July 2026: Congratulations to Dr. He for receiving the CCDS Grant-in-Aid Award.

June 2026: Welcome Dr. Yan Liu joining Dr. He's lab as a Postdoctoral Fellow.

Feb 2026: Xiangqin He, PhD, was recently awarded a three-year R00 grant from the NIH National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute totaling $744,942 for the project titled “The Uncharacterized Nuclear Protein HMGXB4 in Occlusive Vascular Diseases.”

July 2025: The He lab officially opens at LSU Health Shreveport!

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) remain the leading cause of death worldwide, accounting for over million deaths each year. Despite this, advances in biomedical research have significantly improved our understanding of the mechanisms driving these complex disorders and are shaping the development of innovative diagnostics and therapies.

The He lab is part of a global effort to unravel the molecular and cellular basis of CVDs, with the ultimate goal of improving patient outcomes. We leverage omics data mining and genetically modified mouse models to investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying CVDs.

Selected Publications

1. Dong K, Zuo Y, Yao Y, He X, Hu G, Peng X, Zhou J. Coronary artery disease risk gene PRDM16 regulates smooth muscle homeostasis. J Mol Cell Cardiol. 2026 Apr;213:74-83. doi: 10.1016/j.yjmcc.2026.02.002. Epub 2026 Feb 8. PMID: 41667033; PMCID: PMC13215035.
2. Dong K, Bai Z, He X, Zhang L, Hu G, Yao Y, Cai CL, Zhou J. Generation of a novel constitutive smooth muscle cell-specific Myh11-driven Cre mouse model. J Mol Cell Cardiol. 2025 May;202:144-152. doi: 10.1016/j.yjmcc.2025.03.010. Epub 2025 Mar 21. PMID: 40122158.
3. Wang L, He X, Hu G, Liu J, Kang X, Yu L, Dong K, Zhao J, Zhang A, Zhang W, Brands MW, Su H, Zheng Z, Zhou J. A novel mouse model carrying a gene trap insertion into the Hmgxb4 gene locus to examine Hmgxb4 expression in vivo. Physiol Rep. 2024 Apr;12(8):e16014. doi: 10.14814/phy2.16014. PMID: 38644513; PMCID: PMC11033291.
4. He X, Zhang LU, Dong K, Fulton DJ, Cai CL, Zhou J. The IncRNA, Cardiac Mesoderm Enhancer-Associated Noncoding RNA Is Indispensable for Intestinal Smooth Muscle Homeostasis in Female Mice as Revealed by a Novel Endogenous Myh11-Encoded Inducible Cre Model. Gastro Hep Adv. 2024;3(3):399-401. doi: 10.1016/j.gastha.2023.12.012. Epub 2024 Jan 2. PMID: 38737599; PMCID: PMC11087057.
   Selected as “Cover article” for Gastro Hep Advances. Issue 3, 2024.
5. He X, Dong K, Shen J, Hu G, Mintz JD, Atawia RT, Zhao J, Chen X, Caldwell RW, Xiang M, Stepp DW, Fulton DJ, Zhou J. The Long Noncoding RNA Cardiac Mesoderm Enhancer-Associated Noncoding RNA (Carmn) Is a Critical Regulator of Gastrointestinal Smooth Muscle Contractile Function and Motility. Gastroenterology. 2023 Jul;165(1):71-87. doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2023.03.229. Epub 2023 Apr 6. PMID: 37030336; PMCID: PMC10330198.
   Highlighted with an editorial “Sometimes Gut Smooth Muscle Forget That They Are Supposed to Contract: CARMN and Visceral Myopathy”, which published in Gastroenterology in the same issue (PMID: 37172742).
6. Dong K, Shen J, He X, Hu G, Wang L, Osman I, Bunting KM, Dixon-Melvin R, Zheng Z, Xin H, Xiang M, Vazdarjanova A, Fulton DJR, Zhou J. CARMN is an Evolutionarily Conserved Smooth Muscle Cell-specific LncRNA that Maintains Contractile Phenotype by Binding Myocardin. Circulation. 2021 Oct 25. doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA. 121.055949. PMID: 34694145.
7. He X, Dong K, Shen J, Hu G, Liu J, Kang X, Wang L, Atawia RT, Osman I, Caldwell RW, Xiang M, Zhang W, Zheng Z, Li L, Fulton DJR, Deng K, Xin H, Zhou J. Deficiency of the novel high mobility group protein HMGXB4 protects against systemic inflammation-induced endotoxemia in mice. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2021;118(7). Epub 2021/02/11. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2021862118. PubMed PMID: 33563757; PMCID: PMC7896282.
8. Liu J, Wen T, Dong K, He X, Zhou H, Shen J, Fu Z, Hu G, Ma W, Li J, Wang W, Wang L, Akerberg BN, Xu J, Osman I, Zheng Z, Wang W, Du Q, Pu WT, Xiang M, Chen W, Su H, Zhang W, Zhou J. TEAD1 protects against necroptosis in postmitotic cardiomyocytes through regulation of nuclear DNA-encoded mitochondrial genes. Cell Death Differ. 2021Jul;28(7):2045-2059. doi:10.1038/s41418-020-00732-5. Epub 2021 Jan 19. PubMed PMID: 33469230; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8257617.
9. Osman I, Dong K, Kang X, Yu L, Xu F, Ahmed ASI, He X, Shen J, Hu G, Zhang W, Zhou J. YAP1/TEAD1 upregulate platelet-derived growth factor receptor beta to promote vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation and neointima formation. J Mol Cell Cardiol. 2021 Jul;156:20-32. doi: 10.1016/j.yjmcc.2021.03.005. Epub 2021 Mar 19. PubMed PMID: 33753119; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8217227.
10. Ruan J, Zhang L, Hu D, Qu X, Yang F, Chen F, He X, Shen J, Dong K, Sweet M, Sanchez C, Li D, Shou W, Zhou J, Cai CL. Novel Myh11 Dual Reporter Mouse Model Provides Definitive Labeling and Identification of Smooth Muscle Cells-Brief Report. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2021 Feb;41(2):815-821. doi: 10.1161/ATVBAHA.120.315107. Epub 2020 Dec 24. PubMed PMID: 33356387.
11. Zheng JP*, He X*, Liu F, Yin S, Wu S, Yang M, Zhao J, Dai X, Jiang H, Yu L, Yin Q, Ju D, Li C, Lipovich L, Xie Y, Zhang K, Li HJ, Zhou J, Li L. YY1 directly interacts with myocardin to repress the triad myocardin/SRF/CArG box-mediated smooth muscle gene transcription during smooth muscle phenotypic modulation. Sci Rep. 2020 Dec 11;10(1):21781. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-78544-3. PubMed PMID: 33311559; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7732823. (*Co-first author)
12. He X, Wang N, Zhao JJ, Wang D, Wang CJ, Xie L, Zheng HY, Shi SZ, He J, Zhou J, Xin HB, Deng KY. Specific deletion of CDC42 in pancreatic β cells attenuates glucose-induced insulin expression and secretion in mice. Mol Cell Endocrinol. 2020 Dec 1;518:111004. doi: 10.1016/j.mce.2020.111004. Epub 2020 Aug 29. PubMed PMID: 32871224.
13. Dong K, He X, Su H, Fulton DJR, Zhou J. Genomic analysis of circular RNAs in heart. BMC Med Genomics. 2020 Nov 7;13(1):167. doi: 10.1186/s12920-020-00817-7. PubMed PMID: 33160353; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7648966.
14. Wen T, Liu J, He X, Dong K, Hu G, Yu L, Yin Q, Osman I, Peng J, Zheng Z, Xin H, Fulton D, Du Q, Zhang W, Zhou J. Transcription factor TEAD1 is essential for vascular development by promoting vascular smooth muscle differentiation. Cell Death Differ. 2019 Dec; 26(12):2790-2806. doi: 10.1038/s41418-019-0335-4. Epub 2019 Apr 25. PubMed PMID: 31024075; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7224394.
15. Shi SZ, Lee EJ, Lin YJ, Chen L, Zheng HY, He X, Peng JY, Noonepalle SK, Shull AY, Pei FC, Deng LB, Tian XL, Deng KY, Shi H, Xin HB. Recruitment of monocytes and epigenetic silencing of intratumoral CYP7B1 primarily contribute to the accumulation of 27-hydroxycholesterol in breast cancer. Am J Cancer Res. 2019;9(10):2194-2208. eCollection 2019. PubMed PMID: 31720082; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6834472.
16. Osman I, He X, Liu J, Dong K, Wen T, Zhang F, Yu L, Hu G, Xin H, Zhang W, Zhou J. TEAD1 (TEA Domain Transcription Factor 1) Promotes Smooth Muscle Cell Proliferation Through Upregulating SLC1A5 (Solute Carrier Family 1 Member 5)-Mediated Glutamine Uptake. Circ Res. 2019 Apr 26;124(9):1309-1322. doi: 10.1161/CIRCRESAHA. 118.314187. PubMed PMID: 30801233; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6493685.
    Selected as “Editor’s Pick”; Highlighted by an “Editorial” in Circulation Research in the same issue (PMID: 31021728).

Complete List of Published Work in My Bibliography

Post-doctoral Fellows
The He lab for smooth muscle biology and vascular diseases is currently accepting post-doctoral researchers with a strong background in molecular biology, genetics, or bioinformatics. Interested candidates should review the current research directions and contact Dr. He at xiangqin.he@lsuhs.edu for more details.

Graduate Students
The He lab for smooth muscle biology and vascular diseases has several research projects available for graduate students. Those who are interested should review the current lab research directions and contact Dr. He at xiangqin.he@lsuhs.edu for more details.

Contact the He Lab

LSU Health Shreveport
Department of Pathology and Translational Pathobiology
Biomedical Research Institute, Room F7-35
1501 Kings Hwy
Shreveport, LA 71103

Xiangqin He, PhD
EM: xiangqin.he@lsuhs.edu
Lab: BRI F7-35, PH: 318-675-7089
Office: BRI F7-27, PH: 318-675-7088