Xiaolei Tang

Description

Dr. Tang holds an M.D. degree from Wannan Medical College, Wuhu, China, a Master's in Immunology from Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, and a Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of Arizona.

Following medical school, Dr. Tang practiced medicine for two years as a radiologist at Huangshan City People's Hospital, Huangshan, Anhui Province, China. He then received a Master's degree in immunology in the Department of Immunology at Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, where he continued as a lecturer for four years following graduation. Afterward, Dr. Tang obtained his Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology at the University of Arizona. He was then trained as a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Vipin Kumar's research laboratory at Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies in San Diego, California, where he remained for four years. Subsequently, he accepted a Research Fellow position in the laboratory of Dr. Harvey Cantor at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts. After 3.5 years at Harvard, Dr. Tang was a faculty member at the University of Texas, El Paso, Texas, for three years. Later, he decided to move to the Division of Regenerative Medicine, Department of Medicine, School of Medicine at Loma Linda University in California, first as an Assistant Research Professor and then as an Associate Research Professor for a total of 6 years. Dr. Tang joined the Long Island University College of Veterinary Medicine in September 2019.

Dr. Tang’s research interests focus on regulatory T cells and adult stem cells. His research has been funded by NIH, Department of Defense, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, the American Association of Immunologists, and industry. Dr. Tang is an editor of multiple scientific journals and a Morris Animal Health Advisory Council member. He often serves as an ad hoc member of grant review panels for the National Institute of Health (NIH), Department of Defense Congressional Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP), and Morris Animal Foundation. He is also an ad hoc grant application peer reviewer for UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

Research

• Regulatory T Cells (Treg)

One of Dr. Tang’s primary research interests is CD8+ Treg. He was the first to clone CD8alphaalpha+ Treg, which target pathogenic, autoreactive immune cells and are restricted by a nonclassical major histocompatibility complex (MHC) Ib molecule, Qa-1, whose human homologue is HLA-E. His laboratory also discovered that Qa-1-restricted CD8+ Treg can target tissue-specific antigens (e.g., myelin in the CNS) to suppress autoimmune diseases. In addition, his laboratory further developed technologies to uncover tissue-specific, regulatory Qa-1/HLA-E epitopes. The above discoveries and new technologies open the possibility that defining HLA-E epitopes in tissue-specific proteins can be harnessed to mobilize HLA-E-restricted, tissue-specific CD8+ Treg for treating autoimmune diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, type 1 diabetes, and others. This novel therapeutic concept, if successful, has several advantages. First, it does not depend on insight into the autoantigens recognized by pathogenic, autoreactive immune cells, which have been targeted for treating autoimmune diseases for many years but remain incompletely understood. Second, disease suppression does not compromise immune defense mechanisms, hence circumventing potential side effects associated with current therapies, such as infections and malignancies. Dr. Tang is currently collaborating with industry to commercialize this new therapeutic.

In addition to CD8+ Treg, Dr. Tang’s laboratory discovered that dendritic cells, engineered to de novo synthesize high concentrations of active vitamin D, can effectively stimulate CD4+ Treg and suppress immune-mediated diseases. A notable advantage of this technology is that it does not significantly raise blood calcium levels (hypercalcemia), which has been the roadblock in elevating vitamin D as a therapeutic agent for many diseases. His laboratory further investigates the potential to harness this finding to develop novel technologies to mobilize tissue- and antigen-specific CD4+ Treg for treating various immune-mediated diseases.

• Adult Stem Cells

Dr. Tang’s laboratory has discovered that de novo synthesis of locally high concentrations of active vitamin D can promote the differentiation of Lgr5+ intestinal stem cells without compromising their stemness. His laboratory also investigates how the de novo synthesized locally high concentrations of active vitamin D may affect reserved intestinal stem cells. Moreover, his laboratory leverages this discovery to develop novel regenerative therapies for human and animal diseases.

Distinctions & Awards

• 2023: American Association of Immunologists (AAI) Trainee Abstract Award (Nisar Ali Shaikh). https://www.aai.org/Awards/Travel/AAI-Trainee-Abstract-Award/Past-Recipients#gsc.tab=0. To find the award, please follow the above link and search “Shaikh Nisar Ali” in Year 2023.
• 2022: Zoetis Award for Veterinary Research Excellence (AVMA news). https://www.avma.org/news/teaching-research-awards-conferred-zoetis.
• 2022: Our article “Calcium released by osteoclastic resorption stimulates autocrine/paracrine activities in local osteogenic cells to promote coupled bone formation.” Am J Physiol Cell Physiol. 2022 Apr 6. doi: 10.1152/ajpcell.00413.2021 was chosen by APSselect (American Physiology Society).
• 2020: American Association of Immunologists (AAI) Laboratory Travel Grant Award to Immunology 2020. https://www.aai.org/Awards/Travel/AAI-Laboratory-Travel-Grant/Past-Recipients. To find the award, please follow the link above and search “Long Island University” or “Xiaolei Tang” in Year 2020.
• 2020: American Association of Immunologists (AAI) Trainee (Chenfan Liu) Abstract Award. https://www.aai.org/Awards/Travel/AAI-Trainee-Abstract-Award/Past-Recipients#gsc.tab=0. To find the award, please follow the above link and search “Chenfan Liu” in Year 2020.
• 2016: American Association of Immunologists (AAI) Travel Grant for IUIS (International Union of Immunological Societies).

Patents

• Xiaolei Tang, David J. Baylink, K.-H. William Lau, Michael Walter. A Method for Utilizing Engineered Dendritic Cells to Induce Gut-homing Regulatory T Cells and Treat Gut Inflammation. PCT/US2016/017610. LLUH case#14-021. Patent issued on March 3rd, 2020. https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=WO2016130845&redirectedID=true
• Xiaolei Tang and David J. Baylink. Myelin Oligodendrocyte Glycoprotein-specific Peptide for the Treatment or Prevention of Multiple Sclerosis. PCT/US2017/040484. LLUH case#14-020. https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=WO2018006067
• David J Baylink, Xiaolei Tang, Amir Abdi Pour, Samiksha Wasnik. Methods of treatment of a cytokine storm. LLUH case#20-025. Application# 17/928,972. https://patentcenter.uspto.gov/applications/17928972?application=

Selected Publications

• Kim HJ, Verbinnen B, Tang X, Lu L, Cantor H. Inhibition of follicular T-helper cells by CD8(+) regulatory T cells is essential for self tolerance. Nature. 2010 Sep 16;467(7313):328-32. doi: 10.1038/nature09370. PubMed PMID: 20844537; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3395240
• Zhao L, Peng B, Hernandez-Viezcas JA, Rico C, Sun Y, Peralta-Videa JR, Tang X, Niu G, Jin L, Varela-Ramirez A, Zhang JY, Gardea-Torresdey JL. Stress response and tolerance of Zea mays to CeO2 nanoparticles: cross talk among H2O2, heat shock protein, and lipid peroxidation. ACS Nano. 2012 Nov 27;6(11):9615-22. doi: 10.1021/nn302975u. Epub 2012 October 16th. PubMed PMID: 23050848; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4326050.
• Tang X, Maricic I, Purohit N, Bakamjian B, Reed-Loisel LM, Beeston T, Jensen P, Kumar V. Regulation of immunity by a novel population of Qa-1-restricted CD8alphaalpha+TCRalphabeta+ T cells. J Immunol. 2006 December 1st;177(11):7645-55. doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.177.11.7645. PubMed PMID: 17114434.
• Leavenworth JW, Tang X, Kim HJ, Wang X, Cantor H. Amelioration of arthritis through mobilization of peptide-specific CD8+ regulatory T cells. J Clin Invest. 2013 Mar;123(3):1382-9. doi: 10.1172/JCI66938. Epub 2013 February 8th. PubMed PMID: 23376792; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3582146.
• Tang XL, Smith TR, Kumar V. Specific control of immunity by regulatory CD8 T cells. Cell Mol Immunol. 2005 Feb;2(1):11-9. Review. PubMed PMID: 16212906.
• Yan B, Yang J, Xie Y, Tang X. Relationship between blood eosinophil levels and COVID-19 mortality. World Allergy Organ J. 2021 Mar;14(3):100521. doi: 10.1016/j.waojou.2021.100521. Epub 2021 Feb 11. PMID: 33589865; PMCID: PMC7877210. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7877210/pdf/main.pdf. https://acaudio.com/publication/1269.
• Wasnik S, Rundle CH, Baylink DJ, Yazdi MS, Carreon EE, Xu Y, Qin X, Lau KW, Tang X. 1,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D suppresses M1 macrophages and promotes M2 differentiation at bone injury sites. JCI Insight. 2018 September 6th;3(17). doi: 10.1172/jci.insight.98773. eCollection 2018 Sep 6. PubMed PMID: 30185660; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6171806.
• Beeston T, Smith TR, Maricic I, Tang X, Kumar V. Involvement of IFN-γ and perforin, but not Fas/FasL interactions in regulatory T cell-mediated suppression of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. J Neuroimmunol. 2010 December 15th;229(1-2):91-7. doi: 10.1016/j.jneuroim.2010.07.007. Epub 2010 August 12th. PubMed PMID: 20708278; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2991517.
• Tang X, Maricic I, Kumar V. Anti-TCR antibody treatment activates a novel population of nonintestinal CD8 alpha alpha+ TCR alpha beta+ regulatory T cells and prevents experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. J Immunol. 2007 May 15th;178(10):6043-50. doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.178.10.6043. PubMed PMID: 17475828.
• Satoorian T, Li B, Tang X, Xiao J, Xing W, Shi W, Lau KH, Baylink DJ, Qin X. MicroRNA223 promotes pathogenic T-cell development and autoimmune inflammation in central nervous system in mice. Immunology. 2016 Aug;148(4):326-38. doi: 10.1111/imm.12611. Epub 2016 June 29th. PubMed PMID: 27083389; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4948040.
• Cao H, Xu Y, de Necochea-Campion R, Baylink DJ, Payne KJ, Tang X, Ratanatharathorn C, Ji Y, Mirshahidi S, Chen CS. Application of vitamin D and vitamin D analogs in acute myelogenous leukemia. Exp Hematol. 2017 Jun;50:1-12. doi: 10.1016/j.exphem.2017.01.007. Epub 2017 February 4th. Review. PubMed PMID: 28174131.
• Xu W, Watts DM, Costanzo MC, Tang X, Venegas LA, Jiao F, Sette A, Sidney J, Sewell AK, Wooldridge L, Makino S, Morrill JC, Peters CJ, Kan-Mitchell J. The nucleocapsid protein of Rift Valley fever virus is a potent human CD8+ T cell antigen and elicits memory responses. PLoS One. 2013;8(3):e59210. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0059210. Epub 2013 March 18th. PubMed PMID: 23527138; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3601065.
• Li B, Baylink DJ, Walter MH, Lau KH, Meng X, Wang J, Cherkas A, Tang X, Qin X. Targeted 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 1α-hydroxylase adoptive gene therapy ameliorates dss-induced colitis without causing hypercalcemia in mice. Mol Ther. 2015 Feb;23(2):339-51. doi: 10.1038/mt.2014.201. Epub 2014 October 20th. PubMed PMID: 25327179; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4445611. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4445611/pdf/mt2014201a.pdf.
• Wu W, Liu K, Tang X. [Preliminary study on the antitumor immuno-protective mechanism of beta-elemene]. Zhonghua Zhong Liu Za Zhi. 1999 Nov;21(6):405-8. PubMed PMID: 11776611.
• Smith TR, Tang X, Maricic I, Garcia Z, Fanchiang S, Kumar V. Dendritic cells use endocytic pathway for cross-priming class Ib MHC-restricted CD8alphaalpha+TCRalphabeta+ T cells with regulatory properties. J Immunol. 2009 June 1st;182(11):6959-68. doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.0900316. PubMed PMID: 19454693.