About Us > Faculty & Staff > Faculty > Yubing Xie

Assistant Professor of Nanobioscience

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 the creation of disease models, 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 Microenvironments:

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 engineer an in vivo-like stem cell microenvironment to control stem cell expansion and differentiation. The integration of 3-D cues, surface chemistry, 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 disease modeling, drug development, therapeutic screening, tissue repair and regenerative medicine.

Bioengineering Embryonic Microenvironments to Understand and Restrict Breast Cancer Metastasis:

Breast cancer is the most prevalent disease among women worldwide. Metastasis is the leading cause of cancer death. The interaction between cancer cells and their microenvironments plays a crucial role in cancer metastasis. Invasive cancer cells have been linked to embryonic stem cells (ESCs) due to certain similar gene signatures and the convergence of tumorigenic and embryonic pathways. However, embryonic signaling molecules are misexpressed in invasive cancer cells and critical regulators of these signaling pathways are missing in a tumor microenvironment. Since embryonic signaling pathways are tightly controlled in ESCs, bioengineered ESC microenvironments have great potential to supply critical signaling molecules and reprogram the abnormal embryonic signaling pathway in tumors. One of our research goals is to bioengineer embryonic microenvironments using 3D hydrogel and to utilize in vitro dynamic embryonic microenvironments to study ESC-metastatic breast cancer cell interactions. This bioengineering approach provides a unique opportunity for better understanding and effectively restricting metastasis.

Construction of 3-D Tissue Network for Drug Screening and Nanotoxicity Testing:

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. The 3-D cell-based tissue network can also be applied to high-throughput nanotoxicity screening.

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.

Book and Selected Book Chapters:

Y. Xie, Ed. The Nanobiotechnology Handbook. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, November 29, 2012, 692 Pages.

A. M. Unser, Y. Xie. Electrospinning of nanofibers. In: The Nanobiotechnology Handbook (Ed. Y. Xie), Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, pp293-320, 2012.

R. Kumar, S. Smith, J. McNeilan, M. Keeton, J. Sanders, A. Talamo, C. Bowman, Y. Xie. Butterfly wing-inspired nanotechnology. In: The Nanobiotechnology Handbook (Ed. Y. Xie), Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, pp203-222, 2012.

Selected Peer-reviewed publications:

B. M. Mooney, N. Abdul Raof, Y. Li, Y. Xie. Convergence of signaling pathways in stem cells and cancer. Biotechnology Journal, accepted

M. R. Zonca Jr., P. S. Yune, C. L. Heldt, G. Belfort, Y. Xie. High-throughput screening of substrate chemistry for embryonic stem cell attachment, expansion and maintaining pluripotency. Macromolecular Bioscience, in press. doi: 10.1002/mabi.201200315.

M. R. Zonca Jr., Y. Xie. Chemically modified micro- and nanostructured systems for pluripotent stem cell culture, BioNanoScience, 2(4), 287-304, 2012

T. B Phamduy, N. Abdul Raof, N. R. Schiele, Z. Yan, D. T. Corr, Y. Huang, Y. Xie, D. B. Chrisey. Laser direct-write of single microbeads into spatially ordered patterns. Biofabrication, 4, 025006, 2012 

N. Abdul Raof, B. M. Mooney, Y. Xie. Bioengineering embryonic stem cell microenvironments for the study of cancer research. International Journal of Molecular Sciences: Special Issue “Programmable Materials for Mechanobiology”, 12, 7662-7691, 2011 (Invited & Feature Article)

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

M. R. Zonca Jr., P. S. Yune, Georges Belfort, Y. Xie. “Chemically modified three-dimensional substrates for embryonic stem cell expansion.” The MRS 2012 Fall Meeting, Boston, MA, November 25-30, 2012

N. Abdul Raof, B. Mooney, K. Law, Y. Xie. “Bioengineering embryonic stem cell-breast cancer cell interactions to understand metastasis.” The 3rd International Conference on Stem Cell Engineering (ICSCE), Seattle, WA, April 29-May 2, 2012

K. Y. Torrejon, D. Pu, N. A. Tokranova, M. Bergvist, S. Sharfstein, Y. Xie, J. Danias. “Bioengineering human trabecular meshwork for glaucoma therapeutic screening.” The Association Research for Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) 2012, Fort Lauderdale, FL, May 6-10, 2012

A.D. Dias, Y. Xie, D.B. Chrisey, D.T. Corr. “Using laser direct-write to influence embryoid body size on uniform substrates.” Proceedings of the ASME 2012 Summer Bioengineering Conference SBC2012-80612, Fajardo, PR, June 20-23, 2012

A. M. Unser, B. Mooney, C. Bowman, D. Pu, N. Abdul Raof, M. Bergkvist, Y. Xie. “Fabrication of alginate microstrands for 3D mimicking of the stem cell microenvironment.” The MRS 2012 Spring Meeting, San Francisco, CA, April 9-13, 2012

T. B. Phamduy, N. Abdul Raof, Y. Xie, D. B. Chrisey. “Layer-by-layer 3-D constructs of adherent and non-adherent cells in hydrogel.” 2012 Northeast Bioengineering Conference, Philadelphia, PA, March 16-18, 2012

M. R. Zonca, P. S. Yune, G. Belfort, Y. Xie. “High-throughput evolutionary substrate screening for embryonic stem cell attachment and long-term maintenance.” 2011 AIChE Annual Meeting, Minneapolis, MN, October 16-21, 2011

T. B. Phamduy, N. Abdul Raof, N. R. Schiele, D. T. Corr, Y. Xie, D. B. Chrisey. “Direct-writing patterns of cells encapsulated in hydrogel microbeads.” BioMedical Engineering Society (BMES) 2011 Annual Meeting, Hartford, CT, October 12-15, 2011

A. D. Dias, N. R. Schiele, B. M. Carr, N. Abdul Raof, Y. Xie, D. B. Chrisey, D. T. Corr. “Precise patterning of mouse embryonic stem cells on glass cover slips for high-throughput analysis using laser direct-write.” Proceedings of the ASME 2011 Summer Bioengineering Conference, SBC2011-53573, Farmington, PA, June 22-25, 2011

Y. Xie. “Bioengineering embryonic stem cell microenvironment for cancer research and tissue regeneration.” 2011 IEEE 37th Annual Northeast Bioengineering Conference, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, April 1-3, 2011

A. D. Dias, N. R. Schiele, B. M. Carr, N. Abdul Raof, Y. Xie, D. B. Chrisey, D. T. Corr. “Using laser direct-write to precisely pattern cells on glass cover slips.” The Northeast Bioengineering Conference, Troy, NY, April 1-3, 2011

M. R. Zonca, C. L. Heldt, S. H. Yun, Y. Xie and G. Belfort, “Embryonic stem cell attachment on synthetic chemical surfaces.” 2010 AIChE Annual Meeting, Salt Lake City, UT, November 7-12, 2010

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:

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, 2009Invited proposal reviewers for NSF and NIH

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