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Li Xing

Li Xing

Project Scientist, Irvine Materials Research Institute

Biography

Li Xing, Ph.D., is a Project Scientist at the Irvine Materials Research Institute at the University of California, Irvine. Xing has worked in the field of cryo-electron microscopy for over 20 years, focusing on dynamic structural changes of viruses and protein complexes upon ligand-binding, as well as applications of cryo-EM to soft materials including metal-organic frameworks and battery materials. At UC Irvine, Xing provides TEM training and service to graduate students and oversees cryo-electron microscopic instrument implementation.

Prior to joining UC Irvine in 2017, Xing served as a Project Scientist at the University of California, Davis from 2005 to 2015, where research centered on structural analysis of hepatitis E virus-like particles and their applications in drug and gene delivery. This work resulted in two filed patents and grant awards from UC Discovery and NIH. From 2002 to 2005, Xing was a Research Scientist at Karolinska Institute, where research focused on receptor-mediated viral uncoating, including comparative studies of receptor-binding modes in picornaviruses and the first publication on genomic RNA exit during rhinovirus uncoating.

Xing received a Ph.D. in Structure Virology from Karolinska Institute in 2002. Research contributions span structural virology, development of TEM characterization techniques for cells and tissues, and applications of liquid-cell TEM for biosensor characterization. Xing has extensive experience in facility management of both FEI and JEOL microscopes.

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Education

  • Ph.D. in Structure Virology, Karolinska Institutes, 2002
  • M.Sc. in Cellular Biology, Peking University, 1991
  • B.S. in Plant Biochemistry, Peking University, 1988
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Areas of Expertise

  • Cryo-Electron Microscopy
  • Viral Capsid Assembly Mechanisms
  • Receptor-Mediated Virus Uncoating
  • Hepatitis E Particle Characterization
  • Metal-Organic Framework Imaging
  • Graphene Biosensor Neuropeptide Detection
  • Oligodendrocyte-Derived Extracellular Vesicles

Recent Publications

  • Mitsuhashi M, Van Epps D, Sun H, Xing L, Kawata K, Jimenez V, Williams VB, Sasannejad C, James ML, Edwardson MA, Takuya Murata T, “WHITE MATTER MATTERS: New Approach to the Brain's Hidden Half Using Circulating Oligodendrocyte-Derived Extracellular Vesicles” (opens in new tab), Cells, vol. 14, 2025.
  • Ma CI, Tirtorahardjo JA, Schweizer SS, Zhang J, Fang Z, Xing L, Xu M, Herman DA, Kleinman MT, McCullough BS, Barrios AM, Andrade RM, “Gold(I) ion and the phosphine ligand are necessary for the anti-Toxoplasma gondii activity of auranofin” (opens in new tab), Microbiology Spectrum, vol. 12, no. 2, 2024.
  • Dhaoui R, Cazarez S, Xing L, Baghdadi E, Mulvey J, Idris N, Hurst P, M. Vena P, Di Palma G, Patterson J, “3D Visualization of Proteins within Metal–Organic Frameworks via Ferritin‐Enabled Electron Microscopy” (opens in new tab), Advanced Functional Materials, vol. 34, pp. 2312972, 2024.
  • Seo G, Yu C, Han H, Xing L, Kattan RE, An J, Kizhedathu A, Yang B, Luo A, Buckle AL, Tifrea D, Edwards R, Huang L, Ju HQ, Wang W, “The Hippo pathway noncanonically drives autophagy and cell survival in response to energy stress” (opens in new tab), Molecular Cell, vol. 83, pp. 3155-3170, 2023.
  • Chen S, Xing L, Zhang D, Monferrer A, Hermann T, “Nano-sandwich composite by kinetic trapping assembly from protein and nucleic acid” (opens in new tab), Nucleic Acids Research, vol. 49, no. 17, pp. 10098-10105, 2021.
  • Chen P, Zeng J, Liu Z, Thaker H, Wang S, Tian S, Zhang J, Tao L, Gutierrez CB, Xing L, Gerhard R, Huang L, Dong M, Jin R, “Structural basis for CSPG4 as a receptor for TcdB and a therapeutic target in Clostridioides difficile infection” (opens in new tab), Nature Communications, vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 3748, 2021.
  • Zhang S, Guaglianone G, Morris MA, Yoo S, Howitz WJ, Xing L, Zheng JG, Jusuf H, Huizar G, Lin J, Kreutzer AG, Nowick JS, “Expression of N-Terminal Cysteine Aβ42 and Conjugation to Generate Fluorescent and Biotinylated Aβ42” (opens in new tab), Biochemistry, vol. 60, no. 15, pp. 1191-1200, 2021.
  • Hankaniemi MM, Baikoghli MA, Stone VM, Xing L, Väätäinen O, Soppela S, Sioofy-Khojine A, Saarinen NVV, Ou T, Anson B, Hyöty H, Marjomäki V, Flodström-Tullberg M, Cheng RH, Hytönen VP, Laitinen OH, “Structural Insight into CVB3-VLP Non-Adjuvanted Vaccine” (opens in new tab), Microorganisms, vol. 8, no. 9, pp. 1287, 2020.
  • Kim S, Xing L, Islam AE, Hsiao MS, Ngo Y, Pavlyuk OM, Martineau RL, Hampton CM, Crasto C, Slocik J, Kadakia MP, Hagen JA, Kelley-Loughnane N, Naik RR, Drummy LF, “In Operando observation of neuropeptide capture and release on graphene field-effect transistor biosensors with picomolar sensitivity”, ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, vol. 11, no. 15, pp. 13927-13934, 2019.
  • Li Xing, H Yu, J-G Zheng, “Imaging Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) using cryo-TEM and Direct Electron-Detection camera”, Microscopy and Microanalysis, vol. 25, no. S2, pp. 1724-1725, 2019.
  • Li Xing, J-G Zheng, T Aoki, R Andrade, “Tracing the uptake of gold in Toxoplasma gondii using STEM-EDS”, Microscopy and Microanalysis, vol. 24, no. S1, pp. 1410-1411, 2018.
  • C Hampton, Li Xing, M-S Hsiao, A Islam, N Bedford, R Martineau, Y Ngo, S Kim, L Drummy, “Characterization of g-FET biosensors in Action with liquid-cell TEM”, Microscopy and Microanalysis, vol. 24, no. S1, pp. 270-271, 2018.
  • Stark MC, Baikoghli MA, Lahtinen T, Malola S, Xing L, Nguyen M, Nguyen M, Sikaroudi A, Marjomäki V, Häkkinen H, Cheng RH, “Structural characterization of site-modified nanocapsid with monodispersed gold clusters”, Scientific reports, vol. 7, pp. 17048, 2017.
  • Li Xing, M-S Hsiao, A Islam, N Bedford, R Martineau, Y Ngo, S Kim, L Drummy, “Visualization of peptide-peptide interactions in FET biosensors with liquid-cell TEM”, Microscopy and Microanalysis, vol. 23, no. S1, pp. 890-891, 2017.
  • Chen CC, Xing L, Stark M, Ou T, Holla P, Xiao K, Kamita SG, Hammock BD, Lam K, Cheng RH, “Chemically activatable viral capsid functionalized for cancer targeting”, Nanomedicine (London, England), vol. 11, pp. 377-90, 2016.
  • Onikubo T, Nicklay JJ, Xing L, Warren C, Anson B, Wang WL, Burgos ES, Ruff SE, Shabanowitz J, Cheng RH, Hunt DF, Shechter D, “Developmentally Regulated Post-translational Modification of Nucleoplasmin Controls Histone Sequestration and Deposition”, Cell reports, vol. 10, pp. 1735-1748, 2015.
  • Moscoso CG, Xing L, Hui J, Hu J, Kalkhoran MB, Yenigun OM, Sun Y, Paavolainen L, Martin L, Vahlne A, Zambonelli C, Barnett SW, Srivastava IK, Cheng RH, “Trimeric HIV Env provides epitope occlusion mediated by hypervariable loops”, Scientific reports, vol. 4, pp. 7025, 2014.
  • Changou CA, Chen YR, Xing L, Yen Y, Chuang FY, Cheng RH, Bold RJ, Ann DK, Kung HJ, “Arginine starvation-associated atypical cellular death involves mitochondrial dysfunction, nuclear DNA leakage, and chromatin autophagy”, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 111, no. 39, pp. 14147-52, 2014.
  • Jariyapong P, Xing L, van Houten NE, Li TC, Weerachatyanukul W, Hsieh B, Moscoso CG, Chen CC, Niikura M, Cheng RH, “Chimeric hepatitis E virus-like particle as a carrier for oral-delivery”, Vaccine, vol. 31, no. 2, pp. 417-24, 2013.
  • Ho MC, Wilczek C, Bonanno JB, Xing L, Seznec J, Matsui T, Carter LG, Onikubo T, Kumar PR, Chan MK, Brenowitz M, Cheng RH, Reimer U, Almo SC, Shechter D, “Structure of the arginine methyltransferase PRMT5-MEP50 reveals a mechanism for substrate specificity”, PloS one, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. e57008, 2013.
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Most Cited Publications

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Contact Information

Email: lxing3@uci.edu

Phone: (949) 824-3712

Address: 1150 Engineering Hall

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This profile was created with the help of AI.

Last updated on 4/28/2026.