Faculty Profile

Xinbin Chen

Surgical and Radiological Sciences (Vet Med)
Internal Medicine (School of Medicine)
2128A Tupper Hall
Office +1 530 754 8404
Lab +1 530 754 0615
xbchen@ucdavis.edu
[Picture of Xinbin Chen]

Degrees:
1991 - PhD - Michigan State University - Microbiology
1985 - MS - Nanjing Agricultural University in China - Infectious Diseases
1982 - BVSc - Anhui Agricultural University in China - Veterinary Medicine

Awards:
Distinguished Teaching Award, Medical College of Georgia, 2000

Department and Center Affiliations:
Surgical and Radiological Sciences
Internal Medicine
UCD Cancer Center
Center for Comparative Oncology

Professional Societies:
Member of the Editorial Board, Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2007-2012
Member of the Editorial Board, Cancer Biology and Therapy, 2006-2009
American Association for Cancer Research
American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
American Association for Microbiology
AAAS

Grad Group Affiliations and Specialties:
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Publications:
(Selected from ~75 publications)

Harm, K and X. Chen. 2005. The C-terminus is a cell fate determinant of the p53 family proteins. Mol. Cell. Biol. 25:2014-2030.

Liu, G. and X. Chen. 2006. DNA polymerase eta, the product of the Xeroderma Pigmentosum Variant gene and a target of p53, modulates the DNA damage checkpoint and p53 activation. Mol. Cell. Biol. 26(4):1398-1413.

Helton, E. S., J. Zhu, and X. Chen. 2006. The unique DN residues, the PXXP motif, and the PPXY motif are required for the transcriptional activity of the DN variant of p63. J. Biol. Chem. 281(5): 2533-2542.

Jung, E. J., G. Liu, W. Zhou, and X. Chen. 2006. Myosin VI is a mediator of the p53-dependent cell survival pathway. Mol. Cell. Biol. 26: 2175-2186.

Scoumanne, A. and X. Chen. 2006. ECT2, a guanine nucleotide-exchange factor for Rho GTPases and a target of p53, is required for cell cycle transition from G1 to S. Cancer Research 66: 6271-6279.

Shu, L. W. Yan, and X. Chen. 2006. RNPC1, a RNA-binding protein and a target of the p53 family, is required for maintaining the stability of the basal and stress-induced p21 transcript. Genes & Dev. 20: 2961-2972.

Harms, K. and X. Chen. 2007. Histone deacetylase 2 modulates p53 transcriptional activities through regulation of p53-DNA binding activity. Cancer Res. 67: 3145-3152.

Zhang, J. and X. Chen. 2007. DNp73 modulates NGF-mediated neuronal differentiation through repression of TrkA. Mol. Cell. Biol. 27: 3868-3880.

Scoumanne, A. and X. Chen. 2007. The Lysine-Specific Demethylase 1 is required for cell proliferation in both p53-dependent and -independent manners. J. Biol. Chem. 282: 15471-15475.

Research Interests:
The p53 family proteins are transcription factors and consist of p53, p63, and p73. Each member regulates a diverse array of both common and unique target genes. These target genes mediate various activities for the p53 family proteins, including the cell cycle control, apoptosis, differentiation, senescence, DNA repair, normal development and tumor suppression. p53 is a tumor suppressor and found to be mutated or inactivated in greater than 60% of all human cancers. Mutant p53 is not only defective in tumor suppression but also promotes tumor formation. However, p63 and p73 appear to be necessary for the development of various tissues and immune response. To address these diverse activities for the p53 family proteins, we focus on the following areas of research: (1) to identify both common and unique target genes for each p53 family member and their functions in tumor suppression and development; (2) to determine the mechanism by which the p53 family proteins differentially regulate gene expression; (3) to determine the mechanism by which mutant p53 obtains a gain of function in promoting tumor formation; and (4) to determine the mechanism by which the expression and activity for each p53 family protein is regulated.

Laboratory Personnel:
Tupper 2117-2119 - A. Scoumanne, Ph.D.; W. Yan, M.D. and Ph.D.; S-J Cho, Ph.D.; Y. Zhang, Ph.D.; A Rossi, Ph.D.; Y-S Jung, Ph.D.; X. Chen, M.D. and Ph.D.; S. Y. Yeo; Y. Qian; J. Zhang, Ph.D.

Teaching Interests:


Cell Cycle, Tumor Suppressor, Oncogene, Signal Transduction, Transcriptional Regulation