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Guolin Ma

Guolin Ma
Guolin Ma, PhD

Research Assistant Professor

Contact

Center for Translational Cancer Research
2121 W. Holcombe Blvd.
Houston, TX 77030-3303
gma@tamu.edu
Phone: 713.677.7482

Biography

Education and Training

  • 2007      B.S., Chemistry, Liaocheng University, China
  • 2012      Ph.D., Chemical Biology, University of Science and Technology of China
  • 2018      Postdoctoral Research Associate, Texas A&M University Institute of Biosciences & Technology, Houston, TX            
  • 2020      Assistant Research Scientist, Texas A&M University Institute of Biosciences & Technology, Houston, TX

Research Interests

My research focus on exploring the fascinating frontiers of calcium signaling, optogenetics and synthetic biology to provide better treatment and prevention strategies for cancer, cardiovascular disorders and neurological disorders. I have strong research interests on Ca2+ signaling in the immune system from mechanistic studies of dissecting SOCE channel activation to tailor cell functions using optical and chemical tools.  My research is involved in the interface between chemistry and biology, with specific techniques on Ca2+ imaging, microscope, protein engineering, cell biology and synthetic biology. My current research activities include: 1) Dissection of STIM/ORAI-mediated Store-operated Ca2+ Entry (SOCE); 2) Optogenetics integration of calcium signaling; 3) Exploring synthetic biology for biological/biomedical applications

Selected Publications

  1. Caffeine-operated synthetic modules for chemogenetic control of protein activities by life style. 
    Wang T, He L, Jing J, Lan TH, Hong T, Wang F, Huang Y, Ma G*, and Zhou Y*. Advanced Science. 2020 (*co-corresponding author)
  1. Optical control of CRAC channels using photoswitchable azopyrazoles.
    Yang L*, Ma G*, Zheng S*, Wang Y, Zhou Y and Li M. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2020, (PMID: 32330031) (*co-first author)
  1. Optogenetic engineering to probe the molecular choreography of STIM1-mediated cell signaling. 
    Ma G, He L, Liu S, Xie J, Huang Z, Jing J, Lee, YT, Wang R, Luo H, Han W, Huang Y and Zhou Y. Nature Communications. 2020,11:1039.
  1. Optogenetic Control of Voltage Gated Calcium Channels. 
    Ma G*, Liu J*, Ke Y*, Liu X, Li M, Wang F, Han G, Huang Y, Wang Y and Zhou Y. Angew Chem Int Ed. 2018 Jun 11;57(24): 7019-7022.
  1. Genetically encoded tags for real time dissection of protein assembly in living cells. 
    Ma G#*, Zhang Q, He L, Nguyen NT, Liu S, Gong Z, Huang Y, and Zhou Y*. Chemical Science. 2018. 23;9(25):5551-5555.
  1. Zheng S*, Ma G*, He L, Zhang T, Li J, Yuan X, Nguyen N, Huang Y, Zhang X, Gao P, Zhou Y, and Wang Y. Identification of molecular determinants that govern distinct STIM2 activation dynamics. PLos Biology Nov 16;16(11): e2006898. ( *Co-first author)

  2. Lee M*, Li J*, Liang Y*, Ma G*, Zhang J, He L, Liu Y, Li M, Sun D, Zhou Y and Huang Y. Engineered split-TET2 enzyme for inducible epigenetic remodeling. Journal of the American Chemical Society. 
    017,139(13):4659-62. (PMID:28294608; *Co-first author)

  3. Inside-out Ca2+ signaling prompted by STIM1 conformational switch. 
    Ma G*, Wei M*, He L*, Liu C*, Wu B, Zhang SL, Jing J, Liang X, Senes A, Tan P, Li S, Sun A, Bi Y, Zhong L, Si H, Shen Y, Lee MS, Zhou W, Wang J, Wang Y, and Zhou Y. Nature Communications. 2015,6:7826. (*Co-first author)
  1. Near Infrared photoactivatable control of Ca2+ signaling and optogenetic immunomodulation.
    He L*, Zhang Y*, Ma G*, Tan P*, Li Z, Zang S, Wu X, Jing J, Fang S, Zhou L, Wang Y, Huang Y, Han G, and Zhou Y. eLife. 2015,pii:e10024. (PMID: 26646180, *Co-first author)
  1. PtCl2(phen) disrupts the metal ions binding to amyloid-β peptide. 
    Ma G, Wang E, Wei H, Wei K, Zhu P, Liu Y. Metallomics : integrated biometal science. 2013; 5(7):879-87. (PMID: 23689733)
  1. Interaction between platinum complexes and the C-terminal motif of human copper transporter 1.
    Wang E, Xi Z, Li Y, Li L, Zhao L, Ma G#, Liu Y#. Inorg Chem. 2013 May 20;52(10):6153-9 (PMID: 23642142, # Corresponding author)
  1. Identification of [PtCl2(phen)] binding modes in amyloid-β peptide and the mechanism of aggregation inhibition. Ma G, Huang F, Pu X, Jia L, Jiang T, Li L, Liu Y. Chemistry -A European Journal. 2011; 17(41):11657-66. (PMID: 21910144)
  1. Thioether binding mediates monofunctional platinum antitumor reagents to trans configuration in DNA interactions. Ma G, Min Y, Huang F, Jiang T, Liu Y. Chemical communications. 2010; 46(37):6938-40. (PMID: 20730221)

Review & Book Chapters

  • Ma G*, and Zhou Y*. A STIMulating journey into optogenetic engineering. Cell Calcium, 2020 May 4;88:102197
  • Ma G, Liu J, Nguyen NT, Zhou Y and Wang Y. Let there be light: a bright future for calcium signaling. Science Bulletin. 2018,63(16):1029-31
  • Ma G, He L, Jing J, Tan P and Zhou Y. Engineered cross-linking to study the pore architecture of CRAC channels. Methods in Molecular Biology. 2018;1843: 147-166. (PMID: 30203285)
  • Nguyen NT, Ma G, Lin E, D'Souza B, Jing J, He L, Huang Y and Zhou Y. CRAC channel-based optogenetics. Cell Calcium. 2018,75:79-88. (PMID: 30199756)
  • Ma G, Wen S, He L, Huang Y, Wang Y, Zhou Y. Optogenetic toolkit for precise control of calcium signaling.         Cell calcium. 2017; 64:36-46. (PMID: 28104276).
  • Ma G, Wen S, Huang Y and Zhou Y. Light-operated calcium entry through engineered CRAC channels. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology. 2017; 993: 117-138 (PMID: 28900912)