Research Profile: Fang Xie, PhD

About Fang Xie, PhD

Fang Xie 20181219_11_1x1_350x350 After graduating with a PhD in Genetics at Fudan University, Dr. Fang Xie joined Mayo Clinic and his research was focused on endocrine therapy resistance in hormone-naïve breast cancer. During his time at Mayo, he also generated a series of patient-derived xenografts (PDXs) using bone biopsies from patients with metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). To extend his research on drug resistance in CRPC and pursue a scientific career as a translational scientist, Dr. Xie joined the Balk Lab at BIDMC/HMS in 2017. Dr. Xie is currently collaborating with a physician-scientist, Dr. Rupal Bhatt, on studies aimed at deciphering the molecular mechanisms underlying resistance in CRPC patients following the failure of taxane-based therapies. One of his recent findings is the increased sensitivity of docetaxel-resistant CRPC PDX tumors to BH3 mimetics such as Navitoclax and S63845. The active hypothesis for this study is that taxanes kill interphase prostate cancer cells in vivo through induction of apoptosis and that blocking the function of pro-survival proteins may help overcome taxane resistance. In addition to these studies focused on taxane resistance, Dr. Xie is also undertaking several large screening projects, including high through-put drug screening on prostate cancer organoids to identify drugs which enhance the in vivo efficacy of docetaxel in CRPC patients and a whole genome CRISPR screen of enzalutamide-resistant prostate cancer cell lines to identify novel therapeutic targets and vulnerabilities in the castration-resistant setting.

Education

Postdoctoral Research Fellow: Department of Hematology and Oncology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center/Harvard Medical School, Boston MA: 2017-present

Postdoctoral Research Fellow: Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Mayo Clinic, Rochester MN: 2013-2016

PhD: Genetics, School of Life sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China: 2006-2012

BS: Biotechnology, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei, China: 2001-2005

Publications

Wang, L., Dehm, S., Hillman, D., Sicotte, H., Tan, W., Gormley, M., Bhargava, V., Jimenez, R., Xie, F., Yin, P., Qin, S., Quevedo, F., Costello, B., Pitot, H., Ho, T., Bryce, A., Ye, Z., Li, Y., Eiken, P., Vedell, P., Barman, P., McMenomy, B., Atwell, T., Carlson, R., Ellingson, M., Eckloff, B., Qin, R., Ou, F., Hart, S., Huang, H., Jen, J., Wieben, E., Kalari, K., Weinshilboum, R., Wang, L.& Kohli, M. A prospective genome-wide study of prostate cancer metastases reveals association of Wnt pathway activation and increased cell cycle proliferation with primary resistance to abiraterone acetate-prednisone. Annal of Oncology 29(2), 352-360(2018).
Tang, L., Zhu, H., Yang, X., Xie, F., Peng, J., Jiang, D., Xie, J., Qi, M. & Yu, L. Shizukaol D, a Dimeric Sesquiterpene Isolated from Chloranthus serratus, Represses the Growth of Human Liver Cancer Cells by Modulating Wnt Signalling Pathway. PLoS One 11, e0152012 (2016).
Liu, T., Fang, Y., Zhang, H., Deng, M., Gao, B., Niu, N., Yu, J., Lee, S., Kim, J., Qin, B., Xie, F., Evans, D., Wang, L., Lou, W. & Lou, Z. HEATR1 Negatively Regulates Akt to Help Sensitize Pancreatic Cancer Cells to Chemotherapy. Cancer Res 76, 572-581 (2016).
Li, L., Zhang, J.W., Jenkins, G., Xie, F., Carlson, E.E., Fridley, B.L., Bamlet, W.R., Petersen, G.M., McWilliams, R.R. & Wang, L. Genetic variations associated with gemcitabine treatment outcome in pancreatic cancer. Pharmacogenet Genomics 26, 527-537 (2016).
Ingle, J.N.*, Xie, F.*, Ellis, M.J., Goss, P.E., Shepherd, L.E., Chapman, J.W., Chen, B.E., Kubo, M., Furukawa, Y., Momozawa, Y., Stearns, V., Pritchard, K.I., Barman, P., Carlson, E.E., Goetz, M.P., Weinshilboum, R.M., Kalari, K.R. & Wang, L. Genetic Polymorphisms in the Long Noncoding RNA MIR2052HG Offer a Pharmacogenomic Basis for the Response of Breast Cancer Patients to Aromatase Inhibitor Therapy. Cancer Res 76, 7012-7023 (2016). * Co-first Author
Xie, F., Kohli, M., Yin, P., Jimenez, R.E., Weinshilboum, R. & Wang, L. in AACR 2016 Vol. 22 A05 (American Association of Cancer Research, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; 2016).
Xie, F., Zhu, H., Zhang, H., Lang, Q., Tang, L., Huang, Q. & Yu, L. In vitro and in vivo characterization of a benzofuran derivative, a potential anticancer agent, as a novel Aurora B kinase inhibitor. Eur J Med Chem 89, 310-319 (2015).
Kohli, M., Wang, L., Xie, F., Sicotte, H., Yin, P., Dehm, S.M., Hart, S.N., Vedell, P.T., Barman, P., Qin, R., Mahoney, D.W., Carlson, R.E., Eckel-Passow, J.E., Atwell, T.D., Eiken, P.W., McMenomy, B.P., Wieben, E.D., Jha, G., Jimenez, R.E., Weinshilboum, R. & Wang, L. Mutational Landscapes of Sequential Prostate Metastases and Matched Patient Derived Xenografts during Enzalutamide Therapy. PLoS One 10, e0145176 (2015).
Hu, X.H., Ding, L.Y., Huang, W.X., Yang, X.M., Xie, F., Xu, M. & Yu, L. (-)-Epigallocatechin-3-gallate, a potential inhibitor to human dicarbonyl/L-xylulose reductase. J Biochem 154, 167-175 (2013).
Zhu, H., Liu, Z., Tang, L., Liu, J., Zhou, M., Xie, F., Wang, Z., Wang, Y., Shen, S., Hu, L. & Yu, L. Reversal of P-gp and MRP1-mediated multidrug resistance by H6, a gypenoside aglycon from Gynostemma pentaphyllum, in vincristine-resistant human oral cancer (KB/VCR) cells. Eur J Pharmacol 696, 43-53 (2012).
Xie, F., Lang, Q., Zhou, M., Zhang, H., Zhang, Z., Zhang, Y., Wan, B., Huang, Q. & Yu, L. The dietary flavonoid luteolin inhibits Aurora B kinase activity and blocks proliferation of cancer cells. Eur J Pharm Sci 46, 388-396 (2012).
Zhang, S., Hao, J., Xie, F., Hu, X., Liu, C., Tong, J., Zhou, J., Wu, J. & Shao, C. Downregulation of miR-132 by promoter methylation contributes to pancreatic cancer development. Carcinogenesis 32, 1183-1189 (2011).
Pang, X., Zhang, M., Zhou, L., Xie, F., Lu, H., He, W., Jiang, S., Yu, L. & Zhang, X. Discovery of a potent peptidic cyclophilin A inhibitor Trp-Gly-Pro. Eur J Med Chem 46, 1701-1705 (2011).
Zhang, Y., Lang, Q., Li, J., Xie, F., Wan, B. & Yu, L. Identification and characterization of human LYPD6, a new member of the Ly-6 superfamily. Mol Biol Rep 37, 2055-2062 (2010).
Pang, X., Zhou, L., Zhang, M., Xie, F., Yu, L., Zhang, L., Xu, L. & Zhang, X. A mathematical model for peptide inhibitor design. J Comput Biol 17, 1081-1093 (2010).
Lang, Q., Zhang, H., Li, J., Xie, F., Zhang, Y., Wan, B. & Yu, L. 3-Hydroxyflavone inhibits endogenous Aurora B and induces growth inhibition of cancer cell line. Mol Biol Rep 37, 1577-1583 (2010).
Zhang, H., Lang, Q., Li, J., Zhong, Z., Xie, F., Ye, G., Wan, B. & Yu, L. Molecular cloning and characterization of a novel human glycine-N-acyltransferase gene GLYATL1, which activates transcriptional activity of HSE pathway. International Journal of Molecular Sciences 8, 433-444 (2007).