Main Research Areas
Using cell and molecular biology, bioinformatics, and biochemistry strategies to study:
1. The biological functions and molecular mechanisms of epigenetic abnormalities in tumor development.
2. Epigenetic changes in cellular senescence and tissue aging and their role in tumorigenesis.
3. Development of anti-tumor and anti-aging drugs targeting epigenetic molecules.
Professor and Ph.D. Supervisor in Division of Life Sciences and Medicine at USTC. Graduated with a bachelor's degree from Minzu University of China in 2007 and a Ph.D. from Peking University in 2012. From September 2012 to June 2021, served as a Postdoctoral Fellow and Research Associate at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
Joined the School of Life Sciences and Medicine at the University of Science and Technology of China in 2021, establishing a laboratory for cancer epigenetics. Research findings have been published in journals such as Cancer Cell, PNAS, Stem Cells, Nature, and Molecular Cell, and featured in Nature Reviews Cancer, Science Daily, and F1000Prime.
Awards
- 2009 Corning Doctoral Fellowship, Peking University
- 2011 Corning Doctoral Fellowship, Peking University
- 2012 Outstanding Graduate, Peking University
- 2018 Keystone Symposia Future of Science Fund Scholarship
Publications (#equal first authorship)
Wenbing Xie, Ioannis Kagiampakis, Lixia Pan, Yang W. Zhang, Lauren Murphy, Xiangqian Kong, Limin Xia, Fillipe LF Carvlho, Subhojit Sen, Ray-Whay Chiu Yen, Cynthia A. Zahnow, Nita Ahuja, Stephen B. Baylin* and Hariharan Easwaran*. “DNA methylation patterns separate senescence from transformation potential and indicate cancer risk”. Cancer Cell. 2018 Feb 12; 33(2):309-321.e5. (Highlighted in Nature Reviews Cancer)
Xiangqian Kong#, Jie Chen#, Wenbing Xie#, Stephen M. Brown, Yi Cai, Kaichun Wu, Daiming Fan, Yongzhan Nie, Rochelle L. Tiedemann, Yong Tao, Ray-Whay Chiu Yen, Michael J. Topper, Cynthia A. Zahnow, Hariharan Easwaran, Scott B. Rothbart*, Limin Xia*, Stephen B. Baylin*. “Defining UHRF1 Domains That Support Maintenance of Human Colon Cancer DNA Methylation and Oncogenic Properties”. Cancer Cell. 2019 Apr 15;35(4):633-648 (Featured as an NIEHS Extramural Paper of the Month: May 2019)
Wenbing Xie, Stephen B. Baylin, Hariharan Easwaran. “DNA methylation in senescence, aging and cancer”. Oncoscience. 2019; 6 (1): 291-293.
Wenbing Xie#, Te Ling#, Yonggang Zhou#, Weijun Feng, Qiaoyun Zhu, Henk Stunnenberg, Ingrid Grummt and Wei Tao. The chromatin remodeling complex NuRD establishes the poised state of rRNA genes characterized by bivalent histone modifications and altered nucleosome positions. Proc Natl Acad Sci U.S.A. 2012; 109(21): 8161-8166.
Min Luo#, Te Ling#, Wenbing Xie#, He Sun#, Yonggang Zhou, Qiaoyun Zhu, Meili Shen, Le Zong, Guoliang Lyu, Yun Zhao, Tao Ye, Jun Gu, Wei Tao, Zhigang Lu and Ingrid Grummt. NuRD blocks reprogramming of mouse somatic cells into pluripotent stem cells. Stem Cells. 2013; 31(7): 1278-1286.
Te Ling#, Wenbing Xie#, Min Luo#, Meili Shen, Qiaoyun Zhu, Le Zong, Tingting Zhou, Jun Gu, Zhigang Lu, Feixiong Zhang and Wei Tao. CHD4/NuRD maintains demethylation state of rDNA promoters through inhibiting the expression of the rDNA methyltransferase recruiter TIP5. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2013; 437(1): 101-107.
Zhihao Lu#, Jianling Zou#, Shuang Li#, Michael J. Topper, Yong Tao, Hao Zhang, Xi Jiao, Wenbing Xie, Xiangqian Kong, Michelle Vaz, Huili Li, Yi Cai, Limin Xia, Kristen Rodgers, Beverly Lee, Joanne B. Riemer, Xi Jiao, Ray-Whay Chiu Yen, Chi-Ping Day, Weiqiang Zhang, Ying Cui, Hariharan Easwaran, Alicia Hulbert, KiBem Kim, Shibin Zhou, Stephen C. Yang, Richard J. Battafarano, Errol L. Bush, Stephen R. Broderick, Stephen M. Cattaneo, Julie R. Brahmer, Charles M. Rudin, John Wrangle, Yuping Mei, Young J. Kim, Bin Zhang, Ken Kang-Hsin Wang, Patrick M. Forde, Joseph B. Margolick, Barry D. Nelkin, Cynthia A. Zahnow, Drew M. Pardoll1, Franck Housseau, Stephen B. Baylin*, Lin Shen*, Malcolm V. Brock*. “Epigenetic therapy inhibits metastases by disrupting premetastatic niches”. Nature. 2020 Mar;579(7798):284-290. (News and Views in Nature)
Yong Tao#, Byunghak Kang#, Daniel Petkovich, Julie In, Genevieve Stein-O'Brien, Xiangqian Kong, Wenbing Xie, Nicholas Zachos, Shinji Maegawa, Stephen Brown, Ray-Whay Chiu Yen, Jai Thakor, Zhihao Lu, Yuezheng Zhang, Izaskun Mallona Gonzalez, Miguel Angel Peinado, Cynthia A. Zahnow, Nita Ahuja, Elana Fertig, Jean-Pierre Issa, Stephen B. Baylin*, Hariharan Easwaran*. “Aging-like Spontaneous Epigenetic Silencing Facilitates Wnt Activation, Stemness, and BrafV600E-Induced Tumorigenesis”. Cancer Cell. 2019 February 11; 35(2): 315-328.e6. (F1000Prime recommended; Previewed in Cancer Cell)
Fei Ye#, Xiangqian Kong#, Shijie Chen, Hao Zhang, Yan Liu, Zhiyuan Shao, Jia Jin, Yi Cai, Rukang Zhang, Linjuan Li, Yang W. Zhang, Yu-Chih Liu, Chenhua Zhang, Wenbing Xie, Kunqian Yu, Hong Ding, Kehao Zhao, Hualiang Jiang, Stephen B. Baylin* and Cheng Luo*. “Biochemical Studies and Molecular Dynamic Simulations Reveal the Molecular Basis of Conformational Changes in DNA Methyltransferase-1”. ACS Chemical Biology. 2018 Mar 16;13(3):772-781.
Guoliang Lyu#, Le Zong#, Chao Zhang, Xiaoke Huang, Wenbing Xie, Junnan Fang, Yiting Guan, Lijun Zhang, Ting Ni, Jun Gu, Wei Tao. “Metastasis-related methyltransferase Merm1 represses the methyltransferase activity of Dnmt3a and facilitates RNA polymerase I transcriptional elongation”. Journal of Molecular Cell Biology. 2018; doi.org/10.1093/jmcb/mjy023.
Limin Xia#, Wenjie Huang#, Marina Bellani, Michael M. Seidman, Kaichun Wu, Daiming Fan, Yongzhan Nie, Yi Cai, Yang W. Zhang, Lirong Yu, Huili Li, Cynthia A. Zahnow, Wenbing Xie, Ray-Whay Chiu Yen, Feyruz V. Rassool, Stephen B. Baylin. “CHD4 Has Oncogenic Functions in Initiating and Maintaining Epigenetic Suppression of Multiple Tumor Suppressor Genes”. Cancer Cell. 2017; 31: 653–668. DOI: 10.1016/j.ccell.2017.04.005.
Yang W. Zhang, Zhihong Wang, Wenbing Xie, Yi Cai, Limin Xia, Hariharan Easwaran, Jianjun Luo, Ray-Whay Chiu Yen, Yana Li, Stephen B. Baylin. “Acetylation enhances TET2 function in protecting against abnormal DNA methylation during oxidative stress”. Molecular Cell. 2017; 65(2):323-335.
Shijiao Huang, Xiaowei Xu, Guopeng Wang, Guoliang Lu, Wenbing Xie, Wei Tao, Hongyin Zhang, Qing Jiang and Chuanmao Zhang. “DNA Replication Initiator Cdc6 also Regulates Ribosomal DNA Transcription Initiation.” J Cell Sci. 2016; 129: 1429-1440.
Lixia Pan, Wenbing Xie, Kai-Le Li, Zhihao Yang, Jiang Xu, Wenhao Zhang, Lu-Ping Liu, Xingjie Ren, Zhimin He, Junyu Wu, Jin Sun, Hui-Min Wei, Da-Liang Wang, Wei Xie, Wei Li, Jian-Quan Ni*, and Fang-Lin Sun*. Heterochromatin remodeling by CDK12 contributes to learning in Drosophila. Proc Natl Acad Sci U.S.A. 2015; 112(45): 13988-13993.
Recruitment
The lab is seeking associate researchers and postdoctoral fellows with backgrounds in cell and molecular biology, bioinformatics, or biochemistry. Undergraduate students interested in pursuing a Ph.D. in cancer epigenetics are also welcome. Please contact via email: wxie6@ustc.edu.cn.