Chromatography

Biography

Dr. Xue obtained her M.D. from the Shanghai Second Military Medical University in 1983, Ph.D. from the Institute of medical Sciences and Department of Biochemistry, University of Toronto in 1992, and carried out postdoctoral studies at the Department of Genetics, University of Glasgow before joining the Department of Biochemistry, Hong Kong University of Science & Technology (HKUST). Currently, Dr. Xue is Director of Applied Genomics Center of HKUST, and Professor of Life Science at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Dr. Xue’s group research focuses on genomics, bioinformatics and evolution biology to decipher the mechanisms of human complex diseases, in particular, schizophrenia. The group is also interested in translational research on novel therapeutics and diagnostics for complex neuropsychiatric disorders including anxiety, depression and neurodegenerative disorders, with a focus on GABAA receptors as the drug targets. In order to effectively isolate active components from medicinal herbs, her group has recently developed a novel chromatographic method designated as Disbursed Mobile-Phase Countercurrent Chromatography (DMCC). In 2003, Dr. Xue and her team discovered the association between schizophrenia and a segment of the GABRB2 gene encoding the -subunit of GABAA receptors, the positive selection of genotypes and haplotypes in this segment, determinant role of this segment in the alternate splicing of the subunit protein, and the differential modulation of the GABA-induced membrane current by the long and short forms. These discoveries represent therefore the first instance where a schizophrenia-susceptibility gene has been linked to protein processing and further to electrophysiological response of neurons, thereby opening the door toward understanding the mechanism of schizophrenia etiology leading from gene to neuronal phenotype.

Research Interest

Genomics, Bioinformatics and Evolution biology