Chengran Xu
Email: cxu(at)pku(dot)edu(dot)cn
Telephone: 010-62755513
Lab Homepage:
Research Area:
The liver and pancreas coordinately provide essential metabolic functions. During embryogenesis, both liver and pancreas progenitors derive from a common multipotent domain in the foregut endoderm and they share many aspects including several common transcriptional factors. Thereby the liver and pancreas development are usually considered together.
The goal of the laboratory is to investigate cell differentiation and organogenesis in liver and pancreas development, which is fundamental for the studies of liver and pancreas regeneration. Improved understanding of the programs of liver and pancreas development in embryogenesis could instruct us to sufficiently differentiate embryonic stem (ES) cells into specific liver or pancreas lineages for cell therapies of hepatic and pancreatic deceases.
Now our studies are mainly focusing on the mechanisms of hepatocyte and β cell lineage specification and maturation during embryogenesis, which are precise process coordinated with extracellular cell signaling transduction, epigenetics, and genetic regulatory networks.
Selected Publications:
*corresponding author; #contribute equally
1. Li Yang#, Xin Wang#, Xin-Xin Yu, Lu Yang, Bi-Chen Zhou, Jing Yang, and Cheng-Ran Xu*, The default and directed pathways of hepatoblast differentiation involve distinct epigenomic mechanisms. Developmental Cell, (2023, in press)
2. Li Yang#, Xin Wang#, Jia-Xi Zheng, Zi-Ran Xu, Lin-Chen Li, Yu-Long Xiong, Bi-Chen Zhou, Jie Gao, and Cheng-Ran Xu*, Determination of the key events in hepatocyte maturation at the single-cell level. Developmental Cell, (2023, in press)
3. Haobin Jiang, Lina Bai, Shen Song, Qianqian Yin, Anteng Shi, Bin Zhou, Hong Lian, Houzao Chen, Cheng-Ran Xu, Yanchun Wang, Yu Nie*, Shengshou Hu*, EZH2 controls epicardial cell migration during heart development. Life Science Alliance, doi: 10.26508/lsa.202201765 (2023)
4. Suwei Gao#, Qiang Shi#, Yifan Zhang, Guixian Liang, Zhixin Kang, Baofeng Huang, Dongyuan Ma, Lu Wang, Jianwei Jiao, Xiangdong Fang, Cheng-Ran Xu, Longqi Liu, Xun Xu, Berthold Göttgens, Cheng Li*, Feng Liu*, Identification of HSC/MPP expansion units in fetal liver by single-cell spatiotemporal transcriptomics. Cell Research, 32(1): 38-53 (2022).
5. Xin-Xin Yu#, Wei-Lin Qiu#, Liu Yang#, Yan-Chun Wang#, Mao-Yang He, Dan Wang, Yu Zhang, Lin-Chen Li, Jing Zhang, and Yi Wang and Cheng-Ran Xu*, Sequential progenitor states mark the generation of pancreatic endocrine lineages in mice and humans. Cell Research, doi: 10.1038/s41422-021-00486-w (2021)
6. Lin-Chen Li#, Xin Wang#, Zi-Ran Xu#, Yan-Chun Wang#, Ye Feng, Liu Yang, Wei-Lin Qiu, Li Yang, Xin-Xin Yu, Jun Gu and Cheng-Ran Xu*, Single-cell patterning and axis characterization in the murine and human definitive endoderm. Cell Research, 31(3):326-344 (2021).
7. Jaesung P Choi# , Xi Yang#, Shuang He, Renhua Song, Zi-Ran Xu, Matthew Foley, Justin J-L Wong, Cheng-Ran Xu, Xiangjian Zheng*, CCM2L (Cerebral Cavernous Malformation 2 Like) Deletion Aggravates Cerebral Cavernous Malformation Through Map3k3-KLF Signaling Pathway. Stroke, doi: 10.1161/STROKEAHA.120.031523 (2021)
8. Sisi Feng#, Jiaying Wu#, Wei-Lin Qiu#, Li Yang#, Xiaogang Deng#, Ying Zhou, Yabin Chen, Xiao Li, Lei Yu, Zi-Ran Xu, Yini Xiao, Xiongzhao Ren, Ludi Zhang, Chenhua Wang, Xiaoyan Ding, Yuelei Chen, Paul Gadue, Guoyu Pan, Mina Ogawa, Shinichiro Ogawa, Jie Na, Lijian Hui, Hao Yin*, Luonan Chen*, Cheng-Ran Xu* and Xin Cheng*, Large-scale generation of functional and transplantable hepatocytes and cholangiocytes from human endoderm stem cells. Cell Reports, 33(10):108455 (2020).
9. Xin Wang#, Li Yang#, Yan-Chun Wang#, Zi-Ran Xu, Ye Feng, Jing Zhang, Yi Wang and Cheng-Ran Xu*, Comparative analysis of cell lineage differentiation during hepatogenesis in humans and mice at the single-cell transcriptome level. Cell Research, 30(12):1109-1126 (2020)
10. Xin-Xin Yu and Cheng-Ran Xu*, Understanding generation and regeneration of pancreatic β cells from a single-cell perspective (Review). Development, 12;147(7) :dev179051 (2020).
11. Ye Feng#, Wei-Lin Qiu#, Xin-Xin Yu, Yu Zhang, Mao-Yang He, Weiyi Zhang, Michael Franti, Junqing Ye*, Joerg D. Hoeck* and Cheng-Ran Xu*, Characterizing pancreatic β-cell heterogeneity in the streptozotocin model by single-cell transcriptomic analysis. Molecular Metabolism, 37:100982 (2020).
12. Xin-Xin Yu#, Wei-Lin Qiu#, Liu Yang, Yu Zhang, Mao-Yang He, Lin-Chen Li and Cheng-Ran Xu*, Defining multistep cell fate decision pathways during pancreatic development at single-cell resolution. The EMBO Journal, 15;38(8):e100164 (2019).
13. 杨李，拉毛切忠，徐成冉*，肝脏细胞分化和成熟的分子调控机制。中国细胞生物学学报，41(10):1853-1884 (2019).
14. Li Yang, Lin-Chen Li, Lamaoqiezhong, Xin Wang, Wei-Hua Wang, Yan-Chun Wang and Cheng-Ran Xu*, The contributions of mesoderm-derived cells in liver development. Seminars in Cell and Developmental Biology, 92:63-76 (2019).
15. Lin-Chen Li#, Wei-Lin Qiu#, Yu-Wei Zhang, Zi-Ran Xu, Yi-Ni Xiao, Caiying Hou, Lamaoqiezhong, Peng Yu, Xin Cheng and Cheng-Ran Xu*, Single-cell transcriptomic analyses reveal distinct dorsal/ventral pancreatic programs. EMBO Reports, 19(10):e46148 (2018).
16. Lin-Chen Li#, Xin-Xin Yu#, Yu-Wei Zhang#, Ye Feng#, Wei-Lin Qiu# and Cheng-Ran Xu*, Single-cell transcriptomic analyses of mouse pancreatic endocrine cells. Journal of Visualized Experiments, Sep 30;(139):58000 (2018).
17. Xin-Xin Yu#, Wei-Lin Qiu#, Liu Yang, Lin-Chen Li, Yu-Wei Zhang and Cheng-Ran Xu*, Dynamics of chromatin marks and the role of JMJD3 during pancreatic endocrine cell fate commitment. Development, 145(6):dev163162 (2018).
18. Li Yang#, Wei-Hua Wang#, Wei-Lin Qiu#, Zhen Guo, Erfei Bi and Cheng-Ran Xu*, A single-cell transcriptomic analysis reveals precise pathways and regulatory mechanisms underlying hepatoblast differentiation. Hepatology, 66(5):1387-1401 (2017).
19. Wei-Lin Qiu#, Yu-Wei Zhang#, Ye Feng#, Lin-Chen Li, Liu Yang and Cheng-Ran Xu*, Deciphering pancreatic islet β-cell and α-cell maturation pathways and characteristic features at the single-cell level. Cell Metabolism, 25:1194-1205 (2017).
20. Ramkumar Mohan, Yiping Mao, Shungang Zhang, Yuwei Zhang, Cheng-Ran Xu, Gérard Gradwohl and Xiaoqing Tang*. Differentially expressed microRNA-483 confers distinct functions in pancreatic beta- and alpha-cells. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 290(32): 19955-66 (2015).
21. Cheng-Ran Xu, Lin-Chen Li, Greg Donahue, Lei Ying, Yu-Wei Zhang, Paul Gadue & Kenneth S. Zaret*. Dynamics of Genomic H3K27me3 Domains and Role of EZH2 during Pancreatic Endocrine Specification. The EMBO Journal, 33(19): 2157-2170 (2014)
22. Cheng-Ran Xu & Kenneth S. Zaret*. Chromatin "Pre-Pattern" and Epigenetic Modulation in the Cell Fate Choice of Liver over Pancreas in the Endoderm. Review, Nucleus, 3(2): 150-154 (2012)
23. Cheng-Ran Xu, Philip A. Cole, Jay D. Kormish, Shannon Dent & Kenneth S. Zaret*. Chromatin "Pre-Pattern" and Histone Modifiers in a Fate Choice for Liver and Pancreas. Science, 332: 963-6 (2011)
24. Cheng-Ran Xu & Ann J. Feeney*. The epigenetic profile of Ig genes is dynamically regulated during B cell differentiation and is modulated by pre-B cell receptor signaling. Journal of Immunology, 182(3): 1362-9 (2009)
25. Cheng-Ran Xu, Lana Schaffer, Steven R. Head & Ann J. Feeney*. Reciprocal patterns of methylation of H3K27 and H3K36 on proximal vs. distal IgVH genes are modulated by IL7 and Pax5. The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA (PNAS), 105: 8685-8690 (2008)
26. Cheng-Ran Xu, Cui Liu, Yi-Lan Wang, Lin-Chen Li, Wen-Qian Chen, Zhi-Hong Xu & Shu-Nong Bai*. Histone acetylation affects expression of cellular patterning genes in the Arabidopsis root epidermis. The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA (PNAS), 102: 14469-14474 (2005)