Chengguo (CX) Xing, Ph.D.

Xing received his B.S. degree from the Dalian University of Technology and obtained his Ph.D. degree in organic chemistry from Arizona State University. He completed postdoctoral training in chemical biology at Harvard University. His independent research has been focusing on isolating, designing, and synthesizing biologically active small molecules as drug leads for translation and employing such candidates as probes to understand mechanism of drug action and related biology, with the long-term goal of developing solutions towards effectively managing human diseases. Another mission of our research is to train graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, undergraduate students, and other professionals the integration of different disciplines at the interface of chemistry and biology, including pharmacognosy, medicinal chemistry, chemical biology, molecular and cellular biology, and clinical bioanalytical chemistry.

Xing’s team’s research focuses on translational development with several indications, including novel therapies selective against multi-drug resistant malignancies, chemopreventive agents against primary carcinogenesis and a natural dietary supplement on neurological disorders with the goal to extend them in the clinical setting. There are currently three major independent directions: (i) To investigate the biology of the Bcl-2 family proteins, SERCA, Ca2+ homeostasis, and Notch in cancer multi-drug resistance, specifically their functions, interactions and regulations, and to develop novel small-molecule modulators as anticancer agents that will selectively eliminate multidrug-resistant malignancies and prevent drug resistance development in cancer therapies. (ii) To elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying the beneficial (cancer preventive and anxiolytic) and adverse (hepatotoxic) effects of kava, to determine the responsible compound(s), to identify the cellular targets and to characterize their interactions, and to rationally develop structurally related lead candidates for drug discovery and development. (iii) To develop a panel of chalcone-based chemical probes with similar chemical structures but distinct biological activities, to employ such probes for target identification and mechanistic characterization, and to perform rational lead optimization and drug development.