Xiangming Ji

Ph. D, Nutrition and Food Sciences, Wayne State University
Postdoc Research Fellow, Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Research Interests
Our research focuses on metabolic studies in the airway epithelium from normal cells to at-risk epithelial cells all the way to cancer cells. We are accumulating evidence for a critical role of metabolic reprogramming in the airway epithelial compartment at the core of the development of both COPD and lung cancer. Our current research is focused on the validation of neutral amino acid transporters to sustain the metabolic reprogramming in COPD and lung cancer.  Our work is highly interdisciplinary and involves the fields of thoracic biology, cancer metabolism, and metabolic flux analysis. Ultimately the goals of these projects are to exploit intrinsic cellular mechanisms which cause the abnormal metabolic phenotypes in COPD and lung cancer.

We are also interested in the characterization of nutraceuticals provides health benefits and helps in the prevention or treatment of lung diseases, such as COPD and lung cancer. Currently, our laboratory is characterizing the intracellular mechanisms mediating the anti-inflammatory effects of tocotrienols in COPD model in vitro and in vivo.

Selected Publications

1. Vermeij J, Teugels E, Bourgain C, Xiangming J, in 't Veld P, Ghislain V, et al. Genomic activation of the EGFR and HER2-neu genes in a significant proportion of invasive epithelial ovarian cancers. BMC Cancer 2008; 8: 3-12.
2. Chung H, Ji X, Canning C, Sun S, Zhou K. Comparison of different strategies for soybean antioxidant extraction. J Agric Food Chem 2010; 58: 4508-4512.
3. Ji X, Wang Z, Geamanu A, Sarkar FH, Gupta SV. Inhibition of cell growth and induction of apoptosis in non-small cell lung cancer cells by delta-tocotrienol is associated with Notch-1 down-regulation. J Cell Biochem 2011; 112: 2773-2783.
4. Ji X, Wang Z, Geamanu A, Goja A, Sarkar FH, Gupta SV.. Delta-tocotrienol suppresses Notch-1 pathway by up-regulating miR-34a in non-small cell lung cancer cells. Int J Cancer 2012; 131: 2668-2677.
5. Andreea Geamanu, Nadia Saadat, Xiangming Ji and SV Gupta etal ProAlgaZyme and its sub-fractions increase plasma HDL-cholesterol via up regulation of ApoA1, ABCA1 and SRB1 and inhibition of CETP in hypercholestereolemic hamsters. J. Nutrition and Dietary supplements 2012; 4:17-24.
6. Ji X, Wang Z, Sarkar FH, Gupta SV. Delta-tocotrienol enhances the effect of cisplatin in suppression of non-small cell lung cancer cells via inhibition of Notch-1 pathway. Anticancer Research. 2012; 32:2647-2655.
7. Canning C, Sun S, Ji X, Gupta S, Zhou K. Antibacterial and cytotoxic activity of isoprenylated coumarin mammea A/AA isolated from Mammea africana. Journal of Ethnopharmacol. 2013; 147: 259-262.
8. Ji X, Usman A, Razalli NH, Sambanthamurthi R, Gupta SV. Oil Palm Phenolics (OPP) Inhibit Pancreatic Cancer Cell Proliferation via Suppression of NF-ĸb Pathway. Anticancer Research 2014; 34: 97-106.
9. Qian J, Hassanein M, Hoeksema MD, Harris BK, Zou Y, Chen H, Lu P, Eisenberg R, Wang J, Espinosa A, Ji X, Harris FT, Rahman SM, Massion PP.. The RNA binding protein FXR1 is a new driver in the 3q26-29 amplicon and predicts poor prognosis in human cancers. PNAS 2015; 112: 3469-3474
10. Hassanein M, Qian J, Hoeksema MD, Wang J, Jacobovitz M, Ji X, Harris FT, Harris BK, Boyd KL, Chen H, Eisenberg R, Massion PP. Targeting SLC1a5-mediated glutamine dependence in non-small cell lung cancer. Int J Cancer 2015.
11. Siska PJ, Kim B, Ji X, Hoeksema MD, Massion PP, Beckermann KE, Wu J, Chi JT, Hong J, Rathmell JC. Fluorescence-based measurement of cystine uptake through xCT shows requirement for ROS detoxification in activated lymphocytes. J Immunol Methods, 2016.
12. Rahman J, Ji X, Zimmerman, L, Li, M, Harris B, Hoeksema M, Trenary, I, Liebler D, Young J, Massion PP. The airway epithelium undergoes metabolic reprogramming in individuals at high risk for lung cancer. JCI Insight, 2016;17: 1-19
13.  Ji X, Qian J, Rahman SMJ, Siska PJ, Zou Y, Harris BK, et al. xCT (SLC7A11)-mediated metabolic reprogramming promotes non-small cell lung cancer progression. Oncogene. 2018.
14.  Ji X, Niu X, Qian J, Martucci V, Pendergrass SA, Gorlov IP, et al. A Phenome-Wide Association Study Uncovers a Role for Autoimmunity in the Development of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol. 2018;58(6):777-9.

Book Chapter

Xiangming Ji, Arvind Goja and Smiti V. Gupta. Tocotrienols and atherosclerosis: potential in cardioprotection.  In: Tocotrienols: Vitamin E Beyond Tocopherols. 2^nd Edit. B. Tan, R.R. Watson, V.R. Preedy, eds. Taylor & Francis, 2012.

Selected Presentations

1. Invited Speaker, “SLC7A11 contributes to the pathogenesis of lung cancer.” UAB & Vanderbilt Pulmonary Research Summit: Focus on Repair and Remodeling, TN, June 26, 2015
2. Invited Speaker, “Cigarette smoke condensate induces the metabolic reprogramming in normal airway epithelial cells.” FAMRI Conference, Miami, FL, May, 25, 2016.

Abstracts and Conference Presentations:

1. Xiangming Ji, Andreea Geamanu, and Smiti V. Gupta, (2011)Notch-1 down-regulation by delta-tocotrienol is associated with the inhibition of cell growth and the induction of apoptosis in non-small cell lung cancer cells. FASEB J, 25, 979.16
2. Andreea Geamanu, Arvind Goja, Nadia Sadaat, Monika Wadehra, and Xiangming Ji., (2011) Algal extract and its sub-fractions increase plasma HDL-cholesterol via up-regulation of Apo A1, ABCA1, and SRB1 and inhibition of CETP in hamsters FASEB J, 25, 594.2
3. Xiangming Ji and Smiti Gupta., (2011) Palm juice induces apoptosis with cell cycle arrest in pancreatic cancer cells. IFT, 096.58.
4. Xiangming Ji and Smiti Gupta., (2011) Delta-tocotrienol inhibits lung cancer cell growth via down regulation of Notch-1 pathway. Second International conference of tocotrienol and chronic diseases.
5. Xiangming Ji and Smiti V. Gupta., (2012) Delta-Tocotrienol enhances cisplatin-induced inhibition of growth and invasion of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Cells. FASEB J, 25, 822.23.
6. Jun Qian, Xiangming Ji, Yong Zou, Megan Hoeksema, Heidi Chen, Pierre P. Massion., (2014) Overexpression of chromosome 3q26-29 miRNAs in squamous cell carcinoma of the lung. AACR, 526.
7. S.M. Jamshedur Rahman, Lisa J. Zimmerman, Ming Li, Yong Zou, Xiangming Ji, Robbert        J.C. Slebos, Yu Shyr, Daniel C. Liebler, Pierre P. Massion., (2013) Overexpression of metabolic enzymes in the airway epithelium of individuals at high risk for lung cancer. VICC Retreat.
8. Maria Fernanda Senosain, Mohamed Hassanein , Xiangming Ji, Megan Hoeksema, Jun Qian and Pierre P. Massion. (2015) Regulation of neutral amino acid transporters gene expression profile in non-small cell lung cancer. AACR.
9. Xiangming Ji, S.M. Jamshedur Rahman, Lisa J. Zimmerman, Heidi Chen, Bradford K Harris, Megan D. Hoeksema, Yong Zou, Jun Qian, Robbert J.C. Slebo, Yu Shyr, Jamey D. Young, Daniel C. Liebler, Pierre P. Massion.(2015) Investigating metabolic  reprogramming in the development of COPD. FAMRI Conference.
10. Xiangming Ji, Jun Qian, Yong Zou, Jamshedur Rahman, Brad Harris, Megan Hoeksema, Chen H,Rosana Eisenberg Jamey Young, and Pierre P. Massion. (2015) SLC7A11 contributes to the pathogenesis of lung cancer. Cancer and Metabolism.
11. Xiangming Ji, S.M. Jamshedur Rahman, Lisa J. Zimmerman, Heidi Chen, Bradford K Harris, Megan D. Hoeksema, Yong Zou, Jun Qian, Robbert J.C. Slebo, Yu Shyr, Jamey D. Young, Daniel C. Liebler, Pierre P. Massion.(2016) Cigarette smoke condensate induces the metabolic reprogramming in normal airway epithelial cells. FAMRI Conference.
12. Xiangming Ji, Jun Qian, Yong Zou, Jamshedur Rahman, Brad Harris, Megan Hoeksema, Rosana Eisenberg, Jamey Young, Chen H and Pierre P. Massion1., (2016) xCT-mediated metabolic reprogramming in non-small cell lung cancer. VICC Cancer Metabolism Retreat.
13. Xiangming Ji, Xinnan Niu, Jun Qian, S.M. Jamshedur Rahman, Ivan P. Gorlov, Christopher I. Amos, Joshua C. Denny, Pierre P. Massion1 and Melinda C. Aldrich., (2016) Phenome-wide Association Study of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Genetic Variants.

Funding

07/01/15 – 06/30/20    $100,000/year

Principal Investigator: Xiangming Ji                     

Sponsor:                      Flight Attendant Medical Research Institute (FAMRI)

Title:                             Metabolic reprogramming in patients with COPD

A promising approach for the discovery of diagnostic COPD biomarkers is the identification of panels of metabolites that are elicited by cigarette smoking.  This project will test the hypothesis that cigarette smoking induces metabolic reprogramming in the airway epithelium and promotes the development of COPD.

Memberships

American Association for Cancer Research
American Society for Nutrition
Institute of Food Technology

Service

Ad-Hoc Manuscript Reviewer

1. Journal of Cellular Biochemistry
2. Journal of Food Science

Awards and Honors

2007                Wayne State University Rumble Fellowship

2008-2012       Wayne State University Graduate Teaching Assistant Fellowship

2012                American Society for Nutrition Diet and Cancer second monetary prizes

2012                NIH Dietary Supplement Practicum Travel Award

2012                Wayne State University Graduate Summer Dissertation Fellowship

2015                FAMRI 2015 Poster Competition First Prize

2016                VICC Cancer Metabolism Retreat Poster Competition Third Prize

2016                FAMRI 2016 Poster Competition Third Prize