Personal Introduction

Dr. Xuemei Tong received her Ph.D. in biochemistry from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 2006. After completing postdoctoral training at University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Tong joined Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Cell Biology at Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine as PI of laboratory of cell metabolism in 2010.

Research interests

Dr. Tong’s laboratory studies the biochemical and molecular mechanisms that regulate human metabolic diseases such as cancer, fatty liver and diabetes, especially in the following specific areas:

1. Investigating the function of enzymes in non-oxidative pentose phosphate pathway including transketolase (TKT) in health and diseases.

2. Studying the mechanistic role of Mondo family transcription factors (MondoA and ChREBP) in the tumor microenvironment.

Scientific Grants

• National Natural Science Foundation of China (92057117 and 81972210)

• National Key Research and Development Program of China (2021YFF0702100 and 2019YFA0906100)

• Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Major Project (19JC1410200)

Publications

1. Liu Q, Zhu F, Liu X, Lu Y, Yao K, Tian N, Tong L, Figge DA, Wang X, Han Y, Li Y, Zhu Y, Hu L, Ji Y, Xu N, Li D, Gu X, Liang R, Gan G, Wu L, Zhang P, Xu T, Hu H, Hu Z, Xu H, Ye D, Yang H*, Li B*, Tong X*. Non-oxidative pentose phosphate pathway controls regulatory T cell function by integrating metabolism and epigenetics. Nat Metab. 2022 May 23.

2. Wang Z, Qiu Z, Hua S, Yang W, Chen Y, Huang F, Fan Y, Tong L, Xu T, Tong X*, Yang K*, Jin W*. Nuclear Tkt promotes ischemic heart failure via the cleaved Parp1/Aif axis. Basic Res Cardiol. 2022 Apr 5;117(1):18. (*co-corresponding authors)

3. Tian N*, Hu L, Lu Y, Tong L, Feng M, Liu Q, Li Y, Zhu Y, Wu L, Ji Y, Zhang P, Xu T, Tong X*. TKT maintains intestinal ATP production and inhibits apoptosis-induced colitis. Cell Death Dis. 2021 Sep 17;12(10):853.

4. Lu Y, Li Y, Liu Q, Tian N, Du P, Zhu F, Han Y, Liu X, Liu X, Peng X, Wang X, Wu Y, Tong L, Li Y, Zhu Y, Wu L, Zhang P, Xu Y, Chen H*, Li B*, Tong X*. MondoA-TXNIP axis maintains regulatory T cell identity and function in colorectal cancer microenvironment. Gastroenterology. 2021 Apr 23:S0016-5085(21)00679-X.

5. Tong X*, Kong M*, Thurmond DC*. Editorial: Connecting the Dots Between Obesity, Diabetes and Cancer. Front Endocrinol. 2020 Nov 19;11:583456. (*co-corresponding authors)

6. Xu Q, Li Y, Gao X, Kang K, Williams JG, Tong L, Liu J, Ji M, Deterding LJ, Tong X, Locasale JW, Li L, Shats I, Li X. HNF4α regulates sulfur amino acid metabolism and confers sensitivity to methionine restriction in liver cancer. Nat Commun. 2020 Aug 7;11(1):3978.

7. Tian N, Liu Q, Li Y, Tong L, Lu Y, Zhu Y, Zhang P, Chen H, Hu L, Meng J, Feng M, Li M, Zheng L, Li B, Xu T, Wu L*, Tong X*. Transketolase Deficiency in Adipose Tissues Protects Mice From Diet-Induced Obesity by Promoting Lipolysis. Diabetes. 2020 Jul;69(7):1355-1367.

8. Ge T, Yang J, Zhou S, Wang Y, Li Y, Tong X. The Role of the Pentose Phosphate Pathway in Diabetes and Cancer. Front Endocrinol. 2020 Jun 9;11:365

9. Ran H, Lu Y, Zhang Q, Hu Q, Zhao J, Wang K, Tong X*, Su Q*. MondoA Is Required for Normal Myogenesis and Regulation of the Skeletal Muscle Glycogen Content in Mice. Diabetes Metab J. 2020 May 18. (*co-corresponding authors)

10. Li M, Zhang X, Lu Y, Meng S, Quan H, Hou P, Tong P, Chai D, Gao X, Zheng J*, Tong X*, Bai J*. The nuclear translocation of transketolase inhibits the farnesoid receptor expression by promoting the binding of HDAC3 to FXR promoter in hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines. Cell Death Dis. 2020 Jan 16;11(1):31. (*co-corresponding authors)

11. Li Y, Yang D, Tian N, Zhang P, Zhu Y, Meng J, Feng M, Lu Y, Liu Q, Tong L, Hu L, Zhang L, Yang JY, Wu L*, Tong X*. The ubiquitination ligase SMURF2 reduces aerobic glycolysis and colorectal cancer cell proliferation by promoting ChREBP ubiquitination and degradation. J Biol Chem. 2019 Oct 4;294(40):14745-14756.

12. Li M, Lu Y, Li Y, Tong L, Gu XC, Meng J, Zhu Y, Wu L, Feng M, Tian N, Zhang P, Xu T, Lin SH*, Tong X*. Transketolase Deficiency Protects the Liver from DNA Damage by Increasing Levels of Ribose 5-Phosphate and Nucleotides. Cancer Res. 2019 Jul 15;79(14):3689-3701.