2007 - 2011  B.S., Huazhong University of Science and Technology

2011 - 2014  M.S., Peking University

2014 - 2016  Research associate, Novo Nordisk China R&D center

2017 - 2022  Ph.D., Heidelberg University/EMBL

2022 - 2023  Postdoctoral research, European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL)

2023 -           Principle Investigator, Institute of Biophysics, CAS

Between chemical reactions mediated by macromolecules and living activities of cells lies a gap of dimension and perception. To directly delineate molecular processes in cells in atomic detail represents the future of structural and cell biology. The Xue lab employs cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET) and other emerging in situ structural approaches to explore the molecular sociology of cells, the basic units of life. The main research directions include:

1. Transcription-translation coupling and other dynamic gene expression machineries assembled by RNA polymerases, ribosomes, etc. in cells and tissues;

2. Developing organoid, etc. as new model systems for cryo-ET studies;

3. Method development in integrative in situ structural biology, including focused ion beam milling, cryo-lift out, cryo-ET, in-cell crosslinking mass spectrometry, etc.

1. Liang Xue*, Christian M.T. Spahn, Magdalena Schacherl*, Julia Mahamid*. Structural insights into context-dependent inhibitory mechanisms of chloramphenicol in cells. Nature Structural & Molecular Biology. 2024; online Dec. 12 (Highlight by NSMB Research briefing)

2. Liang Xue, Swantje Lenz, Maria Zimmermann, Dimitry Tegunov, Patrick Cramer, Peer Bork, Juri Rappsilber, Julia Mahamid*. Visualizing translation dynamics at atomic detail inside a bacterial cell. Nature. 2022; 610, 205-211 (Highlight by NSMB Research Highlights and Faculty Opinions)

3. Francis O'Reilly^#, Liang Xue^#, Andrea Graziadei^#, Ludwig Sinn, Swantje Lenz, Dimitry Tegunov, Cedric Blötz, Neil Singh, Wim Hagen, Patrick Cramer, Jörg Stülke, Julia Mahamid*, Juri Rappsilber*. In-cell architecture of an actively transcribing-translating expressome. Science. 2020; 369 (6503), 554-557 (Highlight by Nature Reviews Microbiology and Faculty Opinions with highest Landmark evaluation DOI: 10.12703/r-01-000004)

4. Dimitry Tegunov*, Liang Xue, Christian Dienemann, Patrick Cramer*, Julia Mahamid*.  Multiparticle cryo-EM refinement with M visualizes ribosome-antibiotic complex at 3.5 Å in cells. Nature Methods. 2021; 18 (2), 186-193

5. Xiangrui Zeng, Anson Kahng, Liang Xue, Julia Mahamid, Yi-Wei Chang, Min Xu*. High-throughput cryo-ET structural pattern mining by unsupervised deep iterative subtomogram clustering. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 2023; 120 (15), e2213149120

6. Bronwyn Lucas, Benjamin Himes, Liang Xue, Timothy Grant, Julia Mahamid, Nikolaus Grigorieff*. Locating macromolecular assemblies in cells by 2D template matching with cisTEM, eLife. 2021; 10, e68946

7. Willem Tichelaar*, Wim Hagen, Tatiana Gorelik, Liang Xue, Julia Mahamid. TEM bright field imaging of thick specimens: nodes in Thon ring patterns. Ultramicroscopy. 2020; 216, 113023

8. Jian Chen, Liang Xue, Risheng Wei, Shangzhong Liu, Chang-Cheng Yin*. The insecticide chlorantraniliprole is a weak activator of mammalian skeletal ryanodine receptor/Ca2+ release channel. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 2019; 508 (2), 633-639

(*Correspondence Author. ^# Equally contributed)

(From Liang Xue, December 12, 2024)