Xin Li
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, TX·Microbiology & Immunology·Early-career
The human gut contains fungi as well as bacteria. Gut bacteria have been studied heavily, but the fungal community, called the mycobiota, remains largely unexplored.
- Fields
Microbiology & Immunology
Medicine & Clinical Research
- Topics
gut fungi
mycobiota
mycobiome
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Jul 2030
What they work on
- Determine how fungal stimulatory RNA (fsRNA), a newly identified fungal RNA, triggers innate immune responses in the intestine, using fungal genetic engineering and long-read RNA sequencing.
- Test how fsRNA-triggered immunity contributes to gut inflammation, using in vivo disease models and advanced imaging.
- Investigate why fsRNA, unlike other eukaryotic RNAs that do not stimulate immunity, activates the host immune system, as a possible RNA-based mode of fungus-host communication.
More about the research
Growing evidence links fungal imbalance (fungal dysbiosis) to inflammatory diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Yet little is known about how gut fungi communicate with the immune system in health and disease.
Why it matters
People with inflammatory bowel disease could eventually benefit if fungal RNA proves to be a driver of gut inflammation. Learning how fsRNA activates intestinal immunity could reveal new therapeutic targets for IBD. It could also suggest RNA-based approaches for treating other inflammatory diseases.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Joseph Lee
University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus, CO·Microbiology & Immunology·Early-career
Test whether the microbial purine hypoxanthine shapes the energy metabolism of gut lining cells by turning on TIGAR, a protein that reroutes sugar metabolism, and AMPK, a master energy sensor.
Colin Combs
University of North Dakota, ND·Neuroscience
Define oral health across age and disease stage in AppNL-G-F Alzheimer's model mice, including the oral microbiome, enamel thinning and cavities.
Jenessa Winston
Ohio State University, OH·Microbiology & Immunology·Early-career
Test whether daily supplementation with the secondary bile acid ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) changes susceptibility to and severity of Clostridioides difficile infection in IL10-knockout colitis mice.
The school
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center: 40 labs on PI Pages, $869M a year on research, 86 research doctorates a year.
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