People

Kai Xu

PhD

Assistant Professor

Contact

xu.4692@osu.edu (614) 247-0487 Veterinary Medicine Academic Building (VMAB)
1900 Coffey Road
The College of Veterinary Medicine
Columbus, OH 43210
Map Link

Department

Veterinary Biosciences

OSU Affiliations:

  • Veterinary Biosciences (Assistant Professor)
  • Microbial Infection and Immunity (Adjunct Appointment)
  • Center for Retrovirus Research (Member)

 

Professional Training and Experience

  • Associate Professor, Director of the Structural Biology Core, Institute of Molecular Medicine, UTHealth Houston
  • Postdoctoral Training, Vaccine Research Center, National Institutes of Health
  • Postdoctoral Training, Structural Biology Program, Sloan Kettering Institute
  • PhD, Neuroscience Program, Weill Medical College

Research Interests

  • Structure-based vaccine design and therapeutic discovery against cancers and viral diseases.
  • Mechanism of henipavirus entry and protective antibody recognition

Research Summary

Our lab is dedicated to structure-based vaccine and antibody therapy discovery for both viral diseases and cancer. We utilize advanced structural biology techniques, including cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) and X-ray crystallography to investigate the molecular mechanisms of viral entry, immune recognition, and key signaling pathways driving tumor progression. These insights inform the rational design of novel therapeutics, including monoclonal antibodies and engineered vaccine candidates.

Beyond fundamental structural studies, we collaborate closely with immunologists, virologists, oncologists, and computational biologists to translate structural discoveries into real-world biomedical applications. A major focus of our research is nanobody drug discovery, where we integrate structural insights and rational protein engineering to develop highly specific and potent therapeutics for antiviral and anticancer applications.

Through interdisciplinary research, we aim to establish a platform that integrates structural biology, immunology, and AI-driven design to address critical challenges in viral disease and cancer therapeutics.

Link to the Xu Lab webpage

Memberships

  • Member, OSU Center for Retrovirus Research
  • Member, OSU Infectious Diseases Institute
  • Member, Cancer Biology Group, The OSU Comprehensive Cancer Center
  • Member, American Society for Virology

Professional Services

  • Ad hoc Reviewer - NIH Study Section
    • Cellular and Molecular immunology A (CMIA)
    • Dates of Service: March 16-17, 2023; March 7-8, 2024; June 13-14, 2024
  • Ad hoc journal reviews

Publications

Complete list of published work is in:  My Bibliography and Google Scholar

Selected Publications

  • Li P, Faraone JN, Hsu CC, Chamblee M, Zheng YM, Carlin C, Bednash JS, Horowitz JC, Mallampalli RK, Saif LJ, Oltz EM, Jones D, Li J, Gumina RJ, Xu K, Liu SL. Neutralization escape, infectivity, and membrane fusion of JN.1-derived SARS-CoV-2 SLip, FLiRT, and KP.2 variants. (2024) Cell Rep. Aug 27;43(8):114520.
  • Qu P, Xu K, Faraone JN, Goodarzi N, Zheng YM. Carlin C, Bednash JS, Horowitz JC, Mallampalli RK, Saif LJ, Oltz EM, Jones D, Gumina RJ, Liu SL. Immune evasion, infectivity, and fusogenicity of SARS-CoV-2 BA.2.86 and FLip variants. (2024) Cell. Feb 1;187(3):585-595.36.
  • Qu P, Evans JP, Faraone JN, Zheng YM, Carlin C, Anghelina M, Stevens P, Fernandez S, Jones D, Lozanski G, Panchal A, Saif LJ, Oltz EM, Xu K, Gumina RJ, Liu SL. Enhanced neutralization resistance of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron subvariants BQ.1, BQ.1.1, BA.4.6, BF.7, and BA.2.75.2. (2023) Cell Host Microbe. Jan 11;31(1):9-17.e3.
  • Wang Z*, Dang HV*, Amaya M*, Xu Y*, Yin R, Yan L, Hickey AC, Annand EJ, Horsburgh BA, Reid PA, Smith I, Eden JS, Xu K#, Broder CC#, Veesler D#. Potent monoclonal antibody-mediated neutralization of a divergent Hendra virus variant. PNAS. (2022) May 31;119(22).
  • Laing ED, Navaratnarajah CK, Cheliout Da Silva S, et al, Broder CC and Xu K. Structural and Functional Analyses Reveal Promiscuous and Species-Specific Use of Ephrin Receptors by Cedar Virus. (2019) PNAS. Oct8;116(41):20707-20715.
  • Xu J*, Xu K*, Jung S, Conte A, Lieberman J, Muecksch F, Lorenzi JCC, Park S, Schmidt F, Wang Z, Huang Y, Luo Y, Nair M, Wang P, Schulz JE, Tessarollo L, Bylund T, Chuang GY, Olia AS, Stephens T, Teng IT, Tsybovsky Y, Zhou T, Munster V, Ho DD, Hatziioannou T, Bieniasz PD, Nussenzweig MC, Kwong PD, Casellas R. Nanobodies from camelid mice and llamas neutralize SARS-CoV-2 variants. (2021) Nature. Jun 7.
  • Yiwei Chen*, Kai Xu, Luca Piccoli, Mathilde Foglierini, Joshua Tan, Wenjie Jin, Jason Gorman, Yaroslav Tsybovsky, Baoshan Zhang, Boubacar Traore, Chiara Silacci-Fregni, Claudia Daubenberger, Peter D. Crompton, Roger Geiger, Federica Sallusto, Peter D. Kwong & Antonio Lanzavecchia. Structural basis of malaria RIFIN binding by LILRB1-containing antibodies (2021) Nature. Apr;592(7855):639-643. PMID: 33790470.
  • Xu K, Acharya P, Kong R, Cheng C, et al, Mascola JR, Kwong PD. Epitope-based vaccine design yields fusion peptide-directed antibodies that neutralize diverse strains of HIV-1. (2018) Nat Med. Jun;24(6):857-867.
  • Kong R*, Duan H*, Sheng Z*, Xu K*, Acharya P*, Chen X*, Dingens AS*, Gorman J*, Sastry M*, Shen CH*, Zhang B*, Zhou T*, et al, Kwong PD, Mascola JR. Antibody Lineages with Vaccine-Induced Antigen-Binding Hotspots Develop Broad HIV Neutralization. (2019) Cell. Jul 25;178(3):567-584.
  • Kong R*, Xu K*, Zhou T*, et al, Kwong PD, Mascola JR. Fusion peptide of HIV-1 as a site of vulnerability to neutralizing antibody. (2016) Science. May 13;352(6287):828-33.
  • Xu K*, Wu Z, Renier N, Antipenko A, Tzvetkova-Robev D, Xu Y, Minchenko M, Nardi-Dei V, Rajashankar KR, Himanen J, Tessier-Lavigne M, Nikolov DB. Structures of netrin-1 bound to two receptors provide insight into its axon guidance mechanism. (2014) Science. 344(6189):1275-9.