I started my biochemistry and molecular biology studies since my Ph.D. Using myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) cells, I found a novel DNA methylation mechanism during hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) differentiation. As a postdoctoral fellow in Houston Methodist Research Institute, I expanded my research to histone epigenetic modifications, such as methylation and ubiquitination in induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC). Also, I am working on how cancer cells deliver their drug resistance or metastasis to other cells through exosomes. I have developed a Quantum-Dot based assay to profile pancreatic cancer biomarkers from single exosome. I also identified a novel exosome marker in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) to predict distant metastasis after chemotherapy. Since COVID-19 outbroke in 2020, I keep developing CRISPR based detection technology for COVID-19 clinical diagnosis. Using RT-PCR and RT-RPA CRISPR, our method shows higher sensitivity than qRT-PCR in patient nasal swab, saliva and blood samples. With the full evaluation of clinical performance at Tulane Hospital Molecular Pathology Laboratory, this method has been submitted an Emergence Use Authorization (EUA) for approval. My current research involves body fluid test method development for infectious disease diagnosis including COVID-19.
Ning, B., Huang, Z., Youngquist, B.M. Scott J, Niu A, Zwezdaryk K, Bojanowski C, Cao J, Saba N, Yin X, Fan J, Lyon C, Li C, Roy C, Hu Y. Liposome-mediated detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA-positive extracellular vesicles in plasma. Nature. Nanotechnology. 2021.Corresponding author Link
Huang, Z., LaCourse, SM., Kay, AM, Stern J., Escudero, JN. Youngquist, BY., Zheng, W. Vambe, D., Dlamini, V, Mtetwa, G. , Cranmer, LM, Njuguna, I., Wamalwa, DC., Maleche-Obimbo, E, Catanzaro, DG., Lyon, CJ, John-Stewart, G, DiNardo, A., Mandalakas,AM, Ning, B., & Hu, T.Y. CRISPR detection of circulating cell-free Mycobacterium tuberculosis DNA in adults and children, including children with HIV: a molecular diagnostics study. Lancet Microbe, 2022.
Ning, B., Yu, T., Zhang, S., Huang, Z., Tian, D., Lin, Z., Niu, A., Golden, N., Hensley, K., Threeton, B., Lyon, C. J., Yin, X., Saba, N., Rappaport, J., Wei, Q., T.Y.Hu. A smartphone-read ultrasensitive and quantitative saliva test for COVID-19. Science Advances. 2021. 7 (2), eabe3703.
Huang, Z., Ning, B., Youngquist, B., Niu, A., Lyon, C., Beddingfield, B., Fears, A., Monk, C., Murrell, A., Bilton, S., Linhuber, J., Norton, E., Dietrich, M., Lai, W., Scott, J., Yin, X., Rappaport, J., Robinson, J., Saba, N., Roy, C., Zwezdaryk, K., T. Y. Hu, Sensitive tracking of viral RNA in plasma through all stages of SARS-CoV-2 infection. J. Clinical Investigation. 2021.
Huang, Z., Tian, D., Liu, Y., Lin, Z., Lyon, C., J., Lai, W., Fusco, D., Drouin, A., Yin, X., Hu Y*, Ning, B.*. Ultra-Sensitive High Throughput CRISPR Diagnosis of COVID-19. Biosensor and Bioelectronics. 2020, September 164, (15) 112316. Corresponding author.
Liu Y, Fan J, Xu T, Ahmadinejad N, Hess K, Lin S, Zhang J, Liu X, Liu X, Ning B*, Liao Z*, Hu, Y*. Extracellular Vesicle Tetraspanin-8 Expression Predicts Distant Metastasis in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer after Concurrent Chemoradiation, Science Advances, 2020. 6 (11), eaaz6162 Corresponding author
