About Us > Faculty & Staff > Faculty > Yubing Xie

Read Professor Xie’s Nanotechnology Now Column: Nanobiotechnology: From Stem Cell, Tissue Engineering to Cancer Research

Read Professor Xie’s Nanotechnology Now Column: The Application of Nanotechnology in Stem Cell Research

Read about Professor Xie's research in the Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News article "Enhancement of Cell Culture Techniques" 

Degrees:

• Postdoctoral Fellowship, Chemical Engineering and Obstetrics & Gynecology, College of Medicine, The Ohio State University, 1999-2003
• Ph.D., Chemical Engineering, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China, 1998
• M.S., Chemical Engineering, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China, 1995
• B.S., Chemical Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, 1992

Areas of research:

• Biomedical nanotechnology
• Stem cell technology  
• Tissue engineering
• Biosensors
• Nanomedicine

Description of research:

Dr. Xie's research interfaces between stem cell biology and nanotechnology to try and understand stem cell fate decisions and develop stem cell-based platform for tissue regeneration, therapeutic screening and drug development. The convergence of engineering and cellular/molecular biology has led to emerging approaches to integrate biologically active components, such as cells, proteins and DNAs into micro-/nanofabricated devices. These bioengineered systems present exciting opportunities to serve as vehicles for biomedical and biopharmaceutical applications.  

Control of Embryonic Stem Cell Fate Using Nanoengineered Microenvironment:

Embryonic stem cells have great potential as unlimited cell sources to treat many major human diseases including cardiovascular disease, neurological disorders, diabetes and cancer. Embryonic stem cell maintenance and differentiation are governed by unique local microenvironment. A key challenge in stem cell research is to develop an in vitro system that accurately recapitulates functions of the in vivo microenvironment. Our goal is to engineering an in vivo-like stem cell microenvironment to control stem cell expansion and differentiation. The integration of 3-D cues, drug delivery, microfluidics, and nanotechnology will provide a valuable microsystem for better understanding stem cell- microenvironment interaction and efficiently differentiating embryonic stem cells. It will not only set a stage for further understanding stem cell fate decision, but also allow us to develop techniques and strategies for drug development, therapeutic screening, tissue repair and regenerative medicine.

Construction of 3-D Tissue Network for Drug Discovery and Development:

Drug screening and analysis represents a crucial step for drug discovery and development. Current drug discovery efforts are hampered by the lack of high-throughput model systems in which pharmaceutical candidates can be screened. 3-D cell-based assays are considered a screening approach that bridges conventional 2-D culture and expensive, ethically provoking animal models. Incorporation of 3-D multiple cell types into multi-phenotypic arrays can realize organ specific response detection. Our goal is to develop a 3-D stem-cell based platform that will allow the simultaneous, comprehensive and high-throughput assessment of drug candidates' actions on multiple cell types.  The 3-D multiple cell based tissue network will provide functional information and predict synergistic effects of drug candidates, which is lacking in drug discovery and development.

Nanoporous Membrane-Based Biosensors:

Cell-based biosensors have gained more attention in recent years because they can offer functional information. Our goal is to develop cell-based biosensors for anti-cancer drug testing and cytotoxicity assays using nanoporous membrane-encapsulated cells as sensor element. In addition to providing a high throughput anti-cancer drug screening testbed, cell encapsulation-based biosensors provide a platform that can be widely used in drug testing, environmental monitoring and even bio-warfare agent detection.

Selected Peer-reviewed publications:

N. Abdul Raof, Y. Xie. Bioengineering stem cell microenvironments for the study of cancer research. International Journal of Molecular Sciences: Special Issue “Programmable Materials for Mechanobiology”, in preparation (invited contribution)

N. Abdul Raof, M.R. Padgen, A. Gracias, M. Bergkvist, Y. Xie. One dimensional self-assembly of mouse embryonic stem cells using an array of hydrogel microstrands Biomaterials Epub on Apr 1, 2011

N. Abdul Raof, W.K. Raja, J. Castracane, Y. Xie. Bioengineering embryonic stem cell microenvironments for exploring inhibitory effects on metastatic breast cancer cells. Biomaterials, 32(17):4130-9, 2011

N. Abdul Raof, N.R. Schiele, Y. Xie, D.B. Chrisey, D.T. Corr. The maintenance of pluripotency following laser direct-write of mouse embryonic stem cells” Biomaterials, 32(7):1802-1808, 2011

N.R. Schiele, D.T. Corr, Y. Huang, N. Abdul Raof, Y. Xie, D.B. Chrisey. Laser-based direct-write techniques for cell printing. Biofabrication 2(3):032001, 2010

D.A. Soscia, N. Abdul Raof, Y. Xie, N.C. Cady, A.P. Gadre. Antibiotic-loaded PLGA nanofibers for wound healing applications. Advanced Engineering Materials: Special Issue “Advanced Biomaterials”, 12(4): B83-B88, 2010

Y. Xie, J, Castracane. High voltage electric field driven micro-/nanofabrication of polymeric drug delivery systems. IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Magazine, 28(1): 23-30, 2009

Y. Xie, Y. Yang, X. Kang, R. Li, L.I. Volakis, X. Zhang, L.J. Lee, L. James, D.A. Kniss. Bioassembly of three-dimensional embryonic stem cell-scaffold complexes using compressed gases. Biotechnology Progress, 25(2): 535-542, 2009

X. Zhang, Y. Xie, C.G. Koh, L.J. Lee. A novel 3-D model for tissue engineering and regeneration medicine. Biomedical Microdevice, 11(4): 795-799, 2009

C.G. Koh, X. Kang, Y. Xie, Z. Fei, J. Guan, B. Yu, X. Zhang, L.J. Lee. Delivery of Polyethylenimine/DNA Complexes Assembled in a Microfluidics Device. Molecular Pharmaceutics 6(5): 1333-1342, 2009

G. Lv, Z. Sun, S. Li, W. Yu, Y. Xie, Y. Zhang, H. Xie, X. Li, W. Wang, X. Ma.  Permeability changes of cell-contained microcapsules visualized by confocal laser scanning microscope.  Journal of Biomedical Materials Research, 90A(3): 773-78, 2009 

Y. Zhang, W. Wang, Y. Xie, W. Yu, G. Lv, X. Guo, Y. Xiong, X. Ma. Optimization of microencapsulated recombinant CHO cell growth, endostatin production, and stability of microcapsule in vivo. Journal of Biomedical Materials Research, 84B(1): 79-88, 2008

G. Lv, Z. Sun, N. Li, S. Li, Y. Zhang, Y. Xie, W. Yu, W. Wang, X. Ma. Design a chemically defined/medically approved medium for cell transplantation according to the metabolic characteristics of microencapsulated cells and the process of encapsulation. Biochemical Engineering Journal, 39(1): 157-163, 2008 

Z. Fei, S. Wang, Y. Xie, B. E. Henslee, C. G. Koh, L. J. Lee. Gene transfection of mammalian cells using membrane sandwich electroporation.  Analytical Chemistry, 79 (15): 5719 -5722, 2007

Y. Zhang, W. Wang, Y. Xie, W. Yu, H. Teng, X. Liu, X. Zhang, X. Guo, J. Fei, X. Ma. In vivo culture of encapsulated endostatin-secreting Chinese hamster ovary cells for systemic tumor inhibition. Human Gene Therapy, 18 (5): 474-481, 2007

C. Lu, Y. Xie, Y. Yang, M. Cheng,  C. Koh, Y. Bai, L. J. Lee, Y. Juang. New valve and bonding designs for microfluidic biochips containing proteins. Analytical Chemistry, 79(3): 994-1001, 2007

X. Kang, Y. Xie, H. M. Powell, L. J. Lee, M. A. Belury, J. J. Lannutti, D. A. Kniss.  Adipogenesis of murine embryonic stem cells in a three-dimensional culture system using electrospun polymer scaffolds. Biomaterials, 28(3): 450-458, 2007

Y. Yang, D. Liu, Y. Xie, L. J. Lee, D. L. Tomasko. Low temperature fusion of polymeric nanostructures using carbon dioxide. Advanced Materials, 19(2): 251-254, 2007

Y. Yang, Y. Xie, X. Kang, L. J. Lee, D. A. Kniss. Assembly of three-dimensional cell-scaffold complexes using carbon dioxide. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 128: 14040-14041, 2006

W. Wang, X. Liu, Y. Xie, H. Zhang, W. Yu, Y. Xiong, W. Xie, X. Ma.  Microencapsulation using natural polysaccharides for drug delivery and cell implantation. Journal of Materials Chemistry, 16(32): 3252-3267, 2006

Y. Xie, X. Kang, W. E. Ackerman IV, B. H. Rovin, M. B. Landon, D. A. Kniss. Differentiation-dependent regulation of the cyclooxygenase cascade during adipogenesis suggests a complex role for prostaglandins. Diabetes, Obesity & Metabolism, 8: 83-93, 2006

J. Ma, W. Qi, Y. Xie, W. Wang, W. Yu, X. Ma. K562 cell growth activity and metabolism characteristics in APA microencapsulated culture and modeling study. Journal of Biotechnology, 125(2): 242-251, 2006

X. Zhang, W. Wang, Y. Xie, Y. Zhang, X. Wang, X. Guo, X. Ma.   Proliferation, viability, and metabolism of human tumor and normal cells cultured in microcapsule. Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology, 134(1): 61-76, 2006

W. Qi, Y. Zhang; J. Ma, X. Guo, Y. Xie, W. Wang, X. Ma.  Optimization of the cell seeding density and modeling of cell growth and metabolism using the modified Gompertz model for microencapsulated animal cell culture.  Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 93(5): 885-895, 2006

X. Kang, Y. Xie, D. A. Kniss.  Adipose tissue model using three-dimensional cultivation of preadipocytes seeded onto fibrous polymer scaffolds.  Tissue Engineering, 11(3/4): 458-468, 2005

W. Qi, W. Yu, Y. Xie, X. Ma.  Optimization of Saccharomyces cerevisiae culture in alginate-chitosan-alginate microcapsule. Biochemical Engineering Journal, 25: 151-157, 2005

X. Zhang, W. Wang, W. Yu, Y. Xie, X. Zhang, Y. Zhang, X. Ma. Development of an in vitro multicellular tumor spheroid model using microencapsulation and its application in anticancer drug screening and testing. Biotechnology Progress, 21: 1289-1296, 2005

L. R. Dunn-Albanese, W. E. Ackerman, Y. Xie, J. D. Iams, D. A. Kniss.  Reciprocal expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-g and cyclooxygenase-2 in human term parturition.  American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 190 (3): 809-816, 2004

Y. Xie, T. Sproule, Y. Li, H. Powell, J. J. Lannutti, D. A. Kniss. Nanoscale modifications of PET polymer surfaces via oxygen plasma discharge yield minimal changes in attachment and growth of mammalian epithelial and mesenchymal cells in vitro. Journal of Biomedical Materials Research, 61(2): 234-245, 2002

D. A. Kniss, Y. Xie, Y. Li, S. Kumar, E. A. Linton, P. Cohen, P. Fan-Harvard, C. W. G. Redman, I. L. Sargent.  ED₂₇ trophoblast-like cells isolated from first-trimester chorionic villi are genetically identical to HeLa cells yet exhibit a distinct phenotype.  Placenta, 23(1): 32-43, 2002

Y. Xie, S.-T. Yang, D. A. Kniss. Three-dimensional cell-scaffold constructs promote efficient gene transfection: implications for cell-based gene therapy.  Tissue Engineering, 7(5): 585-598, 2001

Selected Conference Abstracts and Presentations

A. Mannarino, Y. Yao, M.R. Zonca, N. Abdul Raof, J. Gu, Y. Xie. “Fabrication and characterization of hydrogel nanofibers for mimicking stem cell microenvironments” Proceedings of the 2010 Materials Research Society (MRS) Fall Meeting, Boston, MA, November 30-December 2, 2010

N. Abdul Raof, M. Padgen, A. Gracias, M. Bergkvist, Y. Xie. “3D micro-cultivation of mouse embryonic stem cell in alginate hydrogel microstrands.” International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) 8th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, June 16-19, 2010

N. Abdul Raof, T.Phamduy, X. Guo, N.R. Schiele, D.B Chrisey, D.T. Corr, Y. Xie. “Laser direct writing of mouse embryonic stem cells encapsulated in alginate microbeads.” Society for Biomaterials (SFB) 2010 Annual Meeting, Seattle, WA, April 21-24, 2010

N. Abdul Raof, Y. Xie. “Three dimensional micro-tissue cultivation of stem cell.” The Bioprocessing Summit, Boston, MA, August 24-27, 2009

W.F. Hynes, A. Gracias, N. Fahrenkopf, N. Abdul Raof, W.K. Raja, K. Lee, Y. Xie, M. Bergkvist, N.C. Cady “Direct cell printing with microfabricated quill-pen cantilevers.” Proceedings of the Materials Research Society 2009 Fall Meeting, Boston, MA, November 30-December 4, 2009

N. Abdul Raof, M.R. Zonca, Jr., Y. Xie. “Enabling micro-/nanotechnology for stem cell engineering.” 238th ACS National Meeting, Washington D.C., August 16-20, 2009

M. R. Zonca Jr., N. Abdul Raof, M. Bergkvist, Y. Xie. “Regulate embryonic stem cell fates using microscale bioactive elastic hydrogel” 2009 AIChE Annual Meeting, Nashville, TN November 8-13, 2009

N. Raof, M.R Zonca, Jr, B. Graham, Y. Xie. “Self-assembly and cell encapsulation: a ‘top-down’ challenge-driven learning-through-research module for undergraduate and high school students” NCLT Symposium on Undergraduate Nano-Education. Albany, NY August 5-8, 2009

Honors and Awards:

• National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award
• University at Albany Faculty Research Awards Program (FRAP)-A Award
• American Institute of Chemists (AIC) Award
• Chinese Academy of Sciences Distinguished Young Scholars Award
• The Ohio State University Postdoctoral Fellowship
• Chinese Academy of Sciences Presidential Scholarship

Other Professional Activities:

Editor for “The Nanobiotechnology Handbook” to be published by CRC Press in 2012

Keynote speaker for 37 Annual Northeast Bioengineering Conference, RPI, Troy, NY, April 1-3, 2011

Co-organizer and Co-chair for “A Symposium on the Convergence of Nanotechnology and Life Science” held at CNSE, Albany, NY, March 18-19, 2010

Co-organizer and Co-chair for “A Symposium on the Convergence of Bio/Nanotechnology and Medicine” held at CNSE, Albany, NY, November 6-7, 2008

Session Chair for “The Bioprocessing Summit”, Boston, MA, August 24-27, 2009

Invited proposal reviewers for NSF and NIH

Invited technical reviewers for Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Biomacromolecules, Biotechnology & Bioengineering, Current Nanoscience (CNANO), Cytotherapy, Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry, Journal of Biomedical Materials Research, Journal Control Release, Journal of Immunological Methods, Journal of Medical Microbiology, Tissue Engineering, etc.