Dr. Meng is a principal investigator in the Center for Organoid and Regeneration. His lab utilizes organoid and mouse models to investigate the underlying mechanisms of cardiovascular diseases. The primary focus of the lab is to elucidate how cardiac fibroblast differentiates into myofibroblast, a cell-type known as a regulator of cardiac fibrosis. The lab also has interests in exploring the role of protein quality control system in cardiovascular diseases. The current projects are: ① to understand the differentiation, proliferation, and migration processes of fibrosis-related cell types during heart failure. ② to dissect the roles of fibroblasts as a regulator of fibrosis in cardiovascular diseases. ③ to use genome-wide functional screen to identify  potential therapeutic targets for cardiac amyloidosis.

Dr. Meng received his B.Sc. and M. Sc. from Tsinghua University and Ph.D. from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. He was trained as a postdoctoral fellow with Dr. Jeff Robbins and Dr. Jeff Molkentin and was recently promoted as a PI in the Heart Institute at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. He joined the GBA-IPM in April 2022. He has published a series of research articles and was awarded the American Heart Association Postdoc fellowship (2017-2019) and Career Development Award (2020-2023).

1.Meng Q*, Tang X*, Gulick J, Osinska H, James J, Wei W, Snowball J, Vagnozzi R, Lin X, Whitsett J, Robbins J, Molkentin J. EMC3 Regulates Protein Homeostasis in the Cardiovascular System. (*equal contribution) In revision.

2.Bowers S*, Meng Q*, Molkentin J. Fibroblasts orchestrate cellular crosstalk in the heart through the ECM, Nature Cardiovascular Research, 2022, 1: 312-321 (*equal contribution)

3.Meng Q, Bhandary B, Bhuiyan MS, James J, Osinska H, Valiente-Alandi I, Shay-Winkler K, Gulick J, Molkentin J, Blaxall B and Robbins J. The role of myofibroblast specific TGF receptor II signaling in a fibrotic response to cardiac disease. Circulation Research.  2018;123:1285–1297.

4.Bhandary B, Meng Q, James J, Osinska H, Gulick J, Valiente-Alandi I, Sargent M, Bhuiyan MS, Blaxall B, Molkentin J and Robbins J. Cardiac fibrosis in proteotoxic cardiac disease is dependent upon myofibroblast TGF signaling. J Am Heart Assoc. 2018 Oct 16;7(20).

5.Meng Q, Mongan M, Wang J and Xia Y. Repression of MAP3K1 expression and JNK activity by the canonical Wnt pathway. Developmental biology. 2018 Aug 15;440(2):129-136.

6.Singh SR, Zech ATL, Geertz B, Reischmann-Düsener S, Osinska H, Prondzynski M, Krämer E, Meng Q, Redwood C, van der Velden J, Robbins J, Schlossarek S and Carrier L. Activation of autophagy ameliorates cardiomyopathy in Mybpc3-targeted knockin mice. Circ Heart Fail. 2017 Oct;10(10)

7.Meng Q, Bhandary B, Osinska H, James J, Xu N, Shay-Winkler K, Gulick J, Willis MS, Lander C and Robbins J. MMI-0100 inhibits cardiac fibrosis in a mouse model overexpressing cardiac myosin binding protein C. J Am Heart Assoc. 2017 Sep 4;6(9).

8.Lee JH, Tucker Z, Mongan M, Meng Q and Xia Y. Magnetic resonance imaging study of eye congenital birth defects in mouse model. Mol Vis. 2017 Aug 10;23:572-578. eCollection 2017.

9.Chen L, Peng Z, Meng Q, Mongan, M, Wang J, Sartor M, Chen J, Niu L, Medvedovic M, Kao W and Xia Y. Loss of IB kinase  promotes myofibroblast transformation and senescence through activation of the ROS-TGF autocrine loop. Protein & Cell. 2016 Mar 5.

10.  Chen L, Mongan M, Meng Q, Wang Q, Kao W and Xia Y. Corneal Wound Healing Requires IKB kinase Signaling in Keratocytes. PLoS One. 2016 Mar 17;11(3):e0151869. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0151869. eCollection 2016.

11.  Yousaf R, Meng Q, Hufnagel RB, Xia Y, Puligilla C, Ahmed ZM and Riazuddin S. MAP3K1 function is essential for cytoarchitecture of the mouse organ of Corti and survival of auditory hair cells. Dis Model Mech. 2015 Dec 1;8(12):1543-53.

12.  Mongan M, Meng Q, Wang J, Kao WW, Puga A, Xia Y. Gene-Environment Interactions Target Mitogen-activated Protein 3 Kinase 1 (MAP3K1) Signaling in Eyelid Morphogenesis. J Biol Chem. 2015 Aug 7;290(32):19770-9.

13.  Meng Q, Mongan M, Carreira V, Kurita H, Liu CY, Kao WW and Xia Y. Eyelid closure in embryogenesis is required for ocular adnexa development. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2014 Nov 6;55(11):7652-61.

14.  Meng Q*, Mongan M*, Wang J, Tang X, Zhang J, Kao W and Xia Y. Epithelial sheet movement requires the cooperation of c-Jun and MAP3K1. Dev Biol. 2014 Nov 1;395(1):29-37. (* Equal Contribution)

15.  Meng Q, Jin C, Chen Y, Chen J, Medvedovic M and Xia Y. (2014) Expression of Signaling Components in Embryonic Eyelid Epithelium. PloS ONE 9(2): e87038. Doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0087038

16.  Jin C, Chen J, Meng Q, Carreira V, Tam NN, Geh E, Karyala S, Ho SM, Zhou X, Medvedovic M and Xia Y. Deciphering gene expression program of MAP3K1 in mouse eyelid morphogenesis. Dev Biol. 2013 Feb 1;374 (1): 96-107.

17.  Meng Q, Xia Y. c-Jun, at the crossroad of the signaling network. Protein & Cell. 2011 Nov; 2(11):889-98.

18.  Geh E*, Meng Q*, Mongan M, Wang J, Takatori A, Puga A, Lang RA and Xia Y. Mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase 1 (MAP3K1) integrates developmental signals for eyelid closure. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2011 Oct 18;108(42):17349-54. (* Equal Contribution)

19.  Li Y, Wang P, Zhuang Y, Lin H, Li Y, Liu L, Meng Q, Cui T, Liu J, Li Z. Activation of AMPK by berberine promotes adiponectin multimerization in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. FEBS Lett. 2011 Jun 23; 585(12):1735-40.

20.  Chen L, Meng Q, Kao W and Xia Y. (2011). IB kinase  regulates epithelium migration during corneal wound healing. PLoS ONE 6 (1): e16132.

21.  Meng Q, Peng Z, Chen L, Si J, Dong Z and Xia Y. Nuclear Facotr-B modulates cellular glutathione and prevents oxidative stress in cancer cells. Cancer Lett. 2010 Dec 18; 299(1): 45-53.

22.  Peng Z, Geh E, Chen L, Meng Q, Fan Y, Sartor M, Shertzer HG, Liu ZG, Puga A and Xia Y. Inhibitor of B Kinase  regulates redox homeostasis by controlling the constitutive levels of glutathione. Mol Pharmacol. 2010 May;77(5):784-92.

23.  Huang Z, Cui T, Liu J, Zhuang Y, Meng Q, Tao L and Li Z. (2008). Characterization of the expression of CTRP9, a paralog of adiponectin. Tsinghua Science and Technology 13: 492-499.