Biography
2007 BS Tsinghua Univ. / 2013 PhD Harvard Univ. / 2015 HHWF-HHMI Postdoc Fellow / 2018 NIH K99 / 2019 Wellcome/Royal Society Sir Henry Dale Fellow / 2022 UKRI Frontier (ERC STG)
Research
I am interested in the ways in which developing tissues produce and respond to mechanical forces in order to achieve the correct shape and pattern. We use early avian embryos as a model system. The large size and accessibility of these embryos allow us to image cell and tissue dynamics, perform molecular genetic perturbations, and deploy novel mechanical tools such as soft gels, cantilevers and nanorobots to measure and apply forces. Some of our ongoing projects are: the role of paraxial mesoderm forces on body axis straightness (bilateral symmetry) and neural folding, lumen pressure and tissue mechanics in the early central nervous system, the cellular responses to tissue forces in the axial progenitors, and the regulation of global tension on the early chicken embryo.
Yisha Lan
Ana Hernandez Rodriguez
Susannah McLaren
Publications
Hernandez-Rodriguez AR*, Lan Y*, Ji F, McLaren SBP, Vidigueira JMN, Li R, Dai Y, Holmes E, Moon LD, Balasubramaniam L, & Xiong F, "TiFM2.0 - Versatile mechanical measurement and actuation in live embryos", (*equal contribution), BioRxiv
McLaren SBP, Xue S, Ding S, Winkel A, Baldwin O, Dwarakacherla S, Franze K, Hannezo E, Xiong F, “Differential tissue deformability underlies shape divergence of the embryonic brain and spinal cord under fluid pressure” BioRxiv
Lu C*, Vidigueira JMN*, Chan JJC*, Maksymiuk A, Xiong F, "Cell density couples tissue mechanics to control the elongation speed of the body axis", (*equal contribution) iScience
Kunz D, Wang A, Chan CU, Pritchard RH, Wang W, Gallo F, Bradshaw CR, Terenzani E, Muller KH, Huang YYS, Xiong F, (2023) “Downregulation of Extraembryonic Tension Controls Body Axis Formation in Avian Embryos”, Nature Communications
Chan CU*, Xiong F*, Michaut A, Vidigueira JMN, Pourquie O, and Mahadevan L., (2023) “Direct Force Measurement and Loading on Developing Tissues in Intact Avian Embryos”, (*equal contribution), Development
Xiong, F., Ma, W., Bénazéraf, B., Mahadevan, L. and Pourquié, O (2020). Mechanical coupling coordinates the co-elongation of axial and paraxial tissues in avian embryos. Developmental Cell
Full list: https://www.xionglab.org/publications
Teaching and Supervisions
Contributor to P6/ZL6 Part 2 Organogenesis
Outside of Cambridge:
Developmental Biology (HMS, SJTU, ZJU, DKU)
Biophysics (introduction and advanced, DKU)
