Publications and Patents

2025

1. Oscar J. Abilez†, Huaxiao Yang†, Yuan Guan, Mengcheng Shen, Zehra Yildirim, Yan Zhuge, Ravichandra Venkateshappa, Shane R. Zhao, Angello H. Gomez,  Marcel El-Mokahal, Logan Dunkenberger, Yoshikazu Ono, Masafumi Shibata, Peter N. Nwokoye, Lei Tian, Kitchener D. Wilson, Evan H. Lyall, Fangjun Jia, Hung Ta Wo, Gao Zhou, Bryan Aldana, Ioannis Karakikes, Detlef Obal, Gary Peltz, Christopher K. Zarins, Joseph C. Wu,, Gastruloids enable modeling of the earliest stages of human cardiac and hepatic vascularization, Science, 2025, Vol 388, Issue 6751 DOI: 10.1126/science.adu9375 †: These authors contributed equally to this work.

2. Yuanhui Song, Michael Seitz, Andrew Kowalczewski, Nhu Y Mai, Era Jain, Huaxiao Yang, Zhen Ma, Mechanically and Chemically Defined PEG Hydrogels Improve Reproducibility in Human Cardioid Development, Advanced Healthcare Materials, 2025, 2403997

3. Arun Kumar Reddy Kandula, Tanakit Phamornratanakun, Angello Huerta Gomez, Marcel El-Mokahal, Zhen Ma, Yunhe Feng,& Huaxiao Yang,& Generative AI for Cardiovascular Cell Type-Specific Fluorescence Colorization of Live-Cell hPSC-Derived Cardiac Organoids, Advanced Intelligent Discovery, In press, &: Co-corresponding authors

4. Nicholas Rogozinski, Sarah Velez, Yi Hong, Huaxiao Yang* Non-obstructive Methods to Detect Sarcomere Remodeling of Live In Vitro Cardiomyocytes, Integration and Bridging of Multiscale Bioengineering Designs and Tissue Biomechanics. Springer, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-81743-4_18, ISBN: 978-3-031-81743-4, 2025

5. Ahmad-Fawad Jebran, Tim Seidler, Malte Tiburcy, Maria Daskalaki, Ingo Kutschka, Buntaro Fujita, Stephan Ensminger, Felix Bremmer, Amir Moussavi, Huaxiao Yang, Xulei Qin, Sophie Mißbach, Charis Drummer, Hassina Baraki, Susann Boretius, Christopher Hasenauer, Tobias Nette, Johannes Kowallick, Christian O Ritter, Joachim Lotz, Michael Didié, Mathias Mietsch, Tim Meyer, George Kensah, Dennis Krüger, Md Sadman Sakib, Lalit Kaurani, Andre Fischer, Ralf Dressel, Ignacio Rodriguez-Polo, Michael Stauske, Sebastian Diecke, Kerstin Maetz-Rensing, Eva Gruber-Dujardin, Martina Bleyer, Beatrix Petersen, Christian Roos, Liye Zhang, Lutz Walter, Silke Kaulfuß, Gökhan Yigit, Bernd Wollnik, Elif Levent, Berit Roshani, Christiane Stahl-Henning, Philipp Ströbel, Tobias Legler, Joachim Riggert, Kristian Hellenkamp, Jens-Uwe Voigt, Gerd Hasenfuß, Rabea Hinkel, Joseph C Wu, Rüdiger Behr, Wolfram-Hubertus Zimmermann, Engineered heart muscle allografts for heart repair in primates and humans, Nature, 2025, 1-9

2024

1. Chun Liu, Mengcheng Shen, Yanxia Liu, Amit Manhas, Shane Rui Zhao, Mao Zhang, Nadjet Belbachir, Lu Ren, Joe Z Zhang, Arianne Caudal, Masataka Nishiga, Dilip Thomas, Angela Zhang, Huaxiao Yang, Yang Zhou, Mohamed Ameen, Nazish Sayed, June-Wha Rhee, Lei S Qi, Joseph C Wu, CRISPRi/a screens in human iPSC-cardiomyocytes identify glycolytic activation as a druggable target for doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity, Cell Stem Cells, 2024, 31, 12, 1760-1776. e9

2. Yang Yang, Luis A Valencia, Chih-Hao Lu, Melissa L Nakamoto, Ching-Ting Tsai, Chun Liu, Huaxiao Yang, Wei Zhang, Zeinab Jahed, Wan-Ru Lee, Francesca Santoro, Jen Liou, Joseph C Wu, Bianxiao Cui, Plasma membrane curvature regulates the formation of contacts with the endoplasmic reticulum, Nature Cell Biology  2024, 1-14

3. Yufeng Wen, Huaxiao Yang, Yi Hong, Transcriptomic Approaches to Cardiomyocyte–Biomaterial Interactions: A Review, ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering, 2024, 10, 7, 4175–4194

4. Andrew Kowalczewski, Shiyang Sun, Nhu Y Mai, Yuanhui Song, Plansky Hoang, Xiyuan Liu, Huaxiao Yang, Zhen Ma, Design optimization of geometrically confined cardiac organoids enabled by machine learning techniques, Cell Reports Methods, 2024, 4, 6

5. Alan Taylor, Jiazhu Xu, Nicholas Rogozinski, Huikang Fu, Lia Molina Cortez, Sara McMahan, Karla Perez, Yan Chang, Zui Pan, Huaxiao Yang, Jun Liao, Yi Hong, Reduced Graphene-Oxide-Doped Elastic Biodegradable Polyurethane Fibers for Cardiomyocyte Maturation, ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering, 2024, 10, 6, 3759–3774

6. Sudhiksha Maramraju, Andrew Kowalczewski, Anirudh Kaza, Xiyuan Liu, Jathin Pranav Singaraju, Mark V. Albert, Zhen Ma,& Huaxiao Yang,&, AI-organoid integrated systems for biomedical studies and applications, Bioengineering & Translational Medicine 2024, e10641, &: Co-corresponding authors

7. Huaiyu Shi, Andrew Kowalczewski, Danny Vu, Xiyuan Liu, Asif Salekin, Huaxiao Yang,& Zhen Ma&, Organoid intelligence: Integration of organoid technology and artificial intelligence in the new era of in vitro models, Medicine in Novel Technology and Devices, 2024, 100276, &: Co-corresponding authors

8. Chengyi Tu, Arianne Caudal, Yu Liu, Nikoloz Gorgodze, Hao Zhang, Chi Keung Lam, Yuqin Dai, Angela Zhang, Alexa Wnorowski, Matthew A. Wu, Huaxiao Yang, Oscar J. Abilez, Xuchao Lyu, Sanjiv M. Narayan, Luisa Mestroni, Matthew R. G. Taylor, Fabio A. Recchia & Joseph C. Wu, Tachycardia-induced metabolic rewiring as a driver of contractile dysfunction, Nature Biomedical Engineering, 2024, 8(4):479-494 

2023

1. Jathin Pranav Singaraju, Adheesh Kadiresan, Rahul Kumar Bhoi, Angello Huerta Gomez, Zhen Ma, and Huaxiao Yang,& Organalysis: Multifunctional Image Preprocessing and Analysis Software for Cardiac Organoid Studies, Tissue Engineering Part C: Methods, 2023, 29 (12), 572-582, &: Corresponding author

2. Chun Liu, Mengcheng Shen, Wilson L. W. Tan, Ian Y. Chen, Yu Liu, Xuan Yu, Huaxiao Yang, Angela Zhang, Yanxia Liu, Ming-Tao Zhao, Mohamed Ameen, Mao Zhang, Eric R. Gross, Lei S. Qi, Nazish Sayed & Joseph C. Wu, Statins improve endothelial function via suppression of epigenetic-driven EndMT, Nature Cardiovascular Research, 2023, 2, 467–485

2022

1. Dovile Strimaityte , Chengyi Tu , Apuleyo Yanez , Ilanit Itzhaki , Haodi Wu , Joseph C Wu , Huaxiao Yang,& Contractility and Calcium Transient Maturation in the Human iPSC-Derived Cardiac Microfibers, ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 2022,  14, 31, 35376–35388, &: Corresponding author

2. Nicholas Rogozinski, Apuleyo Yanez, Rahulkumar Bhoi, Moo-Yeal Lee, Huaxiao Yang,& Current Methods for Fabricating 3D Cardiac Engineered Constructs, iScience, 2022, 104330, &: Corresponding author

3. Nathan James Cunningham, Rahulkumar Bhoi, Huaxiao Yang,& hiPSC disease modeling with 3D organoids: Bioengineering perspective, 2022, 63-93, Current Topics in iPSCs Technology, &: Corresponding author

4. Zeinab Jahed, Yang Yang, Ching-Ting Tsai, Ethan P Foster, Allister F McGuire, Huaxiao Yang, Aofei Liu, Csaba Forro, Zen Yan, Xin Jiang, Ming-Tao Zhao, Wei Zhang, Xiao Li, Thomas Li, Annalisa Pawlosky, Joseph C Wu, Bianxiao Cui, Nanocrown electrodes for parallel and robust intracellular recording of cardiomyocytes, Nature communications, 2022, 13, 1

5. Jie Wang, Fernando Soto, Peng Ma, Rajib Ahmed, Huaxiao Yang, Sihan Chen, Jibo Wang, Chun Liu, Demir Akin, Kaiyu Fu, Xu Cao, Pu Chen, En-Chi Hsu, Hyongsok Tom Soh, Tanya Stoyanova, Joseph C Wu, Utkan Demirci, Acoustic Fabrication of Living Cardiomyocyte-based Hybrid Biorobots, ACS nano, 2022, 16, 7

2021

1. Angello Huerta Gomez,* Sanika Joshi (undergraduate student),* Yong Yang, Johnathan D. Tune, Ming-Tao Zhao, Huaxiao Yang& Bioengineering systems for modulating Notch signaling in cardiovascular development, disease, and regeneration, Journal of Cardiovascular Development and Disease, 2021, 8(10), 125, &: Corresponding author, Cover page article

2. Oscar J Abilez,* Huaxiao Yang,* Lei Tian, Kitchener D Wilson, Evan H Lyall, Mengcheng Shen, Rahulkumar Bhoi, Yan Zhuge, Fangjun Jia, Hung Ta Wo, Gao Zhou, Yuan Guan, Bryan Aldana, Detlef Obal, Gary Peltz, Christopher K Zarins, Joseph C Wu, Micropatterned Organoids Enable Modeling of the Earliest Stages of Human Cardiac Vascularization, Preprint, 2021, doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.07.08.499233, *: co-first authors

3. Sanika Joshi (undergraduate student), Won Hee Lee, Pu Chen, Vahid Serpooshan, and Huaxiao Yang,& Editorial: 3D Cell Culture Systems for Cardiovascular Tissue Engineering: In Vitro Modelling and In Vivo Regenerative Therapies, Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine, 2021, 8:675676. &: Corresponding author

4. Huaxiao Yang,* Ningyi Shao,* Alexandra Holmström, Xin Zhao, Tony Chour (undergraduate student), Haodong Chen, Ilanit Itzhaki, Haodi Wu,  Mohamed Ameen, Nate Cunningham, Chengyi Tu, Mingtao Zhao, Alice F. Tarantal, Oscar J. Abilez, Joseph C. Wu. Transcriptome Analysis of Induced Pluripotent Cell-Derived Cardiomyocytes in 2D Monolayer Culture and 3D Engineered Heart Tissue. *: co-first authors, Cardiovascular Research, 2021, 117 (9): 2125–2136. Editor's choice

  Commented in an editorial by Dr. Raj Kishore in Cardiovascular Research: "3-Dimensional unity of engineered heart tissue mimics the heart better than 2-Dimensional cellular diversity"

5. Hao Chen,* Huaxiao Yang,* Chen Zhang, Si Chen, Xin Zhao, Mark Zhu (undergraduate student), Zhiming Wang, Xun Zhang, Hung-Ta Wo, Kai Li, Zhen Cheng. Differential responses of transplanted cells to the diseased environment unveiled by a single molecular NIR II cell tracker. *: co-first authors, Research (AAAS, Science Partner Journal), 2021, Article ID: 9798580

2020

1. Kitchener D Wilson, Mohamed Ameen, Hongchao Guo, Oscar J Abilez, Lei Tian, Maxwell R Mumbach, Sebastian Diecke, Xulei Qin, Yonggang Liu, Huaxiao Yang, Ning Ma, Sadhana Gaddam, Nathan J Cunningham, Mingxia Gu, Evgenios Neofytou, Maricela Prado, Thomas B Hildebrandt, Ioannis Karakikes, Howard Y Chang, Joseph C Wu. Endogenous retrovirus-derived lncRNA BANCR promotes cardiomyocyte migration in humans and non-human primates. Developmental Cell, 2020, 54(6):694-709.e9

2. Soah Lee,* Huaxiao Yang,* Caressa Chen,* (undergraduate student) Sneha Venkatraman, Adrija Darsha, Sean M. Wu, Joseph C. Wu, Timon Seeger. Simple Lithography-Free Single Cell Micropatterning Technique Using Laser-Cut Stencils. *: co-first authors, Journal of Visualized Experiments, 2020

Before 2020

1. Huaxiao Yang,* Xulei Qin, Huiyuan Wang, Xin Zhao, Yonggang Liu, Hung-Ta Wo, Chun Liu, Masataka Nishiga, Haodong Chen, Jing Ge, Nazish Sayed, Oscar J Abilez, Dan Ding, Sarah C Heilshorn, Kai Li.* An In Vivo miRNA Delivery System for Restoring Infarcted Myocardium. ACS Nano, *: co-corresponding authors, doi:10.1021/acsnano.9b03343, highlighted on the cover page, Perspective by Michael E. Davis (ACS Nano 2019, 13, 9, 9702-9706)

2. Alexa Wnorowski, Huaxiao Yang, Joseph C Wu. Progress, obstacles, and limitations in the use of human cells in organ-on-a-chip models. Advanced drug delivery reviews, 2019, 140 (1), 3-11

3. Haodi Wu, Huaxiao Yang, June-Wha Rhee, Joe Z Zhang, Chi Keung Lam, Karim Sallam, Alex C Y Chang, Ning Ma, Jaecheol Lee, Hao Zhang, Helen M Blau, Donald M Bers, Joseph C Wu. Modelling diastolic dysfunction in induced pluripotent cell-derived cardiomyocytes from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy patients. European Heart Journal, 2019, 40(45):3685-3695, Introduced and discussed in Editorial (European Heart Journal, ehz447)

4. Timon Seeger, Rajani Shrestha, Chi Keung Lam, Caressa Chen, Wesley L McKeithan, Edward Lau, Alexa Wnorowski, George McMullen, Matthew Greenhaw, Jaecheol Lee, Angelos Oikonomopoulos, Soah Lee, Huaxiao Yang, Mark Mercola, Matthew Wheeler, Euan A Ashley, Fan Yang, Ioannis Karakikes, Joseph C Wu. A premature termination codon mutation in MYBPC3 causes hypertrophic cardiomyopathy via chronic activation of nonsense-mediated decay. Circulation, 2019, 139 (6), 799-811

5. Xin Zhao,* Haodong  Chen,* Dan  Xiao,* Huaxiao Yang, Ilanit Itzhaki, Xulei Qin, Tony Chour, Aitor Aguirre, Kim Lehmann, Youngkyun Kim, Praveen Shukla, Alexandra Holmström, Joe Z Zhang, Yan Zhuge, Babacar C Ndoye, Mingtao Zhao, Evgenios Neofytou, Wolfram-Hubertus Zimmermann, Mohit Jain, Joseph C Wu. Comparison of Non-human Primate versus Human Induced Pluripotent Cell-Derived Cardiomyocytes for Treatment of Myocardial Infarction. Stem cells reports, 2018, 10 (2), 422-435

6. Oscar J Abilez,* Evangeline Tzatzalos,* Huaxiao Yang, Ming-Tao Zhao, Gwanghyun Jung, Alexander M Zöllner, Malte Tiburcy, Johannes Riegler, Elena Matsa, Praveen Shukla, Yan Zhuge, Tony Chour, Vincent C Chen, Paul W Burridge, Ioannis Karakikes, Ellen Kuhl, Daniel Bernstein, Larry A Couture, Joseph D Gold, Wolfram H Zimmermann, Joseph C Wu. Passive stretch induces structural and functional maturation of engineered heart muscle as predicted by computational modeling. 2018, 36 (2), 265-277

7. Kai Li, Carmel T Chan, Hossein Nejadnik, Olga D Lenkov, Cody Wolterman, Ramasamy Paulmurugan, Huaxiao Yang, Sanjiv Sam Gambhir, Heike E Daldrup-Link. Ferumoxytol-based Dual-modality Imaging Probe for Detection of Cell Transplant Rejection. Nanotheranostics, 2018, 2 (4), 306

8. Xulei Qin,* Haodong Chen,* Huaxiao Yang,* Haodi Wu, Xin Zhao, Huiyuan Wang, Tony Chour, Evgenios Neofytou, Dan Ding, Heike Daldrup‐Link, Sarah C Heilshorn, Kai Li, Joseph C Wu. Photoacoustic Imaging of Pluripotent Cell‐Derived Cardiomyocytes in Living Hearts with Ultrasensitive Semiconducting Polymer Nanoparticles. Advanced Functional Materials, 2018, 28 (1), 1704939, * co-first authors

9. Ming-Tao Zhao, Haodong Chen, Qing Liu, Ning-Yi Shao, Nazish Sayed, Hung-Ta Wo, Joe Z Zhang, Sang-Ging Ong, Chun Liu, Youngkyun Kim, Huaxiao Yang, Tony Chour, Hong Ma, Nuria Marti Gutierrez, Ioannis Karakikes, Shoukhrat Mitalipov, Michael P Snyder, Joseph C Wu. Molecular and functional resemblance of differentiated cells derived from isogenic human iPSCs and SCNT-derived ESCs. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2017, 114 (52), E11111-E11120

10. Huaxiao Yang,* Lucas P Schmidt,* Zhonghai Wang,* Xiaoqi Yang, Yonghong Shao, Thomas K Borg, Roger Markwald, Raymond Runyan, Bruce Z Gao. Dynamic myofibrillar remodeling in live cardiomyocytes under static stretch. Scientific reports, 2016, 6, 20674, * co-first authors

11. Huaxiao Yang, Thomas K Borg, Zhen Ma, Meifeng Xu, George Wetzel, Laxmikant V Saraf, Roger Markwald, Raymond B Runyan, Bruce Z Gao. Biochip-based study of unidirectional mitochondrial transfer from cells to myocytes via tunneling nanotubes. Biofabrication, 2016, 8 (1), 015-012

12. Huaxiao Yang, Thomas K Borg, Honghai Liu, Bruce Z Gao. Interactive relationship between basement-membrane development and sarcomerogenesis in single cardiomyocytes. Experimental cell research, 2015, 330 (1), 222-232

13. Huaxiao Yang, Thomas K Borg, Lucas P Schmidt, Bruce Z Gao. Laser cell-micropatterned pair of cardiomyocytes: the relationship between basement membrane development and gap junction maturation. Biofabrication, 2014, 6 (4), 045003

14. Honghai Liu, Ruikai Chen, Huaxiao Yang, Wan Qin, Thomas K Borg, Delphine Dean, Meifeng Xu, Bruce Z Gao. Enzyme-etching technique to fabricate micropatterns of aligned collagen fibrils. Biotechnology letters, 2014, 36 (6), 1245-1252

15. Huaxiao Yang, Thomas K Borg, Zhonghai Wang, Zhen Ma, Bruce Z Gao. Role of the basement membrane in regulation of cardiac electrical properties. Annals of biomedical engineering, 2014, 42 (6), 1148-1157

16. Zhen Ma, Qiuying Liu, Huaxiao Yang, Raymond B Runyan, Carol A Eisenberg, Meifeng Xu, Thomas K Borg, Roger Markwald, Yifei Wang, Bruce Z Gao. Laser patterning for the study of MSC cardiogenic differentiation at the single-cell level. Light: Science & Applications, 2013, 2 (5), e68

17. Honghai Liu, Wan Qin, Yonghong Shao, Zhonghai Wang, Huaxiao Yang, Raymond B Runyan, Thomas K Borg, Bruce Gao. Disassembly of myofibrils in adult cardiomyocytes during dedifferentiation. Imaging, Manipulation, and Analysis of Biomolecules, Cells, and Tissues Xi, 2013, 8587(1W)

18. Zhen Ma, Huaxiao Yang, Honghai Liu, Meifeng Xu, Raymond B Runyan, Carol A Eisenberg, Roger R Markwald, Thomas K Borg, Bruce Z Gao. Mesenchymal cell-cardiomyocyte interactions under defined contact modes on laser-patterned biochips. PLoS One, 2013, 8 (2), e56554

19. Zhen Ma, Qiuying Liu, Honghai Liu, Huaxiao Yang, Julie X Yun, Meifeng Xu, Carol A Eisenberg, Thomas K Borg, Roger Markwald, Bruce Z Gao. Cardiogenic regulation of stem-cell electrical properties in a laser-patterned biochip. Cellular and molecular bioengineering, 2012, 5 (3), 327-336

20. Zhen Ma, Qiuying Liu, Honghai Liu, Huaxiao Yang, Julie X Yun, Carol Eisenberg, Thomas K Borg, Meifeng Xu, Bruce Z Gao. Laser-patterned stem-cell bridges in a cardiac muscle model for on-chip electrical conductivity analyses. Lab on a Chip, 2012, 12 (3), 566-573

21. Huaxiao Yang, Zhen Ma. Microsystem for Cell-Based Cardiovascular Research. BioNanoScience, 2012, 2 (4), 305-315

22. Huaxiao Yang, Min Sun, Yi Zhang, Ping Zhou. Degradable PHBHHx modified by the silk fibroin for the applications of cardiovascular tissue engineering. ISRN Materials Science 2011

23. Huaxiao Yang, Min Sun, Ping Zhou, Luanfeng Pan, Chungen Wu. Silk fibroins modify the atmospheric low temperature plasma-treated poly (3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyhexanoate) film for the application of cardiovascular tissue engineering. Journal of Biomedical Science and Engineering, 2010, 3 (12), 1146

24. Min Sun, Ping Zhou, Luan-Feng Pan, Shui Liu, Huaxiao Yang. Enhanced cell affinity of the silk fibroin-modified PHBHHx material. Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Medicine, 2009, 20 (8), 1743-1751

25. Huaxiao Yang, Min Sun, Ping Zhou. Investigation of water diffusion in poly (3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyhexanoate) by generalized two-dimensional correlation ATR–FTIR spectroscopy. Polymer, 2009, 50 (6), 1533-1540

Patents

1.Creation of Vascularized Biological Structures (Oscar Abilez, Huaxiao Yang, Joseph C. Wu): US patent (63/314,958) and World patent (PCT/US23/13997 Provisional)

2.Organalysis: a graphical user interface-based multifunctional image preprocessing and analysis software for cardiac organoid studies (Huaxiao Yang, Jathin Pranav Singaraju, Adheesh Kadiresan): US patent (63/514,786 Provisional)

3.Generative AI for Cardiac Organoid Image Colorization (Huaxiao Yang, Yunhe Feng, Arun Kumar Reddy Kandula): disclose submitted and approved by UNT OTL office, US patent (63/618,181 Provisional)

4.Cell/Organoid Pulse Stimulator (Huaxiao Yang, Vilma Arwood, Diego Guerra Alarcon, Miguel Martinez, Christopher Vasquez): disclose submitted and approved by UNT OTL office, approved

5.Methacrylated Hyaluronic Acid Attachment on Surface-Modified Glass Coverslips (Huaxiao Yang, Isha Murugesan, Dovile Strimaityte): disclose submitted and approved by UNT OTL office, approved