Xiaoping Zhong
Duke University, NC·Microbiology & Immunology
The immune system must strike a balance. It needs to attack infections and tumors, yet avoid attacking the body's own tissues, and make long-lasting antibodies after infection or vaccination.
- Fields
Microbiology & Immunology
Genetics
Medicine & Clinical Research
- Topics
immunology
T cells
Tregs
- Grants
- 3 known grants, through May 2028
What they work on
- Determine the roles of SBNO1 and SBNO2, nuclear RNA helicases, in T-cell development and homeostasis using conditional knockout mice and mice carrying a CVID patient-derived Sbno2 mutation.
- Define how SBNO1 and SBNO2 control T-cell-driven antibody and antiviral immune responses, and identify the mechanisms underlying this immune regulation.
- Uncover how a newly found partnership between an RNA helicase and the spliceosome lets regulatory T cells suppress anti-tumor immunity in mouse breast cancer models.
- Develop Cre and tamoxifen-inducible CreERT2 mouse lines driven by a plasma-cell-specific gene for selective gene targeting, fate mapping and time-stamping of antibody-secreting plasma cells.
More about the research
Several projects examine the cells and molecules behind this balance, especially T cells, immune cells that coordinate responses, and plasma cells, which produce antibodies. A recurring focus is the Strawberry Notch homologs SBNO1 and SBNO2, nuclear RNA helicases (enzymes that unwind RNA) whose roles in the mammalian immune system were almost unknown.
Why it matters
Understanding SBNO1 and SBNO2 in T cells could clarify causes of common variable immunodeficiency and guide therapies for immune disorders. Targeting the helicase–spliceosome partnership in Tregs could lead to new immunotherapies for breast cancer patients who do not respond to current treatments. The new plasma-cell mouse tools could help researchers study how long-lasting antibody protection forms after infection and vaccination.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Strawberry Notch Homologs in Regulatory T cell - Mediated Suppression of Anti-Breast Cancer Immunity
NIH · Jun 2026 – May 2028
Development of new genetic tools for selective targeting plasma cells
NIH · Apr 2026 – Mar 2028
Strawberry notch homologues in T cell homeostasis and function
NIH · Jan 2021 – Dec 2026
Closest labs
Erica Schmitt
Washington University in St Louis, MO·Microbiology & Immunology·Early-career
Define how STAT3 gain-of-function alters T-cell and B-cell development, polarization, and their interactions, using immunophenotyping and transcriptional analysis in a STAT3 GOF mouse model with viral infection.
Vipul Shukla
Northwestern University, IL·Microbiology & Immunology
Define how the Arid1a-dependent cBAF complex, a DNA-packaging remodeler, controls which genes are accessible and active as germinal center B cells mature, testing whether it establishes the germinal center gene program.
Xuefang Cao
University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD·Microbiology & Immunology
Determine whether blood-forming stem and progenitor cells use the receptor CD27 to directly suppress donor T cells, using transplants into Rag1 knockout mice that lack CD27 and NK cells, in vivo and in vitro.
The school
Duke University: 61 labs on PI Pages, $1.6B a year on research, 417 research doctorates a year.
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