Tianfu Wu, PhD

Assistant Affiliate Member, Research Institute
Houston Methodist

Biography

Dr. Wu earned his Ph.D. in Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1999. He became an assistant affiliated member of Houston Methodist Research Institute in 2014. Dr. Wu is an assistant Professor of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Houston. Dr. Wu is an editorial member of the Journal of Data Mining in Genomics & Proteomics.

Description of Research

During the past years, Dr. Wu's research has primarily focused on biomarker discovery, disease mechanism and therapeutic intervention of autoimmune lupus. Lupus is a genetically complex autoimmune disease, where autoreactive B cells and T cells are hyperproliferative and hyperactive. Subsequently, high titers of autoantibodies are produced to form immune complex, and proinflammatory cytokines, chemokines and adhesion molecules are produced to form an environment of inflammation to promote end-organ damage, such as kidney damage. Lupus nephritis and related kidney diseases have become a considerable socioeconomic burden; however, there is no cure for these diseases. Apparently, there is an urgent need for the diagnosis and therapeutic intervention for these diseases. Research goals are:

-To discover early biomarker and non-invasive biomarkers of lupus nephritis
-To uncover signaling pathways that might be directly involved in the pathogenesis of inflammatory lupus
-To identify metabolic pathways associated with inflammatory kidney diseases

Areas Of Expertise

Inflammation Autoimmune Metabolomic analysis Proteomics

Education & Training

PhD, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Postdoctoral Fellowship, Institut Pasteur Paris

Postdoctoral Fellowship, Max-Planck Institute of Bioinorganic Chemistry, Mulheim

Postdoctoral Fellowship, UT Southwestern Medical Center

Publications

Elevated oxidized lipids, anti-lipid autoantibodies and oxidized lipid immune complexes in active SLE

Ye, Y, Wu, T, Zhang, T, Han, J, Habazi, D, Saxena, R & Mohan, C 2019, Clinical Immunology, vol. 205, pp. 43-48. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clim.2019.05.004

A BODIPY biosensor to detect and drive self-assembly of diphenylalanine

Quan, L, Gu, J, Lin, W, Wei, Y, Lin, Y, Liu, L, DIng, H, Pan, C, Xie, Z & Wu, T 2019, Chemical Communications, vol. 55, no. 59, pp. 8564-8566. https://doi.org/10.1039/c9cc03810h

Identification of Novel Autoantibodies Associated With Psoriatic Arthritis

Yuan, Y, Qiu, J, Lin, ZT, Li, W, Haley, C, Mui, UN, Ning, J, Tyring, SK & Wu, T 2019, Arthritis and Rheumatology. https://doi.org/10.1002/art.40830

Relationship between serum bilirubin levels s and the progression of renal function in patients with chronic kidney disease and hyperuricemia

Li, M, Li, X, Liu, Y, Liu, X, Song, Y, Zhao, J, Mohan, C, Wu, T, Peng, A & Qin, L 2018, Clinica Chimica Acta, vol. 486, pp. 156-161. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cca.2018.07.045

Insulin-like growth factor binding proteins in autoimmune diseases

Ding, H & Wu, T 2018, Frontiers in Endocrinology, vol. 9, no. AUG, 499. https://doi.org/10.3389/fendo.2018.00499

Proteomic approaches for novel systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) drug discovery

Li, Y & Wu, T 2018, Expert Opinion on Drug Discovery, vol. 13, no. 8, pp. 765-777. https://doi.org/10.1080/17460441.2018.1480718

A Conductive Nanowire-Mesh Biosensor for Ultrasensitive Detection of Serum C-Reactive Protein in Melanoma

Lin, ZT, Li, Y, Gu, J, Wang, H, Zhu, Z, Hong, X, Zhang, Z, Lu, Q, Qiu, J, Wang, X, Bao, J & Wu, T 2018, Advanced Functional Materials, vol. 28, no. 31, 1802482. https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.201802482

Autoantibodies as potential biomarkers in breast cancer

Qiu, J, Keyser, B, Lin, ZT & Wu, T 2018, Biosensors, vol. 8, no. 3, 67. https://doi.org/10.3390/bios8030067

Kissing Nevus of the Penis

Jiang, S, Chen, Y, Hinchliffe, TE, Wu, T & Stephen, T 2018, Journal of the College of Physicians and Surgeons--Pakistan : JCPSP, vol. 28, no. 3, pp. S19-S20. https://doi.org/10.29271/jcpsp.2018.03.S19

Molecularly Imprinted Polymer-Based Biosensors

Lin, ZT, DeMarr, V, Bao, J & Wu, T 2018, IEEE Nanotechnology Magazine. https://doi.org/10.1109/MNANO.2017.2779718

Serum vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 3 as a potential biomarker in psoriasis

Hong, X, Jiang, S, Marmolejo, N, Vangipuram, R, Ramos-Rojas, E, Yuan, Y, Lin, ZT, Li, Y, Qiu, J, Xing, Y, Haley, C, Tyring, SK & Wu, T 2018, Experimental Dermatology. https://doi.org/10.1111/exd.13727

Protein arrays I: Antibody arrays

Yuan, Y, Lin, ZT, Wang, H, Hong, X, Heon, M & Wu, T 2017, . in Methods in Molecular Biology. vol. 1654, Methods in Molecular Biology, vol. 1654, Humana Press, pp. 261-269. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-7231-9_19

Protein arrays III: Reverse-phase protein arrays

Yuan, Y, Hong, X, Lin, ZT, Wang, H, Heon, M & Wu, T 2017, . in Methods in Molecular Biology. vol. 1654, Methods in Molecular Biology, vol. 1654, Humana Press, pp. 279-289. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-7231-9_21

A Nanoparticle-Decorated Biomolecule-Responsive Polymer Enables Robust Signaling Cascade for Biosensing

Lin, ZT, Gu, J, Li, CH, Lee, TR, Xie, L, Chen, S, Cao, PY, Jiang, S, Yuan, Y, Hong, X, Wang, H, Wang, D, Wang, X, Jiang, GB, Heon, M & Wu, T 2017, Advanced Materials. https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201702090

Protein arrays II: Antigen arrays

Yuan, Y, Wang, H, Lin, ZT, Hong, X, Heon, M & Wu, T 2017, . in Methods in Molecular Biology. vol. 1654, Methods in Molecular Biology, vol. 1654, Humana Press, pp. 271-277. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-7231-9_20

Immunosensors for Biomarker Detection in Autoimmune Diseases

Zhang, X, Zambrano, A, Lin, ZT, Xing, Y, Rippy, J & Wu, T 2016, Archivum Immunologiae et Therapiae Experimentalis, pp. 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00005-016-0419-5

Leukocyte beta-catenin expression is disturbed in systemic lupus erythematosus

Orme, JJ, Du, Y, Vanarsa, K, Wu, T, Satterthwaite, AB & Mohan, C 2016, PLoS ONE, vol. 11, no. 8, e0161682. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0161682

Heightened cleavage of Axl receptor tyrosine kinase by ADAM metalloproteases may contribute to disease pathogenesis in SLE

Orme, JJ, Du, Y, Vanarsa, K, Mayeux, J, Li, L, Mutwally, A, Arriens, C, Min, S, Hutcheson, J, Davis, LS, Chong, BF, Satterthwaite, AB, Wu, T & Mohan, C 2016, Clinical Immunology, vol. 169, pp. 58-68. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clim.2016.05.011

A Hydrogel-Based Hybrid Theranostic Contact Lens for Fungal Keratitis

Huang, JF, Zhong, J, Chen, GP, Lin, ZT, Deng, Y, Liu, YL, Cao, PY, Wang, B, Wei, Y, Wu, T, Yuan, J & Jiang, GB 2016, ACS Nano, vol. 10, no. 7, pp. 6464-6473. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.6b00601

Identification of apoptosis and macrophage migration events in paraquat-induced oxidative stress using a zebrafish model

Wang, Q, Liu, S, Hu, D, Wang, Z, Wang, L, Wu, T, Wu, Z, Mohan, C & Peng, A 2016, Life Sciences, vol. 157, pp. 116-124. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lfs.2016.06.009

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