Mingyi Xie, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

College of Medicine

2024 Awardee

Mingyi Xie is recognized as a national and international leader in non-coding, RNA-mediated gene regulation. Since joining UF in 2016, his lab has focused on normal regulation and misregulation of microRNA levels and modifications of small nuclear RNAs.

Misregulation and modification of RNA is linked to several diseases that impact numerous organs and systems, including cancer and skin, skeletal muscle, liver, immune system, neurodevelopmental and cardiovascular disorders.

Xie’s research provides mechanistic insights that allow the development of pre-clinical therapeutics to combat multiple diseases. His work has revealed a unique pathway that produces microRNAs that are highly expressed in colorectal cancer cells. Xie and his team found that microRNAs generated from this pathway regulate cancer cell migration. His work suggests novel therapeutic strategies for targeting pro-cancer microRNAs.

Recent efforts by his laboratory have focused on how microRNAs can be specifically degraded. Using bioinformatics and machine learning, Xie’s team identified hundreds of “trigger sequences” that could potentially contribute to microRNA degradation. By pinpointing specific triggers within cellular transcripts, they illuminated the triggers’ roles in critical cellular functions such as programmed cell death and the stress response. These foundational discoveries have uncovered novel therapeutic targets for multiple diseases, including cancer.

Xie earned his doctorate in biochemistry from Arizona State University and did postdoctoral studies at Yale University. He consistently publishes in high-impact journals, including Cell, The New England Journal of Medicine and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. His discoveries have resulted in continuous grant funding from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute of Aging, the American Cancer Society and others.

Xie is a leader in the RNA Society, where he has a number of roles. Additionally, he is an editorial board member of The Journal of Biological Chemistry and regularly reviews grants for National Institute of General Medical Science, National Institutes of Health and the American Cancer Society.