Research Focus:

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by progressive loss of cognitive function and is the most common type of Alzheimer's disease. With the deepening of research in recent years, the function and status of glial cells in neurological diseases have become increasingly prominent. There is growing evidence that glial cells are active participants in brain homeostasis and dysfunction, and are a promising new target for the treatment of many central nervous system diseases, including AD. The research group mainly uses animal models of gene modification/knockout combined with clinical samples to reveal the pathogenic mechanism and function of glial cells in AD pathogenesis and targeted therapy by biochemical molecular, behavioral, electrophysiology, multi-omics analysis, etc., and the research results are expected to provide new strategies for the diagnosis and treatment of AD.

Educational background:

2000- 2004: Bachelor of Biological Sciences, College of Life Sciences, Xiamen University

2004–2009: Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry and Cells, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Work experience:

2009-2012: Postdoctoral Fellow, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

2014-2015: Mayo Clinic, Visiting Scholar

2012.11-2018.10: Xiamen University School of Medicine, Associate Professor

2018.11-present: Xiamen University School of Medicine, Professor

Selected Publications

1. Zhong L, Chen XF (2019). The Emerging Roles and Therapeutic Potential of Soluble TREM2 in Alzheimer's Disease. Front Aging Neurosci. 11:328.

2. Zhong L, Xu Y, Zhuo R, Wang T, Wang K, Huang R, Wang D, Gao Y, Zhu Y, Sheng X, Chen K, Wang N, Zhu L, Can D, Martens YA, Shinohara M, Liu CC, Du D, Sun H, Wen L, Xu H, Bu G, Chen XF(2019). Soluble TREM2 ameliorates pathological phenotypes by modulating microglial functions in an Alzheimer’s disease model.Nat Commun.10(1):1365.

3. Zhong L, Wang Z, Wang D, Wang Z, Martens YA, Wu L, Xu Y, Wang K, Li J, Huang R, Can D, Xu H, Bu G, Chen XF (2018). Amyloid-beta modulates microglial responses by binding to the triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 (TREM2). Molecular Neurodegeneration. 13(1):15.

4. Zhong L^*, Chen XF^*,§, Wang TT, Wang Z, Liao CY, Wang ZQ, Huang RZ, Wang DX, Li XX, Wu LB, Zheng HH, Painter M, Atagi Y, Liu CC, Zhang YW, Fryer, Xu H, Bu G^§ (2017). Soluble TREM2 promotes microglial survival and induces inflammatory responses via distinct signaling pathways. J Exp Med. 214(3):597-607. (^*co-first author; ^§corresponding author)

5. Zhong L, Zhang ZL, Li XX, Liao CY, Mou PF, Wang TT, Wang ZQ, Wang Z, Wei M, Xu H, Bu G, Chen XF (2017). TREM2/DAP12 Complex Regulates Inflammatory Responses in Microglia via the JNK Signaling Pathway. Front. Aging Neurosci. 9:204.

6. Yang L^*, Liu CC^*, Zheng H, Kanekiyo T, Atagi Y, Jia L, Wang D, N'songo A, Can D, Xu H, Chen XF^§, Bu G^§ (2016). LRP1 modulates the microglial immune response via regulation of JNK and NF-κB signaling pathways. J Neuroinflammation. 13(1):304.

7. Kang RR, Li P, Wang TT, Li XX, Wei ZC, Zhang ZL, Zhong L, Cao LL, Heckman MG, Zhang YW, Xu H, Huang CM, Bu G, Chen XF (2016). Apolipoprotein E epsilon 2 allele and low serum cholesterol as risk factors for gastric cancer in a Chinese Han population. Scientific Reports 6:19930.

8. Zhong L, Xie YZ, Cao TT, Wang Z, Wang T, Li X, Shen RC, Xu H, Bu G, Chen XF(2016). A rapid and cost-effective method for genotyping apolipoprotein E gene polymorphism. Molecular Neurodegeneration. 11(1):2.

9. Zhong L^*, Chen XF^*,§, Zhang ZL, Wang Z, Shi XZ, Xu K, Zhang YW, Xu H, Bu G^§ (2015). DAP12 stabilizes the C-terminal fragment of the triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-2 (TREM2) and protects against LPS-induced pro-inflammatory response. J Biol Chem. 290(25):15866-77.

10. Chen XF^§, Zhang YW, Xu H, Bu G^§. (2013). Transcriptional regulation and its misregulation in Alzheimer's disease. Molecular Brain. 6(1):44-53.

11. Chen XF, Lehmann L., Lin J., Vashisht A., Schmidt, Ferrari R., Huang CY., McKee R., Mosley A., Plath K., Kurdistani S., Wohlschlegel J., Carey M.^§ (2012). Mediator and SAGA Have Distinct Roles in Pol II Preinitiation Complex Assembly and Function. Cell Reports 2:1061-1067.

12. Chen XF, Kuryan B., Kitada T., Tran N., Li B., Carey M. (2012). The Rpd3 Core Complex is a Chromatin Stabilization Module. Current Biology 22(1):1-8.

13. Chen XF, Meng FL, Zhou JQ (2009). Telomere Recombination Accelerates Cellular Aging in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. PLoS Genetics 5(6): e1000535.