Xiaojun Tian

Biological and Health Systems Engineering

Asst Professor

Faculty, TEMPE Campus, Mailcode 9709

Biography:

Xiaojun Tian is an assistant professor in the School of Biological and Health Systems Engineering. His expertise includes systems biology, computational biology, multiscale modeling and epigenetics. His lab combines multidisciplinary modeling and quantitative experimental approaches to address fundamental biological problems. Previously, he worked as a ostdoctoral associate at the University of Pittsburgh and Virginia Tech and focused on epithelial-mesenchymal transition and epigenetics.

Education:

Ph.D. Biophysics, Nanjing University, China 2012

Research Website:

https://tianlaboratory.com/

Google Scholar:

Google Scholar Profile

Research Interests:

Systems Biology, Synthetic Biology, Epigenetics, Biological Regulatory Networks,

Publications:

Zhang, R., Li J., Melendez-Alvarez, J., Chen, X., Sochor, P., Zhang, Q., Goetz H, Ding, T., Wang, X., Tian, X.-J., Topology-Dependent Interference of Synthetic Gene Circuit Function by Growth Feedback, Nat.Chem.Biol. 2020.
Goetz, H., Melendez-Alvarez, Chen, L, Tian, X.-J.* A Plausible Accelerating Function of Partial EMT States in Cancer Metastasis, PLOS Computational Biology, 16(3):e1007682. 2020.
Tian, X.-J.*,+, Zhou, D+, Fu, H+, Zhang, R, Wang, X, Huang, S., Liu, Y*, Xing, J.* Sequential Wnt Agonist then Antagonist Treatment Accelerates Tissue Repair and Minimizes Fibrosis. arXiv: 1810.03687, 2020. (Accepted, iScience)
Menn, D.J., Sochor P., Goetz, H., Tian, X.-J.*, Wang X.*, Intracellular noise level determines ratio control strategy confined by speed-accuracy tradeoff, (ACS Synthetic Biology). (2019). 8(6): 1352-1360. (*Co-corresponding authors)
M. Singh*, X. -J., Tian*, V. S. Donnenberg, A. M. Watson, J. Zhang, L. P. Stabile, S.C. Watkins, J. Xing and S. Sant. Targeting temporal dynamics of microenvironmental factors halts tumor migration and alleviates effects of dynamic tumor heterogeneity, Cancer Research.(2019) pii: canres.3151.2018. (*co-first authors)
J Xing*, X. -J., Tian*, Investigating epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition with integrated computational and experimental approaches. Physical Biology (2019) 16(3):031001. (*Co-corresponding authors)
X. -J., Tian*, M. V., Ferro, and H., Goetz. Modeling ncRNA-Mediated Circuits in Cell Fate Decision. Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, NJ) 1912 (2019): 411-426. (Corresponding authors)
J Zhang*, X-J Tian*, Y-J Chen, W Wang, S Watkins, and J Xing, Pathway crosstalk enables cells to interpret TGF-β duration. npj Systems Biology and Applications, 2018. 4:18. (*co-first authors)
Zhou, D., Fu, H., Xiao, L., Mo, H., Zhuo, H., Tian, X.-J, Lin, L., Xing, J., and Liu, Y. Fibroblast-Specific β-catenin Signaling Dictates the Outcome of AKI. JASN, 2018. 29.
Tian, X.-J.*, Zhang, H.*, Sannerud, J., and Xing, J., Achieving diverse and monoallelic olfactory receptor selection through dual-objective optimization design. PNAS, 2016. 113: E2889-98 (*co-first authors, the work solved a decades-long Nobel-Prize-winning puzzle, Reported by 24news outlets：Pittsburgh's National Public Radio Station, org, UPI.com, AAAS, DailyMail)
Tian, X.-J.*, Zhang, H., Zhang, J., and Xing, J.* mRNA-miRNA Reciprocal Regulation Enabled Bistable Switch Directs Cell Fate Decision. FEBS Lett, 2016. 590: 3443-55. (*Co-corresponding authors)
Zhang, J., Tian, X.-J., and Xing, J., Signal Transduction Pathways of EMT Induced by TGFβ, SHH, and WNT and Their Crosstalks. J Clin Med, 2016. 5: 41.
Zhang, J.*, Tian, X.-J.*, Zhang, H., Teng, Y., Li, R., Bai, F., Elankumaran, S., and Xing, J., TGFβ-induced epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition proceeds through stepwise activation of multiple feedback loops. Sci Signal, 2014. 7: ra91 (*co-first authors) (Quantitative experimental verification of the predictions from my mathematical model of EMT).
Zhang, H., Tian, X.-J., Mukhopadhyay, A., Kim, K. S., and Xing, J., Statistical mechanics model for the dynamics of collective epigenetic histone modification. Phys Rev Lett, 112: 068101.
Wang, P., Song, C., Zhang, H., Wu, Z., Tian, X.-J., and Xing, J., Epigenetic state network approach for describing cell phenotypic transitions. Interface Focus, 2014. 4: 20130068.
Zhang, Q. H., Tian, X.-J., Liu, F., and Wang, W., A switch-like dynamic mechanism for the initiation of replicative senescence. FEBS Lett, 2014. 588: 4369-74.
Tian, X.-J., Zhang, H., and Xing, J., Coupled reversible and irreversible bistable switches underlying TGFβ-induced epithelial to mesenchymal transition. Biophys J, 105: 1079-89. (First mathematical model of EMT predicted a partial EMT state which is crucial for cancer metastasis and renal fibrosis.).
Hu, Y., Ru, N., Xiao, H., Chaturbedi, A., Hoa, N. T., Tian, X.-J., Zhang, H., Ke, C., Yan, F., Nelson, J., Li, Z., Gramer, R., Yu, L., Siegel, E., Zhang, X., Jia, Z., Jadus, M. R., Limoli, C. L., Linskey, M. E., Xing, J., and Zhou, Y. H., Tumor-specific chromosome mis-segregation controls cancer plasticity by maintaining tumor heterogeneity. PLoS One, 2013. 8: e80898.
Tian, X.-J., Liu, F., Zhang, X. P., Li, J., and Wang, W., A two-step mechanism for cell fate decision by coordination of nuclear and mitochondrial p53 activities. PLoS One, 2012. 7: e38164.
Tian, X.-J., Zhang, X. P., Liu, F., and Wang, W., Interlinking positive and negative feedback loops creates a tunable motif in gene regulatory networks. Phys Rev E, 2009. 80: 011926.
Xing, J., Yu, J., Zhang, H., and Tian, X.-J., Computational modeling to elucidate mechanisms of epigenetic memory, in Epigenetic Technological Applications (Elsevier, Editor: George Zheng), Elsevier (2015).

Research Activity:

Xiaojun Tian, URoL: Epigenetics 1: Epigenetics Control by Noncoding RNA. NSF(08/01/2019 - 07/31/2022).

Courses

Summer 2020
Course Number	Course Title
BDE 792	Research

Spring 2020
Course Number	Course Title
BME 394	Special Topics
BME 492	Honors Directed Study
BME 493	Honors Thesis
BME 592	Research
BME 599	Thesis
BME 792	Research
BDE 792	Research
BDE 799	Dissertation

Fall 2019
Course Number	Course Title
BME 331	Transport Phenomena for BME
BME 394	Special Topics
BME 492	Honors Directed Study
BME 493	Honors Thesis
AML 592	Research
BME 598	Special Topics
BDE 792	Research
BME 792	Research
BDE 799	Dissertation

Spring 2019
Course Number	Course Title
BME 331	Transport Phenomena for BME
BME 492	Honors Directed Study
BME 493	Honors Thesis
BME 592	Research
BME 599	Thesis
BME 792	Research
BDE 792	Research
BDE 799	Dissertation

Fall 2018
Course Number	Course Title
ASU 101-BME	The ASU Experience
BME 492	Honors Directed Study
AML 592	Research
BME 592	Research
BME 598	Special Topics
BME 792	Research

Spring 2018
Course Number	Course Title
BME 394	Special Topics
BME 493	Honors Thesis
BME 598	Special Topics

Service:

Referee for: PLOS Computational Biology ∙ BMC Systems Biology ∙ Biophysical Journal ∙ Scientific Reports ∙ Journal of Molecular Cell Biology ∙ PLoS One ∙ Processes ∙ Acta Biotheoretica ∙ Journal of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology ∙ BioMed Research International ∙ International Journal of Oncology

Conference Committee Member: The 2nd International Conference on Biomedical and Biological Engineering

Expertise Areas:

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Xiaojun Tian