Xiufeng (Sophie) Song

Lab Head and Project Team Lead

Development of anti-LAP (latency-associated peptide of TGF beta) therapeutic antibodies for cancer, fibrosis and other related disorders. • Developed a crucial screening platform for lead candidate selection from a panel of antibodies based on kinetic analysis and affinity measurement. • Developed flow cytometry assay to profile LAP surface expression in human PBMCs and tumors. • Developed cell-based assays to test the inhibition of active TGFβ release by anti-LAP antibodies using reporter cell line co-culture system. • Carried out studies to determine in vivo mechanism of action of anti-LAP antibodies in mouse tumor models, using ELISA, IHC and Western blotting.

Development of therapeutic antibodies modulating the immune system for cancer treatment • Developed a rapid binding screening of hybridoma supernatant for affinity ranking of antibodies using Octet platform. • Developed a cell-based NFAT-Luciferase reporter assay to assess the blocking effect of antibodies. • Cloned and analyzed sequences of antibody variable region for antibody humanization. • Developed high-throughput expression and characterization system to screen humanized antibodies. • Designed bicistronic vector allowing the simultaneous expression of antibody heavy and light chain.

The role of REDD1, an ER-stress induced protein, in tumorigenesis and metabolic reprogramming • Investigated the contribution of REDD1 to tumorigenesis in Kras-driven pancreatic cancer. • Developed endogenous co-immunoprecipitation assay to identify the novel protein complex and its role in regulating metabolism and exercise capacity (publication in Nature Communication, 2015).

The role of MAPK-mediated signal transduction in atherosclerosis • Developed a quantitative phagocytosis assay as a functional readout of MAPK deficiency in bone marrow-derived primary macrophage. • Developed a cell-based assay using small molecule inhibitors in mouse primary macrophages, to investigate the role of various kinase pathways in response to inflammatory stimuli.

The role of arrestin, a critical regulator of G protein coupled receptor signaling, in retinal degeneration in vivo and scaffolding MAPK modules in vitro • Developed a mouse electroretinography assay to test retinal function in vivo, and established the first mouse model partially achieving “one step” GPCR signal termination in vivo and suggested a potential strategy for retinal degeneration patients (publications in Current Biology, PNAS, etc.). • Developed an innovative cell-based assay to detect interactions between arrestins and MAPKs.

Genetic and functional analysis of mitochondrial mutations • Optimized a cell-based screening assay to isolate metabolic defective cells by drug resistant selection. • Developed a sequence-based assay to detect low frequency aging-related mutations, implementing software Mutation Quantifier in collaboration with Softgenetics Inc.

Population genetics studies based on molecular markers • Supervised and led a multidisciplinary MSc/BSc-student group. • Collaborated with local hospitals and universities in Xinjiang, Shanxi, Gansu province to collect large population samples. • Developed whole-genome high-throughput assays to detect Y chromosome SNPs. • Developed methodology to analyze migration patterns of populations based on haplotype frequencies, utilizing ARLEQUIN; ADMIX software. • The work led to high-impact publications: Science, 2001 and Nature, 2004. • Invited talks at 13th Congress of the European Anthropological Association (Zagrab, Croatia, 2002) and Università di Bologna (Bologna, Italy, 2002). • Member, organizing committee of First International Symposium of Anthropological Studies at Fudan University (Shanghai, China, 2002).