first time a novel calpain/PTP1B negative feedback loop that is required to limit VEGFR2 overactivation in response to VEGF stimulation.  Pharmacological or genetic activation of calpain, or inhibition of PTP1B, however promotes angiogenesis and diabetic wound healing.
November 01, 2016 Congratulations to Dr. Yixuan Zhang for Promotion to Assistant Project Scientist! Congratulations to Dr. Yixuan Zhang on the well-deserved promotion to Assistant Project Scientist (Assistant Professor)!
September 01, 2016 Welcome to our New Fellows Dr. Priya Murugesan and Dr. Taro Narumi! Our lab welcomes two new postdoctoral fellows Dr. Priya Murugesan (Chonbuk National University, Korea, Ph.D. 2016) and Dr. Taro Narumi (Yamagata University, Japan, M.D. Ph.D. 2008/2015)!
March 01, 2016 Welcome to the New SRP Student Anna Muller Anna has started to take SRP classes with our team from Spring 2016.
January 01, 2016 Differential Regulations of Redox and NO Signaling in Endothelial Cells by Different Flow Patterns - Publication in J Biol Chem Our studies have recently documented differential regulations of endothelial cell redox responses and NO signaling by the different patterns of the flows.
December 01, 2015 Our Senior Fellow Dr. Siu Took Position as Senior Scientist in Silver Lake Research Corp. CA Our productive senior fellow Dr. Siu took position as a Senior Scientist in Silver Lake Research Corp. that is Los Angles based. A party to celebrate and all of the best wishes!
August 01, 2015 CCBs as New Options to Treat Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms We recently published in J Mol Cell Cardiol to report that calcium channel blockers such as Nifedipine can serve as novel treatment options for abdominal aortic aneurysms, through restoration of eNOS function.
August 01, 2015 Publication in Mol Endocrinology to Report Differential Mechanisms of Endothelial Dysfunction in Type 2 Diabetes We have identified novel molecular mechanisms underlying differential induction of endothelial dysfunction in type 2 diabetes mellitus vs. type 1 diabetes mellitus
July 07, 2015 Welcome to Xu Wang, Our New CSST2015 Student Welcome to Xu Wang, our new CSST2015 student! Xu is a top student from Nankai University and he will be working on novel posttranslational protein regulation mechanisms.
July 01, 2015 Our Study Reporting Discovery of Small Netrin-1 Derived peptides and Their Efficacies in Cardioprotection Our study reporting discovery of small netrin-1 derived peptides and their efficacies in cardioprotection is published in Am. J. Cell Physiol. In view of its high novelty, significance and translational potential the article was highlighted by an editorial.
July 01, 2015 Editorial Board Member for Journal of Biological Chemistry After being elected a few months ago and participation of a full training, Dr. Cai officially starts her five year term serving as an Editorial Board member for Journal of Biological Chemistry.
May 27, 2015 Editorial Board Member for Circulation Research Dr. Cai accepts invitation to continue to serve as an Editorial Board member for Circulation Research for the consecutive 6th year..
March 01, 2015 Cai Lab Publishes Two Invited Editorials The Cai lab publishes two invited editorials for Chemistry and Biology (Fueling up skeletal muscle to reduce obesity: A TrkB story), and J. Mol. Cell Cardiol. (ANO1 taking center stage: Blood pressure regulation in SHRs)
March 01, 2015 Our Review Article was Highlighted with an Editorial Our review article appears in Journal of Hypertension to discuss emerging concept of eNOS uncoupling in hypertension, which is entitled “eNOS uncoupling in hypertension: Mechanisms and consequences”
January 01, 2015 A Novel Pathway Stabilizing Netrin-1 Receptor DCC The Cai lab publishes in the Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences on a novel pathway stabilizing netrin-1 receptor DCC to potentiate netrin-1/NO stimulated cardioprotection.
November 15, 2014 2014 American Heart Association Scientific Sessions The Cai lab attended the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions at Chicago, IL. Dr. Kin Siu presented a poster on “NOX Isoforms and Development of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm”.
September 01, 2014 A Novel Pathway That Induces Cardiac Arrhythmia in Zebrafish Our article appears in J. Biol. Chem. to report a novel pathway that induces cardiac arrhythmia.
June 01, 2014 Novel Molecular Mechanisms Underlying Netrin-1 Induced Cardioprotection The Cai lab publishes in BBA Mol. Basis of Disease and J. Mol. Cell Cardiol. to reveal novel molecular mechanisms underlying netrin-1 induced cardioprotection ex vivo and in vivo.
May 21, 2014 Congratulations to Miss. Norika Liu, Dr. Qiang Li, and Dr. Yixuang Zhang for American Heart Association Fellowship Awards!! The Cai Lab received 3 Predoctoral and Postdoctoral Fellowship Awards from the American Heart Association; Congratulations to Miss Norika Liu, Dr. Qiang Li, and Dr. Yixuan Zhang!
April 30, 2014 The Cai Lab attended Experimental Biology 2014 Conference Dr. Cai and Miss Hong Li attended Experimental Biology 2014 meeting at San Diego, CA.
February 01, 2014 Our Publication Received an Editorial Highlight Our publication in the top Diabetes journal Diabetes entitled “Role of vascular oxidative stress in obesity” received an editorial highlight to emphasize the important discovery of a causal role of vascular oxidative stress in the development of obesity.
December 16, 2013 Cai lab Xmas Outing! It was a lot fun at dinner at California Pizza Kitchen.
November 17, 2013 Dr. Qiang Li received Young Investigator Travel Award sponsored by AHA Basic Science Council to attended Annual Scientific Sessions of American Heart Association at Dallas, TX Dr. Qiang was awarded a competitive Young Investigator Travel Award.
November 01, 2013 Li Q, Cai H. A central role of SIAH in cardioprotection provoked by netrin-1/NO. • Li Q, Cai H. A central role of SIAH in cardioprotection provoked by netrin-1/NO. Nov. 2013, The 85th Scientific Sessions of American Heart Association, Dallas, TX, USA (poster presentation)
October 19, 2013 The Cai Lab attended AHA-LA Symposium and our Divisional Retreat at Science Museum. The Cai Lab attended local Los Angeles American Heart Association Symposium, presenting 10 oral/poster presentations.
September 20, 2013 Mr. Xiaoniu Miao presented his thesis work at American Heart Association Council for High Blood Pressure Annual Conference Mr. Xiaoniu Miao has been with us for almost two years now for his PhD thesis study. He presented part of his thesis work as a poster presentation at the American Heart Association Council for High Blood Pressure Annual Conference at New Orleans, LA, at the opening poster session that also serves as a reception for the meeting.
July 27, 2013 Dr. Cai Served at International Cardiovascular Conferences Dr. Cai served as an Session Moderator/Chair for the “Mechanisms of Redox Signaling” at the International Society for Heart Research (ISHR) XXI World Congress, San Diego, CA.
February 25, 2013 Welcome to Miss Hong Li, our PhD student sponsored by Guangdong Elite Program Miss Hong Li is joining us for a 2-yr PhD thesis study, sponsored by the Guangdong Elite Program.
November 03, 2012 The Cai laboratory attended American Heart Association Scientific Sessions at Los Angeles, CA The Cai laboratory attended the Annual American Heart Association Scientific Sessions in Los Angeles, CA with three presentations, two as oral presentations and one as poster presentations (see below).
July 01, 2012 Welcome to our new fellows Dr. Nick Hatch, Dr. Seokyoung Song The Cai Lab welcomes our new fellows Dr. Nicholas Hatch and Dr. Seokyoung Song.
June 22, 2012 Welcome to our new Amgen Scholar Ashley Bauer and UCLA CSST2012 Student Bo GU For 2012 summer Ashley and Bo both completed successful summer research programs sponsored by Amgen Scholar and UCLA CSST, on topics of “Tetrahydrobiopterin deficiency and endothelial MMP activation” and “Transcriptional regulation of DHFR” respectively.
April 30, 2012 The Cai Laboratory attended Experimental Biology meeting 2012 in San Diego, CA The lab participated in the meeting with 4 presentations, including three posters by Drs. Ji Youn Youn, Yixuan Zhang and Omar Bouhidel, and an oral presentation by Dr. Ji Youn Youn.
April 30, 2012 Welcome to new fellows Dr. Li, and Dr. Wang! The Cai Lab welcomes our new fellows Dr. Qiang Li from Fudan University and Dr. Ping Wang from Chiba University, Japan.
February 28, 2012 Cai Lab Spring Outing Cai Lab Spring Outing
November 20, 2011 Cai laboratory attended the Annual American Heart Association Scientific Sessions in Orlando, FL The Cai laboratory attended the Annual American Heart Association Scientifc Sessions in Orlando, FL with four presentations, two as oral presentations and two as poster presentations (see below). Dr. Cai gave an invited talk on "Role of vascular oxidative stress in obesity"
November 14, 2011 Online First Publication in Hypertension on a New Discovery of AAA Mechanism Gao L, Siu KL, Chalupsky K, Nguyen A,Chen P, Weintraub NL, Galis Z, Cai H. Role of eNOS Uncoupling in Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Formation: Treatment with Folic Acid. Hypertension. 2011 Online first Nov 14.
October 20, 2011 Cai laboratory attends the ASA Annual Meeting in Chicago, IL The Cai laboratory attended the Annual Meeting of American Society of Anesthesiologist in Chicago, IL with four presentations, two as oral presentations and two as poster presentations.
July 25, 2011 Norrika Mengjia Liu to join us for her summer research We anticipate arrival of Norrika Mengjia Liu, a CSST student to join us for her summer research.
June 01, 2011 Dr. Kin Siu receives Postdoctor Fellowship Award from the AHA Dr. Kin Siu received Postdoctoral Fellowship Award from American Heart Association. Congratulations to Kin! Too bad we forgot to take photos during the celebration outing...
May 01, 2011 Cai lab to present at 2011 American Society of Anesthesiologists Annual Conference Cai lab submitted 4 abstracts to American Anesthesiologist Society annual conference, among which 2 are accepted for oral presentations and 2 are accepted for poster presentations.
March 01, 2011 Dr. Ling Gao is recruited to Wuhan University Upon completion of a successful fellowship Dr. Ling Gao is recruited to Wuhan University in China (top 10) as at the level equivalent to an attending endocrinologist, with pending appointment as an Associate Professor.
January 01, 2011 Dr. Zhang and Dr. Bouhidel join the lab Welcome to our new fellows Dr. Yixuan Zhang from Chinese Academy of Sciences and Dr. Omar Bouhidel from INSEM France. Yixuan's project is to study role of NADPH oxidases in cardiac arrhythmia. Omar primarily focuses on signaling mechanisms of netrin-1 induced cardioprotection.
November 01, 2010 Dr. Jun Zhang considered for Associate Professorship in Nankai University Dr. Zhang is currently being considered for an Associate Professor position in the top university in China, Nankai University.
August 20, 2010 Cai Lab Joins UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center (JCCC) http://www.cancer.ucla.edu/index.aspx?page=645&recordid=516
June 30, 2010 Circulation Research Editorial Board Dr. Cai accepted invitation to serve on Circulation Research Editorial Board.
June 15, 2010 American Anesthesiology Society 2010 Meeting Abstracts Our two abstracts on atrial fibrillation and diabetes that were submitted to ASA10 meeting have been accepted for presentation.
January 05, 2010 Dr. Jun Zhang’s New Publication In Dr. Zhang’s new publication in J Mol and Cell Cardiol we reported for the first time that netrin-1 exerts potent cardioprotective effects in ischemia-reperfusion injured heart via a DCC/ERK1/2/eNOS s1177/NO/DCC feed-forward mechanism. In addition to an axon guiding protein for neuronal development and an angiogenic factor, netrin-1 now gains a new role as a cardioprotective agent.
January 05, 2010 Congrats to Ji-Youn and Jeong-Ho for the recent publication in Cardiovasc. Diabetology Besides this paper regarding effects of advanced glycation end products (AGE) antagonist Aminoguanadine on eNOS recoupling and VSMC NOX activity in diabetes, Ji-Youn is the first author for the Circ Res article earlier last year, reporting an innovative calpain/ezrin-dependent signaling pathway mediating VEGF activation of eNOS. We are currently working on 2 more manuscripts with JY.
December 14, 2009 Our Publication is Highlighted in JMCC Our recent publication on the novel mechanisms whereby folic acid is vascular protective (J Mol Cell Cardiol. 2009 Dec;47(6):752-60) is selected as the "highlighted article" of the December issue of JMCC, with an Editorial by Drs. MJ Crabtree and KM Channon.
November 14, 2009 American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2009 At the American Heart Association Annual Scientific Sessions 2009, Dr. Cai served as a Session Chair/Moderator for an Oral Abstract Session.
August 17, 2009 Congratulations Jun and Ji-Youn! Congrats to Jun who had a baby boy in June and JY who gave birth to a baby girl in July! Congrats to their families as well!
August 17, 2009 Another publication for Dr. Ling Gao! Congrats to Ling for his second publication in 2009, which reports a novel mechanism whereby folic acid is vasoprotective. The article just came out in J Mol Cell Cardiol. as ePublication first!
July 01, 2009 Welcome Dr. Kin Lung Siu Dr. Siu is a recent PhD graduate from SUNY (State University of New York). He will be working on two projects in the lab...
June 01, 2009 Ji-Youn’s Collaborative Paper in J Clin Invest Ji-Youn and Dr. Cai has collaborated with Dr. Yibin Wang’ group to characterize the phenotype of PP2Cm knockout mice...
May 01, 2009 Dr. Ling Gao's New Publication Congrats to Dr. Gao for his recent publication in AJP Heart and Circulatory Physiology!
November 08, 2008 Congratulations to Dr. Youn Congrats to Dr. Youn for her recent publication in Circulation Research!
June 24, 2008 Visiting Professor appointment at Peking Union Medical College/Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (PUMC/CAMS) Dr. Cai with Prof. Depei Liu on December 7, 2007 during her Visiting Professor appointment.
June 24, 2008 Cai lab attends the AHA Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology Council Meeting in Atlanta In April, Dr. Cai served as a Session Chair for "Vascular Growth and Development" and an Invited Speaker on "New Directions of Angiogenic Signaling...
June 15, 2008 American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2007 Dr. Cai served as an Invited Speaker and a Session Chair for an Education Session of "RNA Interference in Cardiovascular Biology".
June 05, 2008 Huntington Garden Outing Fall 2007 Huntington Garden Outing Fall 2007
October 10, 2007 End of Summer Lab Outing End of Summer Lab Outing
August 30, 2007 Interview by Science Magazine Dr. Cai was recently interviewed by Science Magazine (www.sciencemag.org) on Career Development, giving advice to young scientists in training.
August 24, 2007 Many thanks to Dr. Kapur and Dean Levey and Dean Rome Last fall when we first arrived at UCLA from the University of Chicago, our Chair of the Department of Anesthesiology Dr. Kapur organized a reception honoring our arrival, as well as Dr. Vondriska's joining the Division earlier in the summer.
June 26, 2007 Congratulations to Oak family Jennifer Rina Oak was the first baby born from members of our young, energetic and productive laboratory. She is now a year old. Congratulations to the Oak family!