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He Nucleus Xu

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Research Assistant Professor of Radiology
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Associate Director, Britton Chance Laboratory of Redox Imaging, Department of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania
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Lab Director, Tchou Lab, Center for Cellular Immunotherapies, University of Pennsylvania
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Department: Radiology
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46 Contact information
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168A John Morgan Bldg, 3620 Hamilton Walk
Philadelphia, PA 19104
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13 Education:
21 7 BS 14 (Physics) c
3c Ningxia University, Yinchuan, China, 1983.
21 7 MS 13 (Optics) c
6d Anhui Optics and Fine Mechanics Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, China, 1988.
21 7 MS 16 (Chemistry) c
2a Drexel University, 1993.
21 8 PhD 16 (Chemistry) c
2a Drexel University, 1999.
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1f Post-Graduate Training
24 66 Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Pennsylvania, Department of Radiology, 2010-2014.
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Description of Research Expertise

75 1. Optical imaging of endogenous and/or exogenous fluorescence for the following research interests:
8f 1) Identification of optical redox imaging biomarkers for cancer diagnosis/prognosis (cell culture, tissue, frozen clinical biopsies);
b0 2) Identification of optical redox imaging biomarkers for aging and age-associated neurodegenerative diseases (cell culture, tissue, clinical biopsies, FFPE sections);
5e 3) Imaging biomarkers for prematurity-associated bronchopulmonary dysplasia endotypes;
88 4) Development of optical metabolic imaging methods for detecting therapeutic effects for breast cancer (cell culture & tissue);
72 5) Development of label-free optical imaging biomarkers from FFPE sections for neurodegenerative diseases;
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49 2. Development of immunotherapy and biomarkers for breast cancer:
45 1) Augmenting combination therapy and CAR T therapy efficacy;
7a 2) Identification of the metabolic signatures of PBMC biomarkers for predicting therapeutic response and prognosis;
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Selected Publications

367 Irene Georgakoudi, Melissa C. Skala, Kyle P. Quinn, Chiara Stringari, Janet E. Sorrells, Ahmed A. Heikal, Lin Z. Li, He N. Xu, Sixian You, Alex J. Walsh, Rupsa Datta, Kayvan Samimi, Amani A. Gillette, Kevin W. Eliceiri, Mihaela Balu, Stephen A. Boppart, Michelle A. Digman, Kylie R. Dunning, Conor L. Evans, Alba Alfonso Garcia, Jessica P. Houston, Wonsang Hwang, Matthew M. Lindley, Xingde Li, Zhiyi Liu, Laura Marcu, Sangeeta Murugkar, Michael G. Nichols, Raluca Niesner, Sapun H. Parekh, Narasimhan Rajaram, Suman Ranjit, Keyue Shen, Lingyan Shi, Belén Torrado, Alexander Vallmitjana, Michael Wang-Evers, Roger Zemp: Consensus guidelines for cellular label-free optical metabolic imaging: ensuring accuracy and reproducibility in metabolic profiling. J. Biomed. Opt. SPIE, 30(S2): S23901, 2025.

155 Kollmar, J.; Xu, J.; Gonzalves, D.; Baur, J.A.; Li, L.Z.; Tchou, J.; Xu, H.N.*: Differential Mitochondrial Redox Responses to the Inhibition of NAD+ Salvage Pathway of Triple Negative Breast Cancer Cells. Cancers 17(1): 7, Dec 2024 Notes: DOI: 10.3390/cancers17010007.

1a3 Xu HN*^, Gonzalves D, Hoffman JH, Baur JA, Li LZ, Jensen EA^: Use of Optical Redox Imaging to Quantify Alveolar Macrophage Redox State in Infants: Proof of Concept Experiments in a Murine Model and Human Tracheal Aspirates Samples. Antioxidants 13(5): 546, Apr 2024 Notes: DOI: 10.3390/antiox13050546. *Corresponding author; ^equal contribution.

190 Xu, H.N.*; Gourmaud, S.; Podsednik, A.; Li, X.; Zhao, H.; Jensen, F.E.; Talos, D.M.*; Li, L.Z.* : Optical redox imaging of ex vivo hippocampal tissue reveals age-dependent alterations in the 5xFAD mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease. Metabolites 12(9): 786, Aug 2022 Notes: *Corresponding author | doi: 10.3390/metabo12090786.

14d Xu, H. N., Lin, Z., Gandhi, C. K., Amatya, S., Wang, Y., Li, L. Z. and Floros, J.: Sex and SP-A2 dependent NAD(H) Redox Alterations in Mouse Alveolar Macrophages in Response to Ozone Exposure: Potential Implications for COVID-19. Antioxidants 9(10): 915, 2020.

94 He N. Xu*, Huaqing Zhao, Karthikeyani Chellappa, James G. Davis, Shoko Nioka, Joseph A. Baur, Lin Z. Li* c2 : Optical redox imaging of fixed unstained muscle slides reveals useful biological information. Mol Imaging Biol 21(3): 417-425, 2019 Notes: *corresponding author.

133 Allison Podsednik, Annemarie Jacob, Lin Z. Li, He N. Xu*: Relationship between optical redox status and reactive oxygen species in cancer cells. React Oxyg Species. Cell Med Press, 9(26): 95-108, Mar 2020 Notes: *corresponding author.

145 Xu, He N.*, Tchou, Julia., Feng, Min, Zhao, Huaqing, Li, Lin Z*. : Optical redox imaging indices discriminate human breast cancer from normal tissues. J Biomed Opt 21(11): 114003, Nov 2016 Notes: *corresponding author | doi: 10.1117/1.JBO.21.11.114003.

10f Xu, He N., Nioka, Shoko, Glickson, Jerry D., Chance, Britton, Li, Lin Z.: Quantitative mitochondrial redox imaging of breast cancer metastatic potential. J Biomed Opt. SPIE, 15(3): 036010, 2010.

161 Li, L. Z., Zhou, R., Xu, H. N., Moon, L., Zhong, T., Kim, E. J., Qiao, H., Reddy, R., Leeper, D., Chance, B., Glickson, J. D.: Quantitative magnetic resonance and optical imaging biomarkers of melanoma metastatic potential. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 106(16): 6608-13, 2009.

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