Dr. Ma Tonghui, born on July 16, 1963 in Jilin province, is currently a professor of the College of Integrative Medicine and Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, China. He is a recipient of “National Distinguished Young Investigator Award” of NSF in 2003, “Special Government Allowance of State Council” in 2005 and awarded Distinguished Professorship of the “ Yangtze River Scholars Award Program of MOE in 2006.
Dr. Ma got his bachelor degree in clinical medicine in Bethune Medical University in 1984, master degree in Microbiology and Immunology in 1987 and Ph.D degree in Molecular Biology and Immunology in 1994. He worked in University of California San Francisco from 1991-2003 as Visiting Scholar, Postdoctoral Fellow and Assistant Professor in the field of fluid transport mechanisms focusing on aquaporin water channels and CFTR/CaCC chloride channels.
Dr. Ma has a strong background in aquaporin gene function and chloride channel drug discovery with >120 SCI papers that have been cited more than 12000 times. Dr. Ma’s name was in the list of the Most Cited Chinese Researchers (Medicine) 2015-2018. He made important contributions to the Aquaporin field in identification and characterization of aquaporin genes. After return to China in 2003, he developed an HTS-based natural product drug discovery platform from >500 Chinese medicinal herbs and identified numerous natural compounds with anticancer, antiviral, antifungal, antibacterial, anticoagulation and neuroprotective activities. His group also identified hundreds of small molecule modulators of CFTR and CaCC chloride channels HTS. Many of these natural compounds have been confirmed to regulate intestinal fluid secretion and motility under pathological conditions such as diarrhea and constipation.
Dr. Ma’s current research interests include (1) Physiological significance of non-water-transporting functions of Aquaporin water channels; (2) Drug discovery by HTS from Chinese medicinal herbs and formulae; (3) Pharmacology and toxicology of Chinese medicinal herbs and formulae.
Selected Publications:
1. Liu M, Liu Q, Pei Y, Gong M, Cui X, Pan J, Zhang YL, Liu Y, Liu Y, Yuan X, Li S, Cheng J, Ding Y, Ma T*, Yuan Y*. Aquaporin-1 Gene Knockout Attenuates Hypoxic Pulmonary Hypertension of Mice. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Boil. 2019 Jan;39(1):48-62.
2. Cui D, Sui L, Han X, Zhang M, Guo Z, Chen W, Yu X, Sun Q, Dong M, Ma T*, Kong Y*. Aquaporin-3 mediates ovarian steroid hormone-induced motility of endometrial epithelial cells. Hum Reprod. 2018 Nov 1;33(11):2060-2073.
3. Lan YL, Zhao J, Ma T*, Li S*. The Potential Roles of Aquaporin 4 in Alzheimer's Disease. Mol Neurobiol. 2016 Oct;53(8):5300-9
4. Maryam A, Mehmood T , Yan Q, Li Y, Khan M*, Ma T*. Proscillaridin A promotes oxidative stress and ER stress, inhibits STAT3 activation and induces apoptosis in A549 lung adenocarcinoma cells. Oxid Med Cell Longev. Volume 2018, Article ID 3853409.
5. Yu B, Jiang Y, Zhang B, Yang H*, Ma T*. Resveratrol dimer trans-ε-viniferin prevents rotaviral diarrhea in mice by inhibition of the intestinal calcium-activated chloride channel. Pharmacol Res. 2018 Mar;129:453-461.
6. Cil O, Phuan PW, Lee S, Tan J, Haggie PM, Levin MH, Sun L, Thiagarajah JR, Ma T*, Verkman AS*. CFTR activator increases intestinal fluid secretion and normalizes stool output in a mouse model of constipation. Cell Mol Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2016 May;2(3):317-327.
7. Zhang Y, Chen Q, Zhang H, Wang Q, Li R, Jin Y, Wang H, Ma T*, Qiao J*, Duan E*. Aquaporin-dependent excessive intrauterine fluid accumulation is a major contributor in hyper-estrogen induced aberrant embryo implantation. Cell Res. 2015 Jan;25(1):139-42.
8. Sun M, Sui Y, Li L, Su W, Hao F, Zhu Q, Di W, Gao H, Ma T*. Anoctamin 1 calcium-activated chloride channel downregulates estrogen production in mouse ovarian granulosa cells. Endocrinology. 2014 Aug;155(8):2787-96.
9. Ma T*, Gao H, Fang X, Yang H. Water channel proteins in the peripheral nervous system in health and disease. Mol Aspects Med. 2012 Oct-Dec;33(5-6):605-11.
10. Zhu N, He C, Feng X, Ma Q, Guo L, Wang W, Yang H and Ma T*. Defective macrophage function in aquaporin-3 deficiency. Faseb J. 2011 Dec; 25(12):4233-9.
11. Gao H, He C, Fang X, Hou X, Feng X, Yang H, Zhao X, Ma T*. Localization of aquaporin-1 water channel in glial cells of the human peripheral nervous system. Glia. 2006 May; 53(7):783-7.
12. Ma T, Thiagarajah JR, Yang H, Sonawane ND, Folli C, Galietta LJ, Verkman AS. Thiazolidinone CFTR inhibitor identified by high-throughput screening blocks cholera toxin-induced intestinal fluid secretion. J Clin Invest. 2002 Dec; 110(11):1651-8.
13. Ma T, Song Y, Yang B, Gillespie A, Carlson EJ, Epstein CJ, Verkman AS. Nephrogenic diabetes insipidus in mice lacking aquaporin-3 water channels. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2000 Apr 11; 97(8):4386-91.
14. Ma T, Fukuda N, Song Y, Matthay MA, Verkman AS. Lung fluid transport in aquaporin-5 knockout mice. J Clin Invest. 2000 Jan; 105(1):93-100.