Hong Xu, PhD
Research Assistant Professor of Pathology and Laboratory MedicinePerelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
Contact Information3400 Spruce Street
6 Maloney
Philadelphia, PA, 19104
Research Expertise
I performed translational studies to elucidate therapeutic targets for tauopathies and gained valuable experience working with a variety of tauopathy models, including neuron cultures and transgenic mouse models. My doctoral research proved that synthesized siRNAs could be used as a novel therapeutic treatment to mitigate tau pathology in vitro and in vivo and elucidated the molecular pathways of how PERK protein modulates the turnover of pathological tau. Through my graduate and doctoral research experiences, I have developed strong skills in biochemistry, immunohistochemistry, microscopy, and behavior testing. I continued my postdoctoral training at the Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research at the University of Pennsylvania. Over the past several years of my postdoctoral fellowship, I have further insights into tau transmission using cell and animal models to recapitulate human tau pathology in patient postmortem brains.
Education
B.Sc. Southwest Forestry College, Yunnan, China (Biotechnology), 2006
M.Sc. Tongji University, Shanghai, China (Molecular Biology), 2009
Ph.D. Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany (Human Biology), 2015
Specialty Certification
Postgraduate Training
Postdoctoral Felelow, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany, 2015-2016
Postdoctoral Fellow, Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA, 2016-2021
Awards and Honors
German Academic Exchange Service Scholarship (DAAD), 2010-2015
Memberships and Professional Organizations
Web Links
Selected Publications
A microtubule stabilizer ameliorates protein pathogenesis and neurodegeneration in mouse models of repetitive traumatic brain injury
Zhao X, Zeng W, Xu H, Sun Z, Hu Y, Peng B, McBride JD, Duan J, Deng J, Zhang B, Kim SJ, Zoll B, Saito T, Sasaguri H, Saido TC, Ballatore C, Yao H, Wang Z, Trojanowski JQ, Brunden KR, Lee VM, He Z., Sci Transl Med 15(): eabo6889, 2023, PMID:37703352
TRIM11 protects against tauopathies and is down-regulated in Alzheimer's disease
Zhang ZY, Harischandra DS, Wang R, Ghaisas S, Zhao JY, McMonagle TP, Zhu G, Lacuarta KD, Song J, Trojanowski JQ, Xu H, Lee VM, Yang X., Science 381(): eadd6696, 2023, PMID:37499037
Post-translational modifications of soluble α-synuclein regulate the amplification of pathological α-synuclein
Zhang S, Zhu R, Pan B, Xu H, Olufemi MF, Gathagan RJ, Li Y, Zhang L, Zhang J, Xiang W, Kagan EM, Cao X, Yuan C, Kim SJ, Williams CK, Magaki S, Vinters HV, Lashuel HA, Garcia BA, James Petersson E, Trojanowski JQ, Lee VM, Peng C., Nat Neurosci 26(2): 213-225, 2023, PMID:36690898
In Vitro Amplification of Pathogenic Tau Seeds from Neurodegenerative Disease Patient Brains
Xu H, Lee VM., Methods Mol Biol 2561(no issue): 279-292, 2023, PMID:36399276
Fluent molecular mixing of Tau isoforms in Alzheimer's disease neurofibrillary tangles
Dregni AJ, Duan P, Xu H, Changolkar L, El Mammeri N, Lee VM, Hong M., Nat Commun 13(): 2967, 2022, PMID:35624093
Microglial transcriptome analysis in the rNLS8 mouse model of TDP-43 proteinopathy reveals discrete expression profiles associated with neurodegenerative progression and recovery
Hunter M, Spiller KJ, Dominique MA, Xu H, Hunter FW, Fang TC, Canter RG, Roberts CJ, Ransohoff RM, Trojanowski JQ, Lee VM., Acta Neuropathol Commun 9(): 140, 2021, PMID:34412701
In vitro amplification of pathogenic tau conserves disease-specific bioactive characteristics
Xu H, O'Reilly M, Gibbons GS, Changolkar L, McBride JD, Riddle DM, Zhang B, Stieber A, Nirschl J, Kim SJ, Hoxha KH, Brunden KR, Schellenberg GD, Trojanowski JQ, Lee VM., Acta Neuropathol 141(2): 193-215, 2021, PMID:33385254
α-Synuclein modulates tau spreading in mouse brains
Bassil F, Meymand ES, Brown HJ, Xu H, Cox TO, Pattabhiraman S, Maghames CM, Wu Q, Zhang B, Trojanowski JQ, Lee VM., J Exp Med 218(1): e20192193, 2021, PMID:33091110
Conformation-selective tau monoclonal antibodies inhibit tau pathology in primary neurons and a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease
Gibbons GS, Kim SJ, Wu Q, Riddle DM, Leight SN, Changolkar L, Xu H, Meymand ES, O'Reilly M, Zhang B, Brunden KR, Trojanowski JQ, Lee VMY., Mol Neurodegener 15(1): 64, 2020, PMID:33148293
Identification of a nanomolar affinity α-synuclein fibril imaging probe by ultra-high throughput in silico screening
Ferrie JJ, Lengyel-Zhand Z, Janssen B, Lougee MG, Giannakoulias S, Hsieh CJ, Pagar VV, Weng CC, Xu H, Graham TJA, Lee VM, Mach RH, Petersson EJ., Chem Sci 11(): 12746-12754, 2020, PMID:33889379