Qiaobing Xu, Ph.D.

Tufts University School of Engineering researchers have come up with a method of targeting cancer in mice using an mRNA-based vaccine that is delivered directly into the lymphatic system, eliminating tumors and preventing their recurrence.

While scientists worldwide have been trying to develop vaccines against different types of cancer, it has remained an elusive goal. However, Tufts researchers contend that they have found a vaccine that works — at least in mice with metastatic melanoma… Continue reading.

Scientists at Tufts University and the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT have developed a lipid nanoparticle (LNP) technology that can package and deliver CRISPR gene editing machinery specifically to the liver. Their studies in mice demonstrated use of the LNP technology to shuttle CRISPR Cas9 mRNA and guide RNA directly to the liver, to knock down a gene called Angptl3. The strategy resulted in up to 57% reductions in blood cholesterol levels with the effects lasting for several months following a single injection.

“We envision that with this LNP platform in hand, we could now make CRISPR a practical and safe approach to treat a broad spectrum of liver diseases or disorders,” said Zachary Glass, a graduate student in the lab of Qiaobing Xu, PhD, associate professor of biomedical engineering at Tufts’ School of Engineering and corresponding author of the study. Min Qiu, PhD, postdoctoral researcher in Xu’s lab and Glass are co-first authors of the study, in which they concluded: “The system we established here offers a clinically viable approach for liver-specific delivery of CRISPR-Cas9–based genome editing tools.” The paper, titled, “Lipid nanoparticle-mediated codelivery of Cas9 mRNA and single-guide RNA achieves liver-specific in vivo genome editing of Angptl3,” was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)… Continue reading.

Biomedical engineers at Tufts University School of Engineering have developed tiny lipid-based nanoparticles that incorporate neurotransmitters, which can help to carry drugs, large molecules, and even gene editing proteins across the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and into the brain in mice. The researchers believe the new neurotransmitter-derived lipidoids—or NT-lipidoids—could overcome many of the current limitations encountered in delivering intravenously administered therapeutics into the central nervous system (CNS), and open up the potential to use a range of therapeutics that would otherwise not have access to the brain.

“The power of our method is that it is extremely versatile and relatively non-disruptive,” said Qiaobing Xu, PhD, associate professor of biomedical engineering at Tufts University and corresponding author of the team’s published paper in Science Advances. “We can deliver a wide range of molecules by packaging them into the lipid-based nanoparticles without chemically modifying the drugs themselves. We can also achieve delivery across the blood-brain barrier without disrupting the integrity of the barrier.” Xu and colleagues described the technology in a paper titled, “Neurotransmitter-derived lipidoids (NT-lipidoids) for enhanced brain delivery through intravenous injection… Continue reading.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) has announced the induction of Qiaobing Xu, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Biomedical engineering, Tufts University, to its College of Fellows.

Election to the AIMBE College of Fellows is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to a medical and biological engineer. The College of Fellows is comprised of the top two percent of medical and biological engineers. College membership honors those who have made outstanding contributions to “engineering and medicine research, practice, or education” and to “the pioneering of new and developing fields of technology, making major advancements in traditional fields of medical and biological engineering, or developing/implementing innovative approaches to bioengineering education.”

Dr. Xu was nominated, reviewed, and elected by peers and members of the College of Fellows for “outstanding contributions to develop synthetic lipid nanoparticles for intracellular protein delivery for therapeutics including cancer therapy and gene editing.“