Education

Profile

Ryang Hwa Lee is an Assistant Professor at Texas A&M Health Science Center. She received her Ph.D. in Physiology from the College of Medicine, Pusan National University in 2003. She joined Tulane Health Science Center as a Postdoctoral Associate, working with Dr. Darwin Prockop, a pioneer in the mesenchymal stem/stromal cells field. Dr. Lee later joined the faculty at Texas A&M Health Science Center in July 2009.

Research Interest

Dr. Lee’s research focuses on understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms of beneficial effects of mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) in animal models of human diseases including sterile inflammation mediated-diseases, Type 1 diabetes, and cancer

Professional Activities:

Positions

Professional  activity Invited Speeches

Honors and Awards

Honors

• 2002 Outstanding graduate Student Award from Pusan National University

Publications

1. Jung JS, Park MY, Lee RH, Jun JS, Kim YK. Protection against hydrogen peroxide induced injury in renal proximal tubule cell lines by inhibition of poly(ADP-ribose) synthase. Kidney Blood Press Res. 2000;23(1):14-9. PMID: 10567849
2. Jung JS, Lee RH, Koh SH, Kim YK.  Changes in expression of sodium cotransporters and aquaporin-2 during   ischemia-reperfusion   injury   in   rabbit   kidney.   Renal   Failure.   2000   22:407-421.   PMID: 10901179
3. Jung JS, Hwang SM, Lee RH, Kang SK, Woo JS, Kim YK.  Extracellular ATP stimulates Na and Cl transport through the activation of multiple purinergic receptors on the apical and  basolateral membranes in M-1 mouse cortical collecting duct cells. Kor J Physiol Pharmacol. 2001 5: 231-241
4. Kang SK, Lee RH, Jung JS. Effect of brain-derived neurotrophic factor on neuronal differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cell and neural precursor cells. Neuroscience Research Communications. 2001 29:183-192
5. Lee  RH,  Park  MY,  Song  JM,  Kang  SK,  Jung  JS.  Cisplatin-indeced  apoptosis  by  translocation  of endogenous Bax in mouse collecting duct cells. Biochem Pharmacol. 2001 62: 1013-1023. PMID: 11597570
6. Hwang SM, Lee RH, Song JM, Yoon S, Kim YS, Lee SJ, Kang SK, Jung JS. Expression of aquqporin- 5 and its regulation in skeletal muscle cell. Exp Molecular Med. 2002 34:69-74. PMID: 11989981
7. Lee DH, Kang SK, Lee RH, Ryu JM, Park HY, Choi HS, Bae YC, Suh KT, Kim YK, Jung JS. Effects of   peripheral  benzodiazepine  receptor  ligands  on  proliferation  and  differentiation  of  human mesenchymal stem cells. J Cell Physiol. 2004;198(1):91-9. PMID: 14584048
8. Song JM, Lee RH, Jung JS. Roles of NF-kappaB and Bcl-2 in Two Differential Modes of Cell Death of Mouse  Cortical  Collecting  Duct  Cells.  Kidney  Blood  Press  Res.  2005;28(2):101-110.   PMID: 15746559
9. Lee RH, Kim B, Choi I, Kim H, Choi HS, Suh K, Bae YC, Jung JS. Characterization and expression analysis of Mesenchymal stem cells from human bone marrow and adipose tissue. 2004. Cell Physiol Biochem. 2004;14(4-6):311-24. PMID: 15319535
10. Lee RH, Hsu SC, Munoz J, Jung JS, Lee NR, Pochampally R, Prockop, DJ.   A Subset of Human Rapidly-Self Renewing Marrow Stromal Cells (MSCs) Preferentially Engraft in Mice. Blood. 2006 107(5):2153-61. PMID: 16278305
11. Lee RH, Seo ML, Reger RL, Spees JL, Pulin AA, Olson SO, Prockop DJ. Multipotent Stromal Cells from Human Marrow (hMSCs) Home to and Promote Repair of Pancreatic Islets and Renal Glomeruli in Diabetic NOD/scid Mice. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2006 103(46):17438-43. PMID: 17088535
12. Lee RH*, Seo MJ*, Pulin AA, Gregory CA, Ylostalo J, Prockop DJ. The CD34-like Protein PODXL and α6-Integrin (CD49f) Identify Early Progenitor MSCs with Increased Clonogenicity and Migration to Infarcted Heart in Mice. Blood. 2009 113(4):816-26. PMID: 19570514. *Authors made equal contributions
13. Lee  RH,  Pulin  AA,  Seo  MJ,  Kota  DJ,  Ylostalo  J,  Larson  BJ,  Semprun-Prieto  L,  Delafontaine  P, Prockop DJ. Intravenous hMSCs Improve Myocardial Infarction in Mice Because Cells Embolized In Lung Are Activated to Secrete the Anti-Inflammatory Protein TSG-6. Cell Stem Cell. 2009. 5:1-10. PMID: 19570514
14. Semon JA, Nagy LH, Llamas CB, Tucker HA, Lee RH, Prockop DJ. Integrin expression and integrin- mediated adhesion in vitro of human multipotent stromal cells (MSCs)  to  endothelial  cells  from various blood vessels. Cell Tissue Res. 2010. 341(1):147-58. PMID: 20563599
15. Larson BL, Ylostalo J, Lee RH, Gregory C, Prockop DJ. Sox11 Is Expressed in Early Progenitor Human Multipotent Stromal Cells and Decreases with Extensive Expansion of the Cells. Tissue Eng Part A. 2010. 16(11):3385-94. PMID: 20626275
16. Bartosh T, Ylostalo Y, Mohammadipoor A, Bazhanov N, Coble K, Claypool K, Lee RH, Choi H, Prockop DJ. Aggregation of human mesenchymal stromal cells (hMSCs) into three dimensional spheroids enhances their anti-inflammatory properties. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2010. 107(31):13724-9. PMID: 20643923
17. Oh  JY,  Roddy  GW,  Choi  H,  Lee  RH,  Ylöstalo  JH,  Rosa  RH  Jr,  Prockop  DJ.  Anti-inflammatory protein TSG-6 reduces inflammatory damage to the cornea following chemical and mechanical injury. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2010. 107(39):16875-80. PMID: 2083752
18. Choi H*, Lee RH*, Bazhanov N, Oh JY, Prockop DJ. Anti-inflammatory Protein TSG-6 Secreted by Activated MSCs Attenuates Zymosan-Induced Peritonitis by Decreasing the Zymosan/TLR2 Mediated Stimulation of NF-ĸB Signaling in Resident Macrophages. TBloodT 2011. 118(2):330-8. PMID: 21551236. *Authors made equal contributions
19. Lee RH*, Oh JY, Choi H, Bazhanov N. Therapeutic factors secreted by mesenchymal stromal cells and tissue repair. J Cell Biochem. 2011. 112(11):3073-8. *Invited review
20. Roddy GW, Oh JY, Lee RH, Bartosh TJ, Ylostalo J, Coble K, Rosa RH Jr, Prockop DJ.Action at a Distance: Systemically Administered Adult Stem/Progenitor Cells (MSCs) Reduce Inflammatory Damage to the Cornea Without Engraftment and Primarily by Secretion of TSG-6. Stem Cells. 2011. 29(10):1572-9.
21. Foraker  JE,  Oh  JY,  Ylostalo  J,  Lee  RH,  Watanabe  J,  Prockop  DJ.  Cross-Talk  between  Human Mesenchymal Stem/Progenitor Cells (MSCs) and Rat Hippocampal Slices  in  LPS-Stimulated Cocultures: The MSCs Are Activated to Secrete Prostaglandin E2. J Neurochem. 2011. 119(5):1052- 63.
22. Roddy GW, Rosa RH Jr, Oh JY, Ylostalo JH, Bartosh TJ Jr, Choi H, Lee RH, Yasumura D, Ahern K, Nielsen G, Matthes MT, LaVail MM, Prockop DJ. Stanniocalcin-1 rescued photoreceptor degeneration in two rat models of inherited retinal degeneration. Mol Ther. 2012. 20(4):788-97.
23. Oh JY, Choi H, Lee RH, Roddy GW, Ylöstalo JH, Wawrousek E, Prockop DJ. Identification of the HSPB4/TLR2/NF-κB axis in macrophage as a therapeutic target for sterile inflammation of the cornea. EMBO Mol Med. 2012. 4(5):435-48.
24. Horie M, Choi H, Lee RH, Reger RL, Ylostalo J, Muneta T, Sekiya I, Prockop DJ. Intra-articular injection of human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) promote rat meniscal regeneration by being activated to express Indian hedgehog that enhances expression of type II collagen. Osteoarthritis Cartilage. 2012. 20(10):1197-207.
25. Oh JY, Lee RH, Yu JM, Ko JH, Lee HJ, Ko AY, Roddy GW, Prockop DJ. Intravenously-infused mesenchymal stem cells promote survival of corneal allografts by suppressing the early inflammatory response. Molecular Therapy. 2012. 20(11):2143-52.
26. Lee RH*, Yoon N, Reneau JC and Prockop DJ*. Human MSCs pre-activated with TNF-α exert tumor suppressive effects on some triple negative breast cancer cells. Cell Stem Cell. 2012. 11(6):825-35. * Co-corresponding  authors.
27. Kota  D,  Wiggins  L,  Yoon  N  and  Lee  RH*.  TSG-6  produced  by  hMSCs  delays  the  onset  of autoimmune diabetes by suppressing Th1 development and enhancing tolerogenicity. Diabetes. 2013. 62:2048-2058. .
28. Kim JA, Ko JH, Ko AY, Lee HJ, Kim MK, Wee WR, Lee RH, Fulcher SF, Oh JY. TSG-6 protects corneal endothelium from transcorneal cryoinjury in rabbits. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2014. 55(8):4905-12.
29. Lee RH*, Yu JM, Fosketta AM, Peltiera G, Reneaua JC, Bazhanova N, Oh JY, and Prockopa DJ*. TSG-6 as a Biomarker to Predict Efficacy of Human Mesenchymal Stem/Progenitor Cells (hMSCs) in Modulating Sterile Inflammation  in Vivo. 2014. Proc Natl Acad  Sci U  S A. 2014. 111(47):16766- 71.*Co-corresponding  authors.
30. Zhao, Q., Gregory, C. A., Lee, RH, Reger, R., Qin, L., Hai, B., Park, M. S., Yoon, N., Clough, B., McNeill., E. P., Prockop, D. J. and Liu, F. (2015). MSCs derived from iPSCs with a modified protocol are tumor-tropic but have much less potential to promote tumors than bone marrow MSCs. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 112, 530-535.
31. Yoon N, Park MS, Peltier GC and Lee RH*. Preactivated human mesenchymal stem/stromal cells in combination with doxorubicin synergistically  enhance  tumor-suppressive  activity  in  mice. Cytotherapy. 2015. 17(10):1332-41.
32. Yoon N, Park MS, Peltier GC and Lee RH*. Activated human mesenchymal  stem/stromal  cells suppress metastatic features of MDA-MB-231 cells by secreting IFN-β. Under review.