Bai Xiaowen, MD, PhD

My research interests are centered on the application of stem cells on disease modeling and tissue regeneration. The current major focus of the laboratory is to use utilize gain- and loss-of-function approaches to examine the novel molecular mechanisms underlying the roles of microRNAs and mitochondrial dynamics in developmental neurotoxicity in mice, and translate the findings to humans using stem cell-derived neurons and three-dimensional mini brain.

Education

Postdoctoral, University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 2007
PhD, Stem Cell Center, Beijing University, Beijing, China, 2004
MD, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi, China, 1993

Stem cell-mediated tissue regeneration, human stem cell-based disease modeling, non-coding RNA and mitochondrial mechanisms in neurodegeneration

Research Area 1: Anesthetic-induced developmental neurotoxicity
Growing evidence demonstrates that prolonged anesthesia with general anesthetics induces long-term memory and learning disabilities in animal models, seriously questioning the safety of obstetric and pediatric anesthesia. In addition, the underlying mechanisms of anesthetic neurotoxicity are complex and not well understood. We utilize gain- and loss-of-function approaches to examine the novel molecular mechanisms underlying the roles of microRNAs, long noncoding RNAs, and mitochondrial dynamics in anesthetic\neurotoxicity in mice, and translate the findings to humans using stem cell-derived neurons and three dimensional mini brains.

Human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived mini brain (left) and the neurons in mini brain (right)

Research Area 2: Stem cell-mediated myocardial regeneration
Myocardial infarction is one of the major causes of death throughout the world. Currently, there is no very effective approach for treatment. Stem cells hold a promise in repairing injured cardiac tissue. Our lab is involved in studying the effect of the transplantation of adipose tissue-derived stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes on myocardial regeneration following ischemia injury. A molecular imaging method has been developed to investigate the molecular mechanisms controlling homing, engraftment, and survival of injected cells in vivo.

Research Area 3: The mechanisms of impaired cardioprotection under diabetic conditions
Hyperglycemia has been shown to be particularly detrimental to the cardioprotective effects provided by anesthetic preconditioning, with the underlying mechanisms remaining largely unknown. We have developed and validated a clinically relevant model of cardiac preconditioning using human cardiomyocytes, derived from both normal induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and diabetes mellitus iPSCs. This in vitro model of human disease will enable developmental and comparative studies of normal and diabetic cardiomyocytes to address genetic and environmental mechanisms responsible for attenuation of preconditioning efficacy in diabetics.

Functional contracting human cardiomyocytes generated from induced pluripotent stem cells

Mitochondrial dynamics (movement, fusion and fission) in human neurons generated from embryonic stem cells. Green signals represent  mitochondria. Red and yellow colors highlight mitochondria in process of fusion.