Xiang-An Li, PhD

REQUEST AN APPOINTMENT

About

Faculty Rank

  • Associate Professor

Research

Research Focus

Role of SR-BI in cancer:

Cancer cells exhibit altered metabolism including high demand for cholesterol for rapid cell proliferation. Scavenger receptor BI (SR-BI) is a HDL receptor. It mediates the uptake of cholesterol from HDL. Recent studies including ours indicate that SR-BI is highly expressed in breast cancer and the levels of SR-BI expression are negatively correlated with cancer survival. We hypothesize that SR-BI-mediated cholesterol uptake from HDL provides cholesterol for cancer cell growth, and blocking SR-BI-mediated cholesterol uptake from HDL inhibits cancer cell proliferation, which may provide a novel approach for cancer therapy. We currently use a combination of molecular, cellular and genetically manipulated animal models to test our hypothesis.

Programs

Molecular and Cellular Oncology

College & Department

Contact Information

BBSRB B255
741 S. Limestone
Lexington, KY 40536
United States

Phone
859-257-5113
Email
xli2@email.uky.edu

Publications

  1. Scavenger receptor BI and HDL regulate thymocyte apoptosis in sepsis.
    Guo L, Zheng Z, Ai J, Deborah AH, Mittelstadt PR, Thacker S, Daugherty A, Ashwell JD, Remaley A and Li XA*. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol 2014; 34: 966-975. PMC4010389
  2. Hepatic scavenger receptor BI protects against polymicrobial-induced sepsis through promoting LPS clearance in mice.
    Guo L, Zheng Z, Ai J, Huang B and Li XA*. J Biol Chem 2014; 289: 14666-14673. PMC4031522.
  3. Corticosteroid therapy benefits septic mice with adrenal insufficiency but harms septic mice without adrenal insufficiency.
    Ai J, Guo L, Zheng Z, Wang SX, Huang B and Li XA*. Critical Care Medicine 2015; 43: e490-e498.
  4. High scavenger receptor class B type I expression is related to tumor aggressiveness and poor prognosis in breast cancer.
    Yun B, Wu C, Wang X, Wang D, Liu H, Guo L, Li XA*, Han J* and Feng H*. Tumor Biol 2015; DOI 10.1007/s13277-015-4141-4.
  5. PI(4)P promotes phosphorylation and conformational change of Smoothened through interaction with its C-terminal tail.
    Jiang K, Liu Y, Fan J, Zhang J, Li XA, Evers M, Zhu H and Jia J. PloS Biol 2015 (in press).