Xin Zhou, Ph.D.
Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatrics
About Dr. Zhou
Dr. Zhou is a developmental bone biologist. Her research interests are the transcriptional control of osteoblast differentiation and the origins of osteoblasts. Her work in Dr. Benoit de Crombrugghe’s lab led to the discovery of Osterix (Osx, Sp7), a master transcription factor essential for osteoblast differentiation and bone formation, both during embryonic development and post-natal bone growth and homeostasis. Her recent work using cre/reporter lineage tracing mouse models revealed that mature chondrocytes are a major source of osteoblasts in endochondral bone formation during development and postnatal growth. This finding has advance our current understanding of endochondral bone formation process with implications for the control of bone homeostasis and the interpretation of the underlying pathological changes of bone diseases. Currently, she is working on elucidating the underlying mechanism of chondrocytes to osteoblasts trans-differentiation and exploring the potential signaling pathways regulating this process.
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Present Title & Affiliation
Primary Appointment
Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics - Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston
Education & Training
Degree-Granting Education
| 2008 | U.T. School of Public Health, Houston, TX, USA, PHD, Environmental Science/Toxicology |
| 1987 | Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Shanghai Institute of Biological Science, CAS, Shanghai, CHN, MS, Molecular Biology |
| 1984 | Nanjing University, Nanjing, CHN, BS, Biochemistry |
Selected Publications
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- He D, Marie C, Zhao C, Kim B, Wang J, Deng Y, Clavairoly A, Frah M, Wang H, He X, Hmidan H, Jones BV, Witte D, Zalc B, Zhou X, Choo DI, Martin DM, Parras C, Lu QR. Chd7 cooperates with Sox10 and regulates the onset of CNS myelination and remyelination. Nat Neurosci 19(5):678-89. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 26928066.
- Jing Y, Zhou X, Han X, Jing J, von der Mark K, Wang J, de Crombrugghe B, Hinton RJ, Feng JQ. Chondrocytes Directly Transform into Bone Cells in Mandibular Condyle Growth. Journal of Dental Research 94(12), 2015. PMID: 26341973.
- Jung Park, Matthias Gebhardt, Svitlana Golovchenko, Francesc Perez Branguli, Takako Hattori, Christine Hartmann, Xin Zhou, Benoit deCrombrugghe, Michael Stock, Holm Schneider, and Klaus von der Mark. A Novel Chondrocyte-derived Osteoprogenitor Cell Identified in Hypertrophic Cartilage. Biology Open 4(5), 2015. PMID: 25882555.
- Zhou X, von der Mark K, Henry S, Norton W, Adams H, de Crombrugghe B. Chondrocytes Transdifferentiate into Osteoblasts in Endochondral Bone during Development, Postnatal Growth and Fracture Healing in Mice. PLoS Genet 10(12):e1004820, 2014. e-Pub 2014. PMID: 25474590.
- Coskun S, Chao H, Vasavada H, Heydari K, Gonzales N, Zhou X, de Crombrugghe B, Hirschi KK. Development of the fetal bone marrow niche and regulation of HSC quiescence and homing ability therein by emerging osteolineage cells. Cell Rep 9(9):581-590, 2014. e-Pub 2014. PMID: 25310984.
- Sinha KM, Yasuda H, Zhou X, de Crombrugghe B. Osterix and NO66 histone demethylase control the chromatin architecture of Osterix target genes during osteoblast differentiation. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research 29(4):855-865, 2014. PMID: 24115157.
- Cheng S, Xing W, Zhou X, Mohan S. Haploinsufficiency of osterix in chondrocytes impairs skeletal growth in mice. Physiological Genomics 45(19):917-923, 2013. PMID: 23943855.
- Cao Z, Zhang H, Zhou X, Han X, Ren Y, Gao T, Xiao Y, de Crombrugghe B, Somerman MJ, Feng JQ. Genetic evidence for the vital function of Osterix in cementogenesis. Journal of bone and mnineral research 27(5):1080-92, 2012. PMID: 22246569.
- Zhou X, Zhang Z, Feng JQ, Dusevich VM, Sinha K, Zhang H, Darnay BG, de Crombrugghe B. Multiple functions of Osterix are required for bone growth and homeostasis in postnatal mice. Proceegings of the National Academy of Sciences 107(29):12919-24, 2010. e-Pub 2010. PMID: 20615976.
- Luo J, Zhou W, Zhou X, Li D, Weng J, Yi Z, Cho SG, Li C, Yi T, Wu X, Li XY, de Crombrugghe B, Höök M, Liu M. Regulation of bone formation and remodeling by G-protein-coupled receptor 48. Development 136(16):2747-56, 2009. e-Pub 2009. PMID: 19605502.
- Nakashima K, Zhou X, Kunkel G, Zhang Z, Deng JM, Behringer RR, de Crombrugghe B. The novel zinc finger-containing transcription factor osterix is required for osteoblast differentiation and bone formation. Cell 108(1):17-29, 2002. PMID: 11792318.
Patient Reviews
CV information above last modified January 22, 2024