Momoko Yoshimoto, MD, PhD

Momoko Yoshimoto, MD, PhD
Momoko Yoshimoto, MD, PhD

Professor, Department of Investigative Medicine

Biosketch

Dr. Momoko Yoshimoto, MD, Ph.D., obtained her medical degree from Mie University Faculty of Medicine in 1993, followed by a two-year residency in general Pediatrics and a three-year fellowship in Pediatric Hematology-Oncology at Kobe City Medical Center General Hospital. She gained further experience as an attending Pediatric Hematology-Oncologist at Mie University for one year. Then, She entered Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine and earned her Ph.D. in 2003. In 2005, Dr. Yoshimoto joined Dr. Mervin Yoder's lab as a postdoctoral researcher at Indiana University School of Medicine. Her exceptional contributions led to her promotion to Research Assistant Professor in 2009. Notably, she secured an R56 grant in 2015 and an R01 grant the following year. In 2016, she was recruited as an Associate Professor at the Center for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine at McGovern Medical School, the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, where she established her laboratory. Dr. Yoshimoto's scientific career has been dedicated to investigating developmental hematopoiesis in mouse embryos, focusing on the emergence of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells from hemogenic endothelial cells. Her contributions are reflected in 68 peer-reviewed publications, with 11 as the corresponding author. She has recently secured a new R01 grant and earned an exceptional impact score for her R21 grant. In education, Dr. Yoshimoto has served as co-director of the Immunology Program at MD Anderson and UTHealth Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences for the past two years. She has also directed the Fundamental Immunology course and co-directed the Principle of Stem Cell Biology course for the last four years. Additionally, she actively contributes to the academic development of Ph.D. students, serving on committees for three students. Dr. Yoshimoto is extensively involved in scientific community activities. She has been invited multiple times to serve on NIH study sections. Moreover, she participates in the peer-review process by reviewing 3-4 original articles per year submitted to high-impact journals such as Nature Communications, Advanced Science, and Developmental Cell, among others. Additionally, she contributes her expertise by reviewing abstracts for annual meetings of the International Society of Experimental Hematology (ISEH) and the American Society of Hematology (ASH). Dr. Yoshimoto holds membership in the Junior Faculty Committee at ISEH and the ASH Scientific Committee. She is also a founding member of the Immunology Consortium at the Gulf Coast Consortium (GCC) in Texas, where she has been an integral part of the steering committee for the annual GCC Immunology meetings for the past three years.

  • Education and Training
    • Postdoctoral Fellowship 2009, Indiana University
    • PhD 2003, Developmental Hematology, School of Medicine, Kyoto University
    • Fellowship 1998, Kobe City General Hospital
    • Residency 1995, Kobe City General Hospital
    • MD 1993, School of Medicine, Mie University

  • Research
    • Pluripotent Stem Cells
    • Lymphoid progenitors in the mouse embryo
    • Hematopoietic Stem Cells
    • Developmental Hematology

  • Publications

    • Cox G., Kobayashi M., Rudd B.D., Yoshimoto M. Regulation of HSC development and function by Lin28b Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology. 2025;13

    • Lin Y., Gil C.H., Banno K., Yokoyama M., Wingo M., Go E., Prasain N., Liu Y., Hato T., Naito H., Wakabayashi T., Sominskaia M., Gao M., Chen K., Geng F., Gomez Salinero J.M., Chen S., Shelley W.C., Yoshimoto M., Li Calzi S., Murphy M.P., Horie K., Grant M.B., Schreiner R., Redmond D., Basile D.P., Rafii S., Yoder M.C. Circulation. 2024;150:451-465.

    • Syed A., Kobayashi M., Yoshimoto M. STAR Protocols. 2024;5

    • Abe J.I., Imanishi M., Li S., Zhang A., Ko K.A., Samanthapudi V.S.K., Lee L.L., Bojorges A.P., Gi Y.J., Hobbs B.P., Deswal A., Herrmann J., Lin S.H., Chini E.N., Shen Y.H., Schadler K.L., Nguyen T.H.M., Gupte A.A., Reyes-Gibby C., Yeung S.C.J., Abe R.J., Olmsted-Davis E.A., Krishnan S., Dantzer R., Palaskas N.L., Cooke J.P., Pownall H.J., Yoshimoto M., Fujiwara K., Hamilton D.J., Burks J.K., Wang G., Le N.T., Kotla S. Circulation Research. 2023;133:25-44.

    • Jain A., Casanova D., Padilla A.V., Paniagua Bojorges A., Kotla S., Ko K.A., Samanthapudi V.S.K., Chau K., Nguyen M.T.H., Wen J., Hernandez Gonzalez S.L., Rodgers S.P., Olmsted-Davis E.A., Hamilton D.J., Reyes-Gibby C., Yeung S.C.J., Cooke J.P., Herrmann J., Chini E.N., Xu X., Yusuf S.W., Yoshimoto M., Lorenzi P.L., Hobbs B., Krishnan S., Koutroumpakis E., Palaskas N.L., Wang G., Deswal A., Lin S.H., Abe J.I., Le N.T. Premature senescence and cardiovascular disease following cancer treatments: mechanistic insights Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine. 2023;10

    • Kobayashi M., Wei H., Yamanashi T., Azevedo Portilho N., Cornelius S., Valiente N., Nishida C., Cheng H., Latorre A., Zheng W.J., Kang J., Seita J., Shih D.J., Wu J.Q., Yoshimoto M. Cell Reports. 2023;42(3)

    • Kobayashi M., Yoshimoto M. Immunological Reviews. 2023;315(1):11-30.

    • Lin Y., Banno K., Gil C.H., Myslinski J., Hato T., Shelley W.C., Gao H., Xuei X., Liu Y., Basile D.P., Yoshimoto M., Prasain N., Tarnawsky S.P., Adams R.H., Naruse K., Yoshida J., Murphy M.P., Horie K., Yoder M.C. JCI Insight. 2023;8(5)

    • Banerjee P., Olmsted-Davis E.A., Deswal A., Nguyen M.T., Koutroumpakis E., Palaskas N.L., Lin S.H., Kotla S., Reyes-Gibby C., Yeung S.C.J., Yusuf S.W., Yoshimoto M., Kobayashi M., Yu B., Schadler K., Herrmann J., Cooke J.P., Jain A., Chini E., Le N.T., Abe J.I. Cancer treatment-induced NAD<sup>+</sup> depletion in premature senescence and late cardiovascular complications Journal of Cardiovascular Aging. 2022;2

    • Imanishi M., Cheng H., Kotla S., Deswal A., Le N.T., Chini E., Ko K.A., Samanthapudi V.S.K., Lee L.L., Herrmann J., Xu X., Reyes-Gibby C., Yeung S.C.J., Schadler K.L., Yusuf S.W., Liao Z., Nurieva R., Amir E.a.D., Burks J.K., Palaskas N.L., Cooke J.P., Lin S.H., Kobayashi M., Yoshimoto M., Abe J.I. Radiation therapy induces immunosenescence mediated by p90RSK Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine. 2022;9

    • Yoshimoto M., Kosters A., Cornelius S., Valiente N., Cheng H., Latorre A., Nishida C., Ghosn E.E.B., Kobayashi M. Frontiers in Immunology. 2022;13

    • Ding J., Cardoso A.A., Yoshimoto M., Kobayashi M. The Earliest T-Precursors in the Mouse Embryo Are Susceptible to Leukemic Transformation Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology. 2021;9

    • Lewis K., Yoshimoto M., Takebe T. Stem Cell Research and Therapy. 2021;12(1)

    • Portilho N.A., Scarfo R., Bertesago E., Ismailoglu I., Kyba M., Kobayashi M., Ditadi A., Yoshimoto M. Development (Cambridge). 2021;148(15)

    • Yoshimoto M., Ditadi A. The people behind the papers - Nathalia Azevedo Portilho, Rebecca Scarf貌, Andrea Ditadi and Momoko Yoshimoto Development (Cambridge). 2021;148(15)

    • Kobayashi M., Lin Y., Mishra A., Shelly C., Gao R., Reeh C.W., Wang P.Z., Xi R., Liu Y., Wenzel P., Ghosn E., Liu Y., Yoshimoto M. Journal of Immunology. 2020;204(12):3262-3272.

    • Kobayashi M., Yoshimoto M. A Modified Semisolid Clonal Culture for Identification of B-1 and B-2 Progenitor Colony Forming Ability of Mouse Embryonic Hemogenic Endothelial Cells Bio-protocol. 2020;10(9)

    • Yoshimoto M. International Journal of Hematology. 2020;111(5):622-627.

    • Azevedo Portilho N., Kobayashi M., Yoshimoto M. International Journal of Hematology. 2019;109(1):35-40.

    • Ghosn E., Dorshkind K., Herzenberg L.A., Holodick N., Kantor A., Montecino-Rodriguez E., Rothstein T.L., Silverman G., Yang Y., Yoder M.C., Yoshimoto M. Science. 2019;364:248.

    • Ghosn E., Yoshimoto M., Nakauchi H., Weissman I.L., Herzenberg L.A. Development (Cambridge). 2019;146(15)

    • Kobayashi M., Tarnawsky S.P., Wei H., Mishra A., Azevedo Portilho N., Wenzel P., Davis B., Wu J., Hadland B., Yoshimoto M. Stem Cell Reports. 2019;13(1):21-30.

    • Lin Y., Kobayashi M., Azevedo Portilho N., Mishra A., Gao H., Liu Y., Wenzel P., Davis B., Yoder M.C., Yoshimoto M. Stem Cell Reports. 2019;12(3):572-583.

    • Yoshimoto M. Blood. 2019;133(24):2557-2558.

    • Zaffiri L., Shah R.J., Stearman R.S., Rothhaar K., Emtiazjoo A.M., Yoshimoto M., Fisher A.J., Mickler E.A., Gartenhaus M.D., Cohort L.T.O.G., Diamond J.M., Geraci M.W., Christie J.D., Wilkes D.S. Transplant Immunology. 2019;56

    • Hadland B., Yoshimoto M. Experimental Hematology. 2018;60:1-9.

    • Hato T., Zollman A., Plotkin Z., El-Achkar T.M., Maier B.F., Louise Pay S., Dube S., Cabral P., Yoshimoto M., McClintick J., Dagher P.C. Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. 2018;29(1):104-117.

    • Spidale N.A., Sylvia K., Narayan K., Miu B., Frascoli M., Melichar H.J., Zhihao W., Kisielow J., Palin A., Serwold T., Love P., Kobayashi M., Yoshimoto M., Jain N., Kang J. Immunity. 2018;49(5):857-872.e5.

    • Hadland B.K., Varnum-Finney B., Mandal P.K., Rossi D.J., Poulos M.G., Butler J.M., Rafii S., Yoder M.C., Yoshimoto M., Bernstein I.D. Stem Cell Reports. 2017;8(6):1563-1572.

    • Kobayashi M., Nabinger S.c., Bai Y., Yoshimoto M., Gao R., Chen S., Yao C., Dong Y., Zhang L., Rodriguez S., Yashiro-Ohtani Y., Pear W.S., Carlesso N., Yoder M.C., Kapur R., Kaplan M.H., Daniel Lacorazza H., Zhang Z.Y., Liu Y. Stem Cells. 2017;35(4):1053-1064.

    • Tarnawsky S.P., Yoshimoto M., Deng L., Chan R.J., Yoder M.C. Developmental Dynamics. 2017;246(12):1001-1014.

    • Yoshimoto M., Yoder M.C. Developmental Biology of Stem Cells Fetal and Neonatal Physiology, 2-Volume Set. 2017:1094-1104.e2.

    • Yoon J., Wang H., Kim Y.C., Yoshimoto M., Abbasi S., Morse H.C. Immunology and Cell Biology. 2016;94(8):719-728.

    • Hato T., Winfree S., Kalakeche R., Dube S., Kumar R., Yoshimoto M., Plotkin Z., Dagher P.C. Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. 2015;26(6):1347-1362.

    • Kim H., Prasain N., Vemula S., Ferkowicz M.J., Yoshimoto M., Voytik-Harbin S.L., Yoder M.C. Microvascular Research. 2015;101:72-81.

    • Yoshimoto M. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 2015;1362(1):16-22.

    • Yoshimoto M., Koenig J.M. Clinics in Perinatology. 2015;42(3):597-612.

    • Adkins B., Yoshimoto M. Epigenetic regulation of the Th2 locus in fetal and neonatal T cells Advances in Neuroimmune Biology. 2014;5(2):69-73.

    • Arora N., Wenzel P., McKinney-Freeman S., Ross S., Kim P., Chou S., Yoshimoto M., Yoder M., Daley G. Developmental Cell. 2014;29(5):621-628.

    • Kobayashi M., Shelley W.C., Seo W., Vemula S., Lin Y., Liu Y., Kapur R., Taniuchi I., Yoshimoto M. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2014;111(33):12151-12156.

    • Lin Y., Yoder M., Yoshimoto M. Stem Cells and Development. 2014;23(11):1168-1177.

    • Prasain N., Lee M.R., Vemula S., Meador J.L., Yoshimoto M., Ferkowicz M.J., Fett A., Gupta M., Rapp B.M., Saadatzadeh M.R., Ginsberg M., Elemento O., Lee Y., Voytik-Harbin S.L., Chung H.M., Hong K.S., Reid E., O'Neill C.L., Medina R.J., Stitt A.W., Murphy M.P., Rafii S., Broxmeyer H.E., Yoder M.C. Nature Biotechnology. 2014;32(11):1151-1157.

    • Chen H., Zhang W., Sun X., Yoshimoto M., Chen Z., Zhu W., Liu J., Shen Y., Yong W., Li D., Zhang J., Lin Y., Li B., VanDusen N.J., Snider P., Schwartz R.J., Conway S.J., Field L.J., Yoder M.C., Firulli A.B., Carlesso N., Towbin J.A., Shou W. Development (Cambridge). 2013;140(9):1946-1957.

    • Sutton T.A., Hato T., Mai E., Yoshimoto M., Kuehl S., Anderson M., Mang H., Plotkin Z., Chan R.J., Dagher P.C. Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. 2013;24(1):113-124.

    • Swiers G., Baumann C., O'Rourke J., Giannoulatou E., Taylor S., Joshi A., Moignard V., Pina C., Bee T., Kokkaliaris K.D., Yoshimoto M., Yoder M.C., Frampton J., Schroeder T., Enver T., G枚ttgens B., De Bruijn M.F.T.R. Nature Communications. 2013;4

    • Yoshimoto M., Yoder M., Guevara P., Adkins B. PLoS ONE. 2013;8(1)

    • Choi E., Kraus M.R.C., Lemaire L.A., Yoshimoto M., Vemula S., Potter L.A., Manduchi E., Stoeckert C.J., Grapin-Botton A., Magnuson M.A. Stem Cells. 2012;30(10):2297-2308.

    • Yoshimoto M., Porayette P., Glosson N.L., Conway S.J., Carlesso N., Cardoso A.A., Kaplan M.H., Yoder M.C. Blood. 2012;119(24):5706-5714.

    • Yoshimoto M., Montecino-Rodriguez E., Ferkowicz M., Porayette P., Shelley W., Conway S., Dorshkind K., Yoder M. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2011;108(4):1468-1473.

    • Adamo L., Naveiras O., Wenzel P.L., McKinney-Freeman S., Mack P.J., Gracia-Sancho J., Suchy-Dicey A., Yoshimoto M., Lensch M.W., Yoder M.C., Garcia-Carde帽a G., Daley G.Q. Nature. 2009;459(7250):1131-1135.

    • Chang H., Yoshimoto M., Umeda K., Iwasa T., Mizuno Y., Fukada S.I., Yamamoto H., Motohashi N., Yuko-Miyagoe-Suzuki , Takeda S., Heike T., Nakahata T. FASEB Journal. 2009;23(6):1907-1919.

    • Pierre M., Yoshimoto M., Huang L., Richardson M., Yoder M. Experimental Hematology. 2009;37(9):1038-1053.

    • Yoshimoto M., Heike T., Chang H., Kanatsu-Shinohara M., Baba S., Varnau J.T., Shinohara T., Yoder M.C., Nakahata T. Experimental Hematology. 2009;37(12):1400-1410.

    • Yoshimoto M., Yoder M. Nature. 2009;457(7231):801-803.

    • Lux C.T., Yoshimoto M., McGrath K., Conway S.J., Palis J., Yoder M.C. Blood. 2008;111(7):3435-3438.

    • Nakajima H., Sakakibara Y., Tambara K., Marui A., Yoshimoto M., Premaratne G.U., Lin X., Kanemitsu N., Sakaguchi G., Ikeda T., Nishimura K., Nakahata T., Komeda M. Circulation Journal. 2008;72(9):1528-1535.

    • Okano T., Nakagawa T., Kita T., Kada S., Yoshimoto M., Nakahata T., Ito J. Journal of Neuroscience Research. 2008;86(8):1758-1767.

    • Tsuji S., Yoshimoto M., Takahashi K., Noda Y., Nakahata T., Heike T. Fertility and Sterility. 2008;90(4 SUPPL.):1528-1537.

    • Yoshimoto M., Porayette P., Yoder M. Cell Stem Cell. 2008;3(6):583-586.

    • Baba S., Heike T., Umeda K., Iwasa T., Kaichi S., Hiraumi Y., Doi H., Yoshimoto M., Kanatsu-Shinohara M., Shinohara T., Nakahata T. Stem Cells. 2007;25(6):1375-1383.

    • Baba S., Heike T., Yoshimoto M., Umeda K., Doi H., Iwasa T., Lin X., Matsuoka S., Komeda M., Nakahata T. Cardiovascular Research. 2007;76(1):119-131.

    • Fujino H., Hiramatsu H., Tsuchiya A., Niwa A., Noma H., Shiota M., Umeda K., Yoshimoto M., Ito M., Heike T., Nakahata T. FASEB Journal. 2007;21(13):3499-3510.

    • Kato K., Yoshimoto M., Kato K., Adachi S., Yamayoshi A., Arima T., Asanoma K., Kyo S., Nakahata T., Wake N. Human Reproduction. 2007;22(5):1214-1223.

    • Shiota M., Heike T., Haruyama M., Baba S., Tsuchiya A., Fujino H., Kobayashi H., Kato T., Umeda K., Yoshimoto M., Nakahata T. Experimental Cell Research. 2007;313(5):1008-1023.

    • Kato T., Heike T., Okawa K., Haruyama M., Shiraishi K., Yoshimoto M., Nagato M., Shibata M., Kumada T., Yamanaka Y., Hattori H., Nakahata T. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2006;103(15):6019-6024.

    • Umeda K., Heike T., Yoshimoto M., Shinoda G., Shiota M., Suemori H., Hong Y.L., Chui D.H.K., Torii R., Shibuya M., Nakatsuji N., Nakahata T. Stem Cells. 2006;24(5):1348-1358.

    • Iida M., Heike T., Yoshimoto M., Baba S., Doi H., Nakahata T. FASEB Journal. 2005;19(3):371-378.

    • Nagato M., Heike T., Kato T., Yamanaka Y., Yoshimoto M., Shimazaki T., Okano H., Nakahata T. Journal of Neuroscience Research. 2005;80(4):456-466.

    • Saito M., Fujisawa A., Nishikomori R., Kambe N., Nakata-Hizume M., Yoshimoto M., Ohmori K., Okafuji I., Yoshioka T., Kusunoki T., Miyachi Y., Heike T., Nakahata T. Arthritis and Rheumatism. 2005;52(11):3579-3585.

    • Tsuchiya A., Heike T., Fujino H., Shiota M., Umeda K., Yoshimoto M., Matsuda Y., Ichida T., Aoyagi Y., Nakahata T. Gastroenterology. 2005;128(7):2089-2104.

    • Yoshimoto M., Chang H., Shiota M., Kobayashi H., Umeda K., Kawakami A., Heike T., Nakahata T. Stem Cells. 2005;23(5):610-618.

    • Kanatsu-Shinohara M., Inoue K., Lee J., Yoshimoto M., Ogonuki N., Miki H., Baba S., Kato T., Kazuki Y., Toyokuni S., Toyoshima M., Niwa O., Oshimura M., Heike T., Nakahata T., Ishino F., Ogura A., Shinohara T. Cell. 2004;119(7):1001-1012.

    • Umeda K., Heike T., Yoshimoto M., Shiota M., Suemori H., Luo H.Y., Chui D.H.K., Torii R., Shibuya M., Nakatsuji N., Nakahata T. Development. 2004;131(8):1869-1879.

    • Xu Y., Arai H., Zhuge X., Sano H., Murayama T., Yoshimoto M., Heike T., Nakahata T., Nishikawa S.I., Kita T., Yokode M. Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology. 2004;24(3):477-482.

    • Yoshimoto M., Shinohara T., Heike T., Shiota M., Kanatsu-Shinohara M., Nakahata T. Experimental Hematology. 2003;31(8):733-740.

    • Han H., Tanigaki K., Yamamoto N., Kuroda K., Yoshimoto M., Nakahata T., Ikuta K., Honjo T. International Immunology. 2002;14(6):637-645.

  • Presentations
    • Young B-1 cell prevent artherosclerosis. Yoshimoto M, 42nd Annual Kalamazoo Community and Health Sciences Research Day, Kalamazoo, Michigan, 04/2024