Xu Lab
Lei Xu
Ph.D. 2000 Indiana University
Assistant Professor of Genetics
Research Overview
The Xu laboratory investigates the mechanism of metastasis, the spread of cancer cells from their original loci to other parts of the body. It is the major cause of death in cancer patients, but exactly how it occurs is not clear. Metastasis involves multiple levels of interactions between migrating tumor cells and their microenvironment. Understanding these interactions will greatly enhance our knowledge on metastasis and lead to a better treatment of cancer. A major focus of the laboratory is thus to dissect these interactions by studying the functions of cell surface molecules during tumor spread. Knockout mice, mouse cancer models, as well as various biochemical and bioinformatics tools are used in the laboratory. The specific ongoing projects are listed below.
Projects
Recent Publications
Liquan Yang, Guangchun Chen, Sonali Mohanty, Glynis Scott, Fabeha Fazal, Arshad
Rahman, Shahinoor Begum, Richard O. Hynes, Lei Xu. (2011) GPR56 Regulates VEGF Production and Angiogenesis during Melanoma Progression.
Cancer Res. 2011 Jul 1. [Epub ahead of print] View article in PubMed Press release
Guangchun Chen, Liquan Yang, Shahinoor Begum, and Lei Xu (2010) GPR56 Is Essential for Testis Development and Male Fertility in Mice. Developmental Dynamics 239(12):3358-67. View article in PubMed
Sonali Mohanty and Lei Xu (2010) Experimental Metastasis Assay. J Vis Exp. pii: 1942. doi: 10.3791/1942. View article in PubMed
Lei Xu (2010) GPR56 Interacts with Extracellular Matrix and Regulates Cancer Progression. Yona S. and Stacey M. (Editor): Adhesion-GPCRs: Structure to Function. Landes Biosciences, Austin, in press.
Lei Xu *, Shahinoor Begum, Marc Barry, Denise Crowley, Liquan Yang, Roderick T. Bronson, Richard O. Hynes (2010) GPR56 Plays Varying Roles in Endogenous Cancer Progression. Clinical and Experimental Metastasis 27: 241-9 * Corresponding author. View article in PubMed
Lei Xu, Steven S. Shen, Yujin Hoshida, Aravind Subramanian, Ken Ross, Jean-Philippe Brunet, Stephan N. Wagner, Sridhar Ramaswamy, Jill P. Mesirov, Richard O. Hynes (2008) Gene Expression Changes in an Animal Melanoma Model Correlate with Aggressiveness of Human Melanoma Metastases. Mol Cancer Res 6(5): 760-9. View article in PubMed.
Shihong Li, Zhaohui Jin, Samir Koirala, Lihong Bu, Lei Xu, Richard O. Hynes, Chrisopher A. Walsh, Gabriel Corfas, and Xianhua Piao (2008) GPR56 Regulates Pial Basement Membrane Integrity and Cortical Lamination. J. Neurosciences 28: 5817-5826. PMCID: PMC2504715
Lei Xu and Richard Hynes (2007) GPR56 and TG2: possible roles in suppression of tumor growth by the microenvironment. Cell Cycle 6(2): 160-5. View article in PubMed.
Lei Xu, Shahinoor Begum, Jeremy Hearn, Richard Hynes (2006) GPR56, An Atypical G Protein-coupled Receptor, Binds Tissue Transglutaminase, TG2, and Inhibits Melanoma Tumor Growth and Metastasis. PNAS 103: 9023-8. View article in PubMed.
More papers: 
Graduate Program Affiliations
Contact
Lei Xu
University of Rochester
Box 633
601 Elmwood Ave.
Rochester, NY 14642
Office: MRB 2-9645
+1-585-273-1302
lei_xu@urmc.rochester.edu
Current lab members
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Liquan Yang, Ph.D., Post-doctoral research associate |
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Sonali Mohanty, Lab technician |
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Shweta Tiwary, Graduate student |
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Lab technician |
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Morgan Preziosi, Undergrad student |
