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

Demet Arac, Gabriela Aust, Davide Calebiro, Felix B. Engel, Caroline Formstone, André Goffinet, Jörg Hamann, Robert J. Kittel, Ines Liebscher, Hsi-Hsien Lin, Kelly R. Monk, Alexander Petrenko, Xianhua Piao, Simone Prömel, Helgi B. Schiöth, Thue W. Schwartz, Martin Stacey, Yuri A. Ushkaryov, Manja Wobus, Uwe Wolfrum, Lei Xu, and Tobias Langenha (2012) Dissecting signaling and functions of adhesion G protein–coupled receptors. Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. in press

Yulin Chen, Joanne Soong, Sonali Mohanty, Lei Xu, Glynis Scott (2012) The neural guidance receptor Plexin C1 delays melanoma progression. Oncogene. in press

Liquan Yang, Guangchun Chen, Sonali Mohanty, Glynis Scott, Febeha Fazal, Arshad Rahman, Shahinoor Begum, Richard O. Hynes, and Lei Xu (2011) GPR56 Regulates VEGF Production and Angiogenesis during Melanoma Progression. Cancer Research 71(16): 5558-68. View article in PubMed

Liquan Yang and Lei Xu (2012) GPR56 in Cancer Progression: Current Status and Future Perspectives. Future Oncology 8:431-40. View in PubMed

Patricia Dimond, Kenneth Carlson, Michel Bouvier, Craig Gerard, Lei Xu, Lidija Covic, Anika Agarwal, Oliver P. Ernst, Jay M. Janz, Thue W. Schwartz, Thomas J. Gardella, Graeme Milligan, Athan Kuliopulos, Thomas P. Sakmar, and Stephen W. Hunt III (2011) G protein–coupled receptor modulation with pepducins: moving closer to the clinic. Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 1226: 34–49. View in PubMed

Guangchun Chen, Liquan Yang, Shahinoor Begum, and Lei Xu (2010) GPR56 Is Essential for Testis Development and Male Fertility in Mice. Developmental Dynamics, 239: 3358-67. View article in PubMed

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

Sonali Mohanty and Lei Xu (2010) Experimental Metastasis Assay. J Vis Exp. pii: 1942. doi: 10.3791/1942. View in PubMed

Lei Xu (2010) GPR56 Interacts with Extracellular Matrix and Regulates Cancer Progression. Adv Exp Med Biol 706: 98 - 108. Chapter 8 of Adhesion-GPCRs (Edited by Yona and Stacey). Lanes Biosciences, Austin. View 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. 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

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 in PubMed.

*Lei Xu, Shahinoor Begum, Jeremy D. Hearn, Richard O. 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 *Please see Perspective: Cross-linking Transglutaminases with G Protein–Coupled Receptor Signaling. Sci. STKE 2006 353: pe34. By Iismaa SE, Begg GE, and Graham RM. View article in PubMed

Lei Xu, Fang Y., and Susan Strome (2001) The C. elegans Maternal-Effect Sterile Proteins, MES-2, MES-3 and MES-6, interact in a complex in embryos. PNAS 98 (9): 5061-5066. View article in PubMed

Lei Xu, Paulsen, J., Yoo Y., Goodwin EB, and Susan Strome (2001) Caenorhabditis elegans MES-3 is a target of GLD-1 and functions epigenetically in germline development. Genetics. 159(3):1007-17. View article in PubMed

Lei Xu and Susan Strome (2001) Depletion of a novel SET-domain protein enhances the sterility of mes-3 and mes-4 mutants of Caenorhabditis elegans. Genetics. 159(3):1019-29. View article in PubMed

Williams C., Xu L., and Blumenthal T. (1999) SL1 trans-Splicing and 3’-End Formation in a Novel Class of Caenorhabditis elegans Operon. Mol. Cell. Biol. 19 (1): 376-383. View article in PubMed

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