XieLab Research

Engineering the microbiome–metabolism interface

We connect microbial ecosystems to metabolites, cell fate and inter-organ physiology—then turn those mechanisms into measurable biomarkers, programmable interventions and translational solutions.

Explore our researchView publications
Microbiomeecology & function
→
Metabolitesmolecular messengers
→
Host tissuesfat · muscle · liver
→
Interventiondiagnosis to therapy
Three flagship research programmes

Deep biology, connected across organs and scales

The laboratory is organised around three long-term programmes defined by the official SUAT faculty profile. Each programme moves from observation to causal mechanism and then to an intervention that can be measured, engineered and translated.

Scientific illustration of gut microbes, intestinal barrier and circulating microbial metabolites
Research programme 01

Gut microbiome & human health

We ask how a complex microbial ecosystem becomes a measurable biological signal—and how microbial functions can be redirected to improve metabolic and gastrointestinal health.

Core questions

  • Which organisms, functions and metabolites define a health-associated ecosystem?
  • Can microbial signatures predict disease risk, diet response or treatment outcome?
  • How can probiotics, postbiotics and fermentation products be engineered safely?

Representative advances

Clinical cohort→Multi-omics→Causal validation→Engineered intervention
Scientific illustration of skeletal-muscle regeneration, adipocytes and thermogenic mitochondria
Research programme 02

Muscle & adipose stem-cell physiology

We study how nutrient sensing, microbial metabolites and inter-organ communication control stem-cell state, tissue regeneration, adipocyte identity and systemic energy expenditure.

Core questions

  • What switches satellite cells between quiescence, proliferation and regeneration?
  • How are brown and beige adipocyte fate and mitochondrial thermogenesis established?
  • How do muscle, adipose tissue and the microbiome coordinate whole-body metabolism?

Representative advances

Stem-cell state→Tissue remodelling→Organ crosstalk→Metabolic resilience
Scientific illustration of trace-element transport, mitochondria, redox signalling and ferroptosis
Research programme 03

Trace-element metabolism & cell fate

Iron and copper are not passive nutrients: their transport, redistribution and redox chemistry actively shape mitochondrial function, thermogenesis, regeneration, inflammation and regulated cell death.

Core questions

  • How do DMT1, Tfr1 and systemic iron signals allocate metals between tissues?
  • When does metal-dependent mitochondrial metabolism support adaptation—or trigger ferroptosis?
  • Can transporters and redox pathways become precise therapeutic control points?

Representative advances

  • DMT1–JAK/STAT3 coupling of iron uptake to colorectal tumorigenesis.
  • Tfr1 control of adipocyte fate, muscle regeneration and platelet ferroptosis.
  • HIF2α–hepcidin coordination of systemic iron for adaptive thermogenesis.
Metal transport→Mitochondria→Redox & cell fate→Disease mechanism
Current research spotlight

From postbiotics to a host “fat-burning” programme

Our latest work follows a signal all the way from microbial intervention to systemic physiology: postbiotics reshape the gut ecosystem, increase the microbial tryptophan metabolite IAA and activate AMPK-linked thermogenic programmes in adipocytes.

Postbioticsstable inputs
Microbiomeecosystem shift
IAAcirculating signal
Thermogenesismetabolic output

This mechanism exemplifies the laboratory's next phase at SUAT: engineering microbial functions into safer, measurable and manufacturable interventions for metabolic syndrome.

Read the SUAT research feature →
A decade of convergence

From molecular mechanisms to programmable metabolism

The apparent breadth of the work follows a consistent trajectory: identify a biological signal, define its mechanism across tissues, measure it at scale and convert it into a practical intervention.

2016–18

Iron sensing and regenerative cell fate

DMT1–JAK/STAT3 signalling linked iron uptake to colorectal tumorigenesis, while transient HIF2A inhibition revealed a controllable route to satellite-cell proliferation and muscle regeneration.

Cell MetabolismJCI
2019–21

Microbiome biomarkers meet iron-dependent metabolism

Microbiome signatures were developed for non-invasive prediction, while Tfr1 studies connected iron uptake to adipocyte thermogenesis and ferroptosis-dependent muscle regeneration. DeepScreening and EasyMicroPlot expanded the computational toolkit.

Microbiome diagnosisAdipocyte Tfr1Muscle ferroptosis
2025–26

Mechanism, computation and translation converge

EasyMultiProfiler enables integrated microbiome analysis; muscle-specific BAMBI remodelling reveals muscle–adipose metabolic coupling; postbiotics connect microbial engineering to IAA-driven thermogenesis.

EasyMultiProfilerBAMBI crosstalkPostbiotics
Mechanistic stories

Representative discoveries

2025

Muscle BAMBI deletion couples oxidative switching to adipose thermogenesis

A mechanistic bridge between skeletal-muscle remodelling, inter-organ communication and resistance to metabolic disorders.

View study →
2024

Butyrate dynamics preserve satellite-cell quiescence during ageing

A microbial metabolite links gut ecology to stem-cell homeostasis and the prevention of spontaneous activation.

View study →
2021

Tfr1 loss activates ferroptosis and impedes muscle regeneration

Iron uptake emerges as an essential control point for satellite-cell survival and regenerative capacity.

View study →
2020

Tfr1 determines thermogenic capacity and adipocyte cell fate

Iron–mitochondria coupling provides a mechanistic foundation for targeting brown and beige fat in metabolic disease.

View study →
Shared research engine

One technology engine serving all three programmes

Computation is not presented as a separate biological direction. It is the shared engine that converts complex microbial, molecular and clinical data into interpretable hypotheses, reproducible workflows and experimentally testable targets.

Microbiome multi-omics

EasyMultiProfiler

A reproducible workflow that connects abundance profiles, functional layers, statistics and publication-ready visualisation across microbiome multi-omics studies.

Read the paper →
DeepScreening workflow for datasets, molecular features, predictive models and virtual screening

DeepScreening

A deep-learning workflow that connects molecular datasets and fingerprints to classification, regression and virtual screening.

Read the paper →
TCMIO traditional Chinese medicine immuno-oncology resource symbol

TCMIO

A structured knowledge resource connecting traditional Chinese medicine ingredients and compounds with targets, pathways and immuno-oncology evidence.

Read the paper →
De novo profiling workflow for chemical-space analysis and drug mapping

De novo profiling

An integrated cheminformatics route from user-generated libraries to chemical-space mapping, ADMET prediction, molecular alignment and target interpretation.

Explore laboratory tools →
Microbial systemsCultivation · fermentation · 16S · metagenomics
Molecular physiologyMetabolomics · transcriptomics · cell and animal models
Computational biologyMulti-omics · machine learning · knowledge resources
TranslationClinical cohorts · biomarkers · synthetic biology

From discovery to designed intervention

At the Faculty of Synthetic Biology, SUAT, XieLab is building a full chain from microbial and host mechanism discovery to technology development, clinical validation, microbial biomanufacturing and health products.

Research directions and translational framing follow the official SUAT faculty profile; individual claims link to representative peer-reviewed studies or the official SUAT research feature.

All publicationsJoin XieLab