Marjo Donners

Associate professor

Dr Marjo Donners studied Medical Biology at Utrecht University, where she graduated cum laude in 2001. In 2005, she obtained her PhD at Maastricht University (Department of Pathology), where she evaluated novel therapeutic targets and diagnostic tools for atherosclerotic plaque progression, focusing on immunosuppression and proteomics.

In 2004, she started as a post-doc at Maastricht University (Department of Pathology) and visited the lab of Dr R. Stan at Dartmouth University (USA) to gain expertise in lipid raft isolation. In 2006, she moved to the Department of Cardiology and identified A Disintegrin and Metalloproteases ADAM10 as novel binding partner of VEGFR2. Supported by two prestigious personal grants from the Dutch Heart Foundation (Dr. Dekker junior post-doc and senior post-doc grants), she established her own research line unravelling the role of ADAM10 in endothelial cell functions in atherosclerosis. In 2009, she continued this project within the Department of Molecular Genetics, shifting focus to macrophage functions, regulated by ADAMs as well as High Density Lipoproteins. In 2013, she was appointed as Assistant Professor within the Department of Pathology, where she was promoted to Associate Professor in 2017. Using conditional knockout mice, rendered atherogenic by injection with a PCSK9-adenoassociated construct, she studied cell-specific effects of ADAM10 in atherosclerosis.

Her current research focusses on the role of ADAMs and their regulation in vascular inflammation and atherosclerosis. Major aims are to unravel the underlying mechanisms by which ADAMs control macrophage and endothelial cell functions, and (extracellular-vesicle-mediated) cross-talk between vascular cells, in atherosclerosis and co-morbidities (e.g. chronic kidney disease and NASH). Moreover, in close collaboration with Birmingham University, she aims to reveal how specificity of these proteases is regulated by tetraspanins.

Department of Pathology
P. Debyelaan 25, 6229 HX Maastricht
Room number: 5.H2.035
T: +31(0)43 387 46 25

2024
- Jin, H., Zhang, C., Nagenborg, J., Juhasz, P., Ruder, A. V., Sikkink, C. J. J. M., Mees, B. M. E., Waring, O., Sluimer, J. C., Neumann, D., Goossens, P., Donners, M. M. P. C., Mardinoglu, A., & Biessen, E. A. L. (2024). Genome-scale metabolic network of human carotid plaque reveals the pivotal role of glutamine/glutamate metabolism in macrophage modulating plaque inflammation and vulnerability. Cardiovascular Diabetology, 23(1), Article 240. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12933-024-02339-3
- Lu, C., Donners, M. M. P. C., de Baaij, J. B. J., Jin, H., Otten, J. J. T., Manca, M., van Zonneveld, A. J., Jukema, J. W., Kraaijeveld, A., Kuiper, J., Pasterkamp, G., Mees, B., Sluimer, J. C., Cavill, R., Karel, J. M. H., Goossens, P., & Biessen, E. A. L. (2024). Identification of a gene network driving the attenuated response to lipopolysaccharide of monocytes from hypertensive coronary artery disease patients. Frontiers in Immunology, 15, Article 1286382. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2024.1286382
- Wieland, E. B., Kempen, L. J., Donners, M. M., Biessen, E. A., & Goossens, P. (2024). Macrophage heterogeneity in atherosclerosis: A matter of context. European journal of immunology, 54(1), Article 2350464. https://doi.org/10.1002/eji.202350464
2023
- Wieland, E. B., Kempen, L. J. A. P., Lu, C., Donners, M. M. P. C., Biessen, E. A. L., & Goossens, P. (2023). Protocol for multispectral imaging on cryosections to map myeloid cell heterogeneity in its spatial context. STAR protocols, 4(4), Article 102601. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xpro.2023.102601
- Lu, C., Donners, M. M. P. C., Karel, J., de Boer, H., van Zonneveld, A. J., den Ruijter, H., Jukema, J. W., Kraaijeveld, A., Kuiper, J., Pasterkamp, G., Cavill, R., Perales-Patón, J., Ferrannini, E., Goossens, P., & Biessen, E. A. L. (2023). Sex-specific differences in cytokine signaling pathways in circulating monocytes of cardiovascular disease patients. Atherosclerosis, 384, Article 117123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2023.04.005
- Nagenborg, J., Jin, H., Ruder, A. V., Temmerman, L., Mees, B., Schalkwijk, C., Müller-Klieser, D., Berg, T., Goossens, P., Donners, M. M. P. C., & Biessen, E. A. L. (2023). GM-CSF-activated STAT5A regulates macrophage functions and inflammation in atherosclerosis. Frontiers in Immunology, 14, Article 1165306. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2023.1165306
- Maas, S. L., Donners, M. M. P. C., & van der Vorst, E. P. C. (2023). ADAM10 and ADAM17, Major Regulators of Chronic Kidney Disease Induced Atherosclerosis?International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 24(8), Article 7309. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24087309
- van der Vorst, E. P. C., Maas, S. L., Theodorou, K., Peters, L. J. F., Jin, H., Rademakers, T., Gijbels, M. J., Rousch, M., Jansen, Y., Weber, C., Lehrke, M., Lebherz, C., Yildiz, D., Ludwig, A., Bentzon, J. F., Biessen, E. A. L., & Donners, M. M. P. C. (2023). Endothelial ADAM10 controls cellular response to oxLDL and its deficiency exacerbates atherosclerosis with intraplaque hemorrhage and neovascularization in mice. Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine, 10(1), Article 974918. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcvm.2023.974918
2022
- Waring, O. J., Skenteris, N. T., Biessen, E. A. L., & Donners, M. M. P. C. (2022). Two-faced Janus: The dual role of macrophages in atherosclerotic calcification. Cardiovascular Research, 118(13), 2768–2777. https://doi.org/10.1093/cvr/cvab301
- Goossens, P., Lu, C., Cao, J., Gijbels, M. J., Karel, J. M. H., Wijnands, E., Claes, B. S. R., Fazzi, G. E., Hendriks, T. F. E., Wouters, K., Smirnov, E., van Zandvoort, M. J. M., Balluff, B., Cuypers, E., Donners, M. M. P. C., Heeren, R. M. A., & Biessen, E. A. L. (2022). Integrating multiplex immunofluorescent and mass spectrometry imaging to map myeloid heterogeneity in its metabolic and cellular context. Cell Metabolism, 34(8), 1214-1225.e6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2022.06.012

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Marjo Donners

Associate professor