Zhe Xu
Home: *** ******** **., ***. **
Tallahassee, FL 32304
Cell: 850-***-****
Lab: Room 1370 S2
College of Medicine
Florida State University
Tallahassee, FL 32306-4300
********@*****.***
EDUCATION
Ph.D. 2006.8 – present
Biomedical Sciences & Neurosciences, College of Medicine, The Florida State University, GPA: 3.85 in 4.0, Proposed doctoral Dissertation: “14-3-3 Proteins Regulate Aggresome Formation In Response To Proteolytic Stress”.
B.S. 2001.9 – 2005.5
Biological Sciences, Dept. of Biological Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, GPA: 3.49 in 4.0. Thesis Title: “The Function Exploration of a Low Temperature Response Protein in Saccharomyces Cerevisiae with DLS and X-ray Diffraction’.
EXPERIENCE
Research Assistant, College of Medicine, The Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL. 2007.3 – Present
Research assistant in Dr. Yi Zhou’s research group. Actively engaged in two major research projects: utilized biochemical methods including molecular cloning, western blot, immunoprecipitation, immunocytochemistry and confocal microscopy in heterologous overexpressing system, to investigate 14-3-3 proteins’ role in cytoplasmic aggresome formation in response to misfolded protein stress, which contributed to the understanding of the cellular mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease; compared the staining patterns of -Syn, a Parkinson’s disease pathology related protein, in wild-type mouse brains with that of the -Syn knock-out mice using different antibodies, which addressed a current debate on the nuclear localization of -Syn in mice brain.
Teaching Assistant, Research Techniques (BMS 5186C), College of Medicine, The Florida State University. Fall, 2011
Serve as the teaching assistant for BMS 5186C Research Techniques in fall 2011. Facilitated junior graduate students to understand the rationale behind the experimental techniques and to set up the experiments.
Thesis Facilitator, College of Medicine, The Florida State University. Fall 2008 – Spring 2011
Serve as the Honor thesis facilitator for an undergraduate student from Biology Department. Designed the honor thesis project, helped the student learn related lab techniques, and facilitated both the thesis writing and the thesis defense.
Group Study Facilitator, Pathology (BMS 6602-01), College of Medicine, The Florida State University. Spring, 2008
Serve as the facilitating instructor for BMS 6602-01 Pathology in spring 2008. Prepared the course materials and led first/second year medical students to discuss their case studies in class.
Research Assistant, Biological Department, University of Science and Technology of China. 2005.7 – 2006.5
Research Assistant of Dr. Shi Yun-yu’s research group at USTC. Use Residual Dioplar Couplings (RDCs) to explore the complex structure formed by Sumo-3 C47S and Ubc-9. Interested information includes the proper medium to produce RDCs, the accurate orientation of the two members of this complex and the exact interacting residues.
Research Assistant, Biological Department, University of Science and Technology of China. 2004.7 – 2005.7
Research Assistant of Dr. Zhou Cong-Zhao’s research group at USTC. Explore the interaction between different ligands like NADPH, FMN and a low temperature response protein named LOT6 of Saccharomyces Cerevisiae and investigated the biochemical function of this protein.
SKILLS
Cell Biology: various mammalian cell culture maintenance/transfection; SiRNA knock-down; immunocytochemistry; confocal microscopy
Biochemistry: western blot; immunoprecipitation; recombinant protein purification; antibody development; protein extraction from tissue; protein crystallography
Molecular Biology: PCR; molecular cloning; DNA preparation and purification; mutagenesis
PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
Member
Society for Neurosciences (2008 – present)
Publications
Xu Z, Zhou Y. “14-3-3 proteins regulate aggresome formation in response to proteolytic stress”. (In preparation for Journal of Cell Biology)
Xu Z, Huang Z, Wu Y, Zhou Y. “Determining nuclear localization of alpha-synuclein in mouse brains”. Neuroscience. 2011 Dec 29. 199:318-32. Epub 2011 Oct 19.
Li Y, Liu X, Wu Y, Xu Z, Li H, Griffith LC, Zhou Y. “Intracellular regions of the Eag potassium channel play a critical role in generation of voltage-dependent currents”. J Biol Chem. 2011 Jan 14; 286(2):1389-99.
Conference Presentations
“Determining Nuclear Localization of Alpha-Synuclein In Mouse Brains” (Poster), Society for Neurosciences (SFN) 2011, Washington, D.C., November, 2011.
“14-3-3 Proteins Are Indispensable For Alpha-Synuclein Aggresome Formation In Response To Proteolytic Stress” (Poster), Society for Neurosciences (SFN) 2010, San Diego, November, 2010.
“14-3-3 Proteins Promote Protein Aggregates Formation of Alpha-Synuclein” (Poster), Society for Neurosciences (SFN) 2009, Chicago, October, 2009.
PERSONAL INFORMATION
Date of Birth: 03/01/1984
Place of Birth: Ezhou, Hubei, China
Citizenship: Chinese
Visa Status: F1 (Current)
Sex: Male
Single
REFERENCES
Available on request