Ping Xu

Sanger Hall, Room 5-036   Dept. of Microbiology and Immunology   Virginia Commonwealth University   Richmond VA 23284-0678	Tel: 804-828-3897 Fax: 804-828-9946 E-mail: PingXu@HSC.VCU.Edu
Web: www.people.vcu.edu/~pingxu/
Research: Development of vaccines based on genomic sequences

BBSI project: How can sequenced genomes from pathogenic microbes be used to develop vaccines?
The recent availability of sequenced genomes from pathogenic microbes offers an entirely new way to develop vaccines. Bioinformatic tools can be used to analyze the genomes of pathogens for the location and structures of encoded proteins. Many surface proteins identified in this way are candidates for vaccines. All those candidate protein genes can be PCR amplified and expressed in E coli. The purified proteins will be tested for raising immune responses. This from silico to "wet" laboratory approach, termed reverse vaccinology, facilitates the development of vaccines and reduces the need to cultivate pathogens, as required by conventional methods of vaccine discovery.

Other research interests
Unusual mechanisms of RNA maturation and processing in Trypanosome cruzi
We are studying the transcription and splicing mechanisms in the simple eukaryote T. cruzi using yeast one-, two- and three-hybrid systems. These systems are used to elucidate protein interactions.

Microbial genome sequence projects
I am interested in bioinformatics and functional genomics. Our research will involve in microarray, subtractive cDNA and computation.

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