Matt Springer, PhD
Professor
Medicine
School of Medicine

Dr. Matthew L. Springer received his BA from the University of California, Berkeley in 1985 and his Ph.D. from Stanford University in 1992. He did postdoctoral research at Stanford and continued his research there as a senior scientist until joining the UCSF faculty in 2003, where he is currently one of the few non-clinicians on the faculty of the Division of Cardiology. The close juxtaposition of his basic research background with the clinical cardiologists in the Division has resulted in an active translational research program. Dr. Springer's research interests include cell therapy and gene therapy approaches to studying cardiovascular disease, and a major focus on the adverse effects of tobacco, marijuana, and e-cigarettes on cardiovascular function in rodents and humans.

• Emerging ENDS products and challenges in tobacco control toxicity research
  Tob Control 2024 Strongin, R.M., Sharma, E., Erythropel, H.C., El-Hellani, A., Kassem, N.O.F., Mikheev, V.B., Noël, A., Peyton, D.H., Springer, M.L.
• Impairment of Endothelial Function by Aerosol From Marijuana Leaf Vaporizers.
  Journal of the American Heart Association 2023 Liu J, Nabavizadeh P, Rao P, Derakhshandeh R, Han DD, Guo R, Murphy MB, Cheng J, Schick SF, Springer ML
• Local decorin delivery via hyaluronic acid microrods improves cardiac performance, ventricular remodeling after myocardial infarction.
  NPJ Regenerative medicine 2023 Mohindra P, Zhong JX, Fang Q, Cuylear DL, Huynh C, Qiu H, Gao D, Kharbikar BN, Huang X, Springer ML, Lee RJ, Desai TA
• Impairment of Endothelial Function by Cigarette Smoke and e-Cigarette Aerosol Requires RAGE.
  Arteriosclerosis, thrombosis, and vascular biology 2023 Han DD, Rao P, Qiu H, Navabzadeh M, Wang X, Goyal N, Mohammadi L, Huang A, Perez BG, Schick SF, Springer ML
• Letter to the Editor.
  American journal of infection control 2021 Springer ML
• Impaired therapeutic efficacy of bone marrow cells from post-myocardial infarction patients in the TIME and LateTIME clinical trials.
  PloS one 2020 Wang X, Chacon LI, Derakhshandeh R, Rodriguez HJ, Han DD, Kostyushev DS, Henry TD, Traverse JH, Moyé L, Simari RD, Taylor DA, Springer ML
• Modeling Cardiovascular Risks of E-Cigarettes With Human-Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Endothelial Cells.
  Journal of the American College of Cardiology 2019 Lee WH, Ong SG, Zhou Y, Tian L, Bae HR, Baker N, Whitlatch A, Mohammadi L, Guo H, Nadeau KC, Springer ML, Schick SF, Bhatnagar A, Wu JC
• Cigarette smoke exposure worsens acute lung injury in antibiotic-treated bacterial pneumonia in mice.
  American journal of physiology. Lung cellular and molecular physiology 2018 Gotts JE, Chun L, Abbott J, Fang X, Takasaka N, Nishimura SL, Springer ML, Schick SF, Calfee CS, Matthay MA
• Marijuana, Secondhand Smoke, and Social Acceptability.
  JAMA internal medicine 2018 Glantz SA, Halpern-Felsher B, Springer ML
• San Francisco Medicine
  CANNABIS: Clearing some smoke? 2016 Springer ML
• Circulating angiogenic cell function is inhibited by cortisol in vitro and associated with psychological stress and cortisol in vivo.
  Psychoneuroendocrinology 2016 Aschbacher K, Derakhshandeh R, Flores AJ, Narayan S, Mendes WB, Springer ML
• Impairment of Endothelial Function by Little Cigar Secondhand Smoke.
  Tobacco regulatory science 2016 Liu J, Wang X, Narayan S, Glantz SA, Schick SF, Springer ML
• Protein engineering to develop a redox insensitive endothelial nitric oxide synthase
  Redox Biol 2014 Rafikov R, Kumar S, Aggarwal S, Pardo D, Fonseca FV, Ransom J, Rafikova O, Chen Q, Springer ML, Black SM
• Brief exposure to secondhand smoke reversibly impairs endothelial vasodilatory function.
  Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco 2013 Pinnamaneni K, Sievers RE, Sharma R, Selchau AM, Gutierrez G, Nordsieck EJ, Su R, An S, Chen Q, Wang X, Derakhshandeh R, Aschbacher K, Heiss C, Glantz SA, Schick SF, Springer ML
• Dietary flavanol intervention lowers the levels of endothelial microparticles in coronary artery disease patients.
  The British journal of nutrition 2013 Horn P, Amabile N, Angeli FS, Sansone R, Stegemann B, Kelm M, Springer ML, Yeghiazarians Y, Schroeter H, Heiss C
• Pleiotrophin gene therapy for peripheral ischemia: evaluation of full-length and truncated gene variants.
  PloS one 2013 Fang Q, Mok PY, Thomas AE, Haddad DJ, Saini SA, Clifford BT, Kapasi NK, Danforth OM, Usui M, Ye W, Luu E, Sharma R, Bartel MJ, Pathmanabhan JA, Ang AA, Sievers RE, Lee RJ, Springer ML
• Pharmacological inhibition of S-nitrosoglutathione reductase improves endothelial vasodilatory function in rats in vivo.
  Journal of applied physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985) 2013 Chen Q, Sievers RE, Varga M, Kharait S, Haddad DJ, Patton AK, Delany CS, Mutka SC, Blonder JP, Dubé GP, Rosenthal GJ, Springer ML
• Gene therapy and angiogenesis
  Cardiology: An Illustrated Textbook. K. Chatterjee et al., eds. 2013 Springer ML
• Earthquake safety at work: An important topic to review with patients
  San Francisco Medicine 2012 Springer ML
• Instructive nanofiber scaffolds with VEGF create a microenvironment for arteriogenesis and cardiac repair.
  Science translational medicine 2012 Lin YD, Luo CY, Hu YN, Yeh ML, Hsueh YC, Chang MY, Tsai DC, Wang JN, Tang MJ, Wei EI, Springer ML, Hsieh PC
• Advanced Donor Age Impairs Bone Marrow Cell Therapeutic Efficacy for Cardiac Disease.
  Journal of tissue science & engineering 2011 Wang X, Takagawa J, Haddad DJ, Pinnamaneni K, Zhang Y, Sievers RE, Grossman W, Yeghiazarians Y, Springer ML
• Blunting half of the double-edged sword: potential use of interleukin-10 to protect bone marrow-derived cells after myocardial infarction.
  Circulation research 2011 Springer ML, Wang X
• Higher fasting glucose levels are associated with reduced circulating angiogenic cell migratory capacity among healthy individuals.
  American journal of cardiovascular disease 2011 Aschbacher K, Chen Q, Varga M, Haddad DJ, Yeghiazarians Y, Epel E, Wolkowitz OM, Springer ML
• Nitric oxide counters the inhibitory effects of uremic toxin indoxyl sulfate on endothelial cells by governing ERK MAP kinase and myosin light chain activation.
  Biochemical and biophysical research communications 2011 Kharait S, Haddad DJ, Springer ML
• The launch of American Journal of Cardiovascular Disease
  Am J Cardiovasc Dis 2011 Roberts WC, Springer ML, Wang X, Wang D
• Timing of bone marrow cell therapy is more important than repeated injections after myocardial infarction
  Cardiovasc Pathol 2011 Zhang Y, Sievers RE, Prasad M, Mirsky R, Shih H, Wong ML, Angeli FS, Ye J, Takagawa J, Koskenvuo JW, Springer ML, Grossman W, Boyle AJ, Yeghiazarians Y
• Nitric oxide synthase expression and functional response to nitric oxide are both important modulators of circulating angiogenic cell response to angiogenic stimuli.
  Arteriosclerosis, thrombosis, and vascular biology 2010 Heiss C, Schanz A, Amabile N, Jahn S, Chen Q, Wong ML, Rassaf T, Heinen Y, Cortese-Krott M, Grossman W, Yeghiazarians Y, Springer ML
• Improvement of endothelial function with dietary flavanols is associated with mobilization of circulating angiogenic cells in patients with coronary artery disease.
  Journal of the American College of Cardiology 2010 Heiss C, Jahn S, Taylor M, Real WM, Angeli FS, Wong ML, Amabile N, Prasad M, Rassaf T, Ottaviani JI, Mihardja S, Keen CL, Springer ML, Boyle A, Grossman W, Glantz SA, Schroeter H, Yeghiazarians Y
• Assessment of myocardial angiogenesis and vascularity in small animal models.
  Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.) 2010 Springer ML
• Reevaluation of the role of VEGF-B suggests a restricted role in the revascularization of the ischemic myocardium.
  Arteriosclerosis, thrombosis, and vascular biology 2008 Li X, Tjwa M, Van Hove I, Enholm B, Neven E, Paavonen K, Jeltsch M, Juan TD, Sievers RE, Chorianopoulos E, Wada H, Vanwildemeersch M, Noel A, Foidart JM, Springer ML, von Degenfeld G, Dewerchin M, …
• Brief secondhand smoke exposure depresses endothelial progenitor cells activity and endothelial function: sustained vascular injury and blunted nitric oxide production.
  Journal of the American College of Cardiology 2008 Heiss C, Amabile N, Lee AC, Real WM, Schick SF, Lao D, Wong ML, Jahn S, Angeli FS, Minasi P, Springer ML, Hammond SK, Glantz SA, Grossman W, Balmes JR, Yeghiazarians Y
• Pleiotrophin induces nitric oxide dependent migration of endothelial progenitor cells.
  Journal of cellular physiology 2008 Heiss C, Wong ML, Block VI, Lao D, Real WM, Yeghiazarians Y, Lee RJ, Springer ML
• Living both music and medicine: Where the two practices intersect. (One of several sections.)
  San Francisco Medicine 2008 Springer ML
• Abstract 1421: In Vivo Measurement of Flow-Mediated Vasodilation in Living Rats using High Resolution Ultrasound: Age-Dependent Endothelial Dysfunction.
  Circulation 2007 Christian Heiss, Richard E Sievers, Nicolas Amabile, Tony Y Momma, Shobha Natarajan, Yerem Yeghiazarians, Matthew L Springer
• Myocardial infarct size measurement in the mouse chronic infarction model: comparison of area- and length-based approaches.
  Journal of applied physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985) 2007 Takagawa J, Zhang Y, Wong ML, Sievers RE, Kapasi NK, Wang Y, Yeghiazarians Y, Lee RJ, Grossman W, Springer ML
• Localization of vascular response to VEGF is not dependent on heparin binding.
  FASEB journal : official publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology 2007 Springer ML, Banfi A, Ye J, von Degenfeld G, Kraft PE, Saini SA, Kapasi NK, Blau HM
• Validation of the wall motion score and myocardial performance indexes as novel techniques to assess cardiac function in mice after myocardial infarction.
  American journal of physiology. Heart and circulatory physiology 2006 Zhang Y, Takagawa J, Sievers RE, Khan MF, Viswanathan MN, Springer ML, Foster E, Yeghiazarians Y
• A balancing act: therapeutic approaches for the modulation of angiogenesis.
  Current opinion in investigational drugs (London, England : 2000) 2006 Springer ML
• Microenvironmental VEGF distribution is critical for stable and functional vessel growth in ischemia
  FASEBJ 2006 von Degenfeld G, Banfi A, Springer ML, Wagner RA, Jacobi J, Ozawa CR, Merchant MJ, Cooke JP, Blau HM
• VEGF-dependent plasticity of fenestrated capillaries in the normal adult microvasculature.
  American journal of physiology. Heart and circulatory physiology 2005 Kamba T, Tam BY, Hashizume H, Haskell A, Sennino B, Mancuso MR, Norberg SM, O'Brien SM, Davis RB, Gowen LC, Anderson KD, Thurston G, Joho S, Springer ML, Kuo CJ, McDonald DM
• Microenvironmental VEGF concentration, not total dose, determines a threshold between normal and aberrant angiogenesis.
  The Journal of clinical investigation 2004 Ozawa CR, Banfi A, Glazer NL, Thurston G, Springer ML, Kraft PE, McDonald DM, Blau HM
• Myoblast-mediated gene transfer for therapeutic angiogenesis and arteriogenesis.
  British journal of pharmacology 2003 von Degenfeld G, Banfi A, Springer ML, Blau HM
• Localized arteriole formation directly adjacent to the site of VEGF-induced angiogenesis in muscle.
  Molecular therapy : the journal of the American Society of Gene Therapy 2003 Springer ML, Ozawa CR, Banfi A, Kraft PE, Ip TK, Brazelton TR, Blau HM
• RIP2, a checkpoint in myogenic differentiation.
  Molecular and cellular biology 2002 Munz B, Hildt E, Springer ML, Blau HM
• Transient production of alpha-smooth muscle actin by skeletal myoblasts during differentiation in culture and following intramuscular implantation.
  Cell motility and the cytoskeleton 2002 Springer ML, Ozawa CR, Blau HM
• VEGF therapy in heart disease: for better or for worse?
  Drug discovery today 2002 Springer ML
• Gene delivery to muscle.
  Current protocols in human genetics 2002 Springer ML, Rando TA, Blau HM
• Myoblast-mediated gene transfer for therapeutic angiogenesis.
  Methods in enzymology 2002 Banfi A, Springer ML, Blau HM
• Not the usual suspects: the unexpected sources of tissue regeneration.
  The Journal of clinical investigation 2001 Springer ML, Brazelton TR, Blau HM
• VEGF gene delivery to myocardium: deleterious effects of unregulated expression.
  Circulation 2000 Lee RJ, Springer ML, Blanco-Bose WE, Shaw R, Ursell PC, Blau HM
• Induction of angiogenesis by implantation of encapsulated primary myoblasts expressing vascular endothelial growth factor.
  The journal of gene medicine 2000 Springer ML, Hortelano G, Bouley DM, Wong J, Kraft PE, Blau HM
• A novel means of drug delivery: myoblast-mediated gene therapy and regulatable retroviral vectors.
  Annual review of pharmacology and toxicology 2000 Ozawa CR, Springer ML, Blau HM
• Angiogenesis monitored by perfusion with a space-filling microbead suspension.
  Molecular therapy : the journal of the American Society of Gene Therapy 2000 Springer ML, Ip TK, Blau HM
• Ex vivo gene therapy using myoblasts and regulatable retroviral vectors
  In Gene Therapy: Therapeutic Mechanisms and Strategies, NS Templeton and DD Lasic, eds. 2000 Ozawa CR, Springer ML, Blau HM
• Analysis of immune responses to varicella zoster viral proteins induced by DNA vaccination.
  Antiviral research 1999 Abendroth A, Slobedman B, Springer ML, Blau HM, Arvin AM
• Inhibition of solid tumor growth by Fas ligand-expressing myoblasts.
  Somatic cell and molecular genetics 1998 Springer ML, Kraft PE, Blau HM
• Immune response and myoblasts that express Fas ligand.
  Science (New York, N.Y.) 1997 Kang SM, Hoffmann A, Le D, Springer ML, Stock PG, Blau HM
• High-efficiency retroviral infection of primary myoblasts.
  Somatic cell and molecular genetics 1997 Springer ML, Blau HM
• Towards a treatment for Tay-Sachs disease
  Molec. Med. Today 1996 Springer, ML
• Muscle-mediated gene therapy.
  The New England journal of medicine 1995 Blau HM, Springer ML
• Gene therapy--a novel form of drug delivery.
  The New England journal of medicine 1995 Blau HM, Springer ML
• Cell implantation treatment for MPS VII
  Molec. Med. Today 1995 Springer, ML
• Gene therapy for restenosis: retinoblastoma to the rescue
  Molec. Med. Today 1995 Springer, ML
• Stage-specific requirement for myosin II during Dictyostelium development.
  Development (Cambridge, England) 1994 Springer ML, Patterson B, Spudich JA
• Genetic control of fungal differentiation: the three sporulation pathways of Neurospora crassa.
  BioEssays : news and reviews in molecular, cellular and developmental biology 1993 Springer ML
• Timing of synthesis and cellular localization of two conidiation-specific proteins of Neurospora crassa.
  Developmental biology 1992 Springer ML, Hager KM, Garrett-Engele C, Yanofsky C
• Expression of con genes along the three sporulation pathways of Neurospora crassa.
  Genes & development 1992 Springer ML, Yanofsky C
• Tergitol-induced colonial growth without inhibition of conidiation
  Fungal Genet. Newsl. 1991 Springer, ML
• A morphological and genetic analysis of conidiophore development in Neurospora crassa.
  Genes & development 1989 Springer ML, Yanofsky C
• An effective procedure for the preparation of Neurospora crassa conidiophores for scanning electron microscopy
  Fungal Genet. Newsl. 1989 Springer, ML