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

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 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

Genetics, Genomics and Development (GGD)

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

Lab Members

	Liquan Yang, Ph.D.
	Guangchun Chen, Ph.D.
	Sonali Mohanty