Dr. David Ma
Associate Professor
Email: davidma@uoguelph.ca
Office: ANNU 342
Ext: 52272
Lab: ANNU 376
Ext: 53906
Profile | Education | Research | Publications | Grad Students | Links |
Profile
My interest in the role of nutrition in human health began while working as a summer research student under the mentorship of Dr. M.T. Clandinin at the University of Alberta. This subsequently led to graduate work in the area of nutrition and cancer. My thesis research focused on understanding the anticancer mechanism by which conjugated linoleic acids inhibit breast cancer growth. My postdoctoral research at Texas A&M University in the lab of Dr. R.S. Chapkin gave me the opportunity to study in the emerging field of membrane rafts. The study of membrane rafts such as caveolae is a new area of membrane biology which has dramatically changed our understanding of the role of lipids in regulating signal transduction pathways. My research focused on understanding how omega-3 fatty acids affect caveolae structure and function in colon cancer. After the completion of my training, I took up a Faculty position at the University of Toronto. Building on my PhD and postdoctoral work, I developed a research program investigating the effects of conjugated linoleic acids and omega-3 fatty acids on caveolae in breast cancer. This research is continuing at the University of Guelph.
For more information about my research program, please visit my website at uoguelph.ca/~davidma.
Education
B.Sc. - University of Alberta
Ph.D. - University of Alberta
Research
The long term objective of my research program is to increase our fundamental knowledge of dietary fatty acids in breast cancer which will lead to the development of new strategies to prevent and treat breast cancer. Towards this goal, cutting edge technologies such as transgenic, molecular biology and nutrigenomic approaches are employed to more precisely understand how lipids modulate membrane structure, protein function and gene expression.
Current research is focused on caveolae and potential therapeutic effects of bioactive fatty acids on caveolae structure and function. Bioactive fatty acids include n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFA) derived from plant and marine oils, conjugated linoleic acids (CLA) derived from ruminant animals and trans fatty acids (TFA) derived from both natural and synthetic sources. N-3 PUFA and CLA have been shown to have anticancer effects, in contrast TFA may have cancer promoting effects. Caveolae are specialized compartments of the plasma membrane which are part of the membrane raft family. Membrane rafts have dramatically changed our understanding of lipid-lipid and lipid-protein interactions involved in the spatial and temporal organization of many membrane bound proteins. Many membrane receptors and proteins involved in cell proliferation and apoptosis are dysregulated in cancer and growing evidence suggests that these proteins are regulated through caveolae.
Translation of basic research on caveolae and bioactive fatty acids has led to several productive collaborations in other areas including cancers of the colon and prostate, and other diseases such as obesity, osteoporosis, and Alzheimer's Disease.
Selected Publications
Dyck MC, David WL Ma, Meckling KA. The anticancer effects of Vitamin D and omega-3 PUFAs in combination via cod-liver oil: One plus one may equal more than two. Med Hypotheses. 2011 May 30. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 21632182.
Arendt BM, Mohammed SS, David WL Ma, Aghdassi E, Salit IE, Wong DK, Guindi M, Sherman M, Heathcote EJ, Allard JP. Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in HIV Infection Associated with Altered Hepatic Fatty Acid Composition. Curr HIV Res. 2011 Mar 24. PMID: 21434863.
Ellie Aghassi, David W.L. Ma, Shannon Clarke, Lyn Hillyer and Paul Fortin. Alteration in Circulating Fatty Acid Composition in Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: A Pilot Study. (Invited paper), JPEN J Parenter Enteral Nutr. 2011 Mar-Apr;35(2):198-208. PMID: 21378249
Diana M Merino, Holly Johnston, Shannon Clarke, Ahmed El-Sohemy, David WL Ma, and David M Mutch. Polymorphisms in fatty acid desaturase (FADS) genes affect n-3 and n-6 fatty acid metabolism in a multiethnic population of young healthy adults. Molecular Genetics and Metabolism. 2011 Feb 23. PMID: 21414826.
Justine Tishinsky, David W.L. Ma and Lindsay E. Robinson. Adiponectin. Eicosapentaenoic acid and rosiglitazone increase adiponectin in an additive and PPARγ-dependent manner in human adipocyte. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2011 Feb;19(2):262-8. PMID: 20814411.
Mira MacLennan and David W.L. Ma. Role of dietary fatty acids in mammary gland development and breast cancer. Breast Cancer Research, 2010 Oct 26;12(5):211. PMID: 21067551
Brennan K. Smith, Graham P. Holloway, Sandra Reza-Lopez, Stan Jeram, Jing X. Kang and David W.L. Ma. A decreased n-6/n-3 ratio in the fat-1 mouse is associated with improved insulin sensitivity. Applied Physiology Nutrition and Metabolism, 2010 Oct;35(5):699-706. PMID: 20962926.
Beatrice Lau, Wendy E. Ward, Jing X. Kang and David W.L. Ma. Fat-1 gene modulates the fatty acid composition of femoral and vertebral phospholipids., APNM. 2010,35(4):447-455. PMID: 20725110.
Diana M Merino, David WL Ma and David M Mutch Genetic variation in lipid desaturases and its impact on the development of human disease. Lipids in Health and Disease 2010, 9:63 (18 June 2010) PMID: 20565855.
Pedro Huot, Baisahki Sarkar, David W.L. Ma. CLA alters caveolae phospholipid fatty acid composition and decreases caveolin-1 expression in MCF-7 breast cancer cells. Nutrition Research. 2010 Mar;30(3):179-85. PMID: 20417878.
Cynthia Boudrault, Richard P. Bazinet, Jing X. Kang and David W.L. Ma. Cyclooxygenase-2 and n-6 PUFA are lower and DHA is higher in the cortex of fat-1 mice. Neurochem Int. 2010 Mar;56(4):585-9. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 20064570.
Sarah K Orr, Jasmin Tong, Jing X. Kang, David WL Ma, and Richard P Bazinet.. The Fat-1 Mouse has Brain Docosahexaenoic Acid Levels Achievable Through Fish Oil Feeding. Neurochem Res. 2010 May;35(5):811-9. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 20177777.
Personnel
L. Hillyer (Technician)
S. Abdelmagid (Postdoc – Guelph)
S. Clarke (MSc student - Guelph)
J. Monteiro (MSc student - Guelph)
K. Perez (Coursework MSc - Guelph)
Links
Dr. David Ma's Lab Website: uoguelph.ca/~davidma