Staff Fellow — Division of Bioinformatics and Biostatistics

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Liang Xu, Ph.D.
(870) 543-7121
NCTRResearch@fda.hhs.gov  

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About  |  Publications

Background

Dr. Liang Xu received a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering from Dalian University of Technology in China, where he previously worked as a lecturer. He conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Texas at San Antonio and the University of Limerick in Ireland. Dr. Xu worked as a special volunteer at the National Cancer Institute at Frederick and a lab researcher at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Xu joined FDA’s National Center for Toxicological Research (NCTR) in 2022, as a staff fellow in the Division of Bioinformatics and Biostatistics.

Research Interests

Dr. Xu’s research focuses on the application of computational chemistry methods in the structure-function relationship of disease-related proteins. He has applied computational modeling and simulations to characterize the conformational dynamics of intrinsically disordered proteins associated with many neurodegenerative diseases. Dr. Xu is currently working on SARS-Cov-2-related proteins with computational biophysical approaches.

Selected Publications

Structural Insights into the Human Mitochondrial Pyruvate Carrier Complexes.
Xu L., Phelix C.F., and Chen L.Y.
J Chem Inf Model. 2021, 61(11):5614-5625.

Identification of a New Allosteric Binding Site for Cocaine in Dopamine Transporter.
Xu L. and Chen L.Y.
J Chem Inf Model. 2020, 60(8):3958-3968.

Molecular Simulations Reveal Terminal Group Mediated Stabilization of Helical Conformers in Both Amyloid-β42 and α-Synuclein.
Bhattacharya S., Xu L., and Thompson D.
ACS Chem Neurosci. 2019, 10(6):2830-2842.

Re-Designing the α-Synuclein Tetramer.
Xu L., Bhattacharya S., and Thompson D.
Chem Commun (Camb). 2018, 54(58):8080-8083.

Familial Mutations May Switch Conformational Preferences in α-Synuclein Fibrils.
Xu L., Ma B., Nussinov R., and Thompson D.
ACS Chem Neurosci. 2017, 8(4):837-849.

Allosteric Stabilization of the Amyloid-β Peptide Hairpin by the Fluctuating N-Terminal.
Xu L., Nussinov R., and Ma B.
Chem Commun (Camb). 2016, 52(8):1733-6.

Coupling of the Non-Amyloid-Component (NAC) Domain and the KTK(E/Q)GV Repeats Stabilize the α-Synuclein Fibrils.
Xu L., Nussinov R., and Ma B.
Eur J Med Chem. 2016, 121:841-850.