Ke Xu Group

Research


Multidimensional & functional super-resolution microscopy




Selected work:


A. A. Choi, C. Y. Zhou, A. Tabo, R. Heald, K. Xu, "Single-molecule diffusivity quantification in Xenopus egg extracts elucidates physicochemical properties of the cytoplasm," [Link]
bioRxiv.


A. A. Choi, K. Xu, "Single-molecule diffusivity quantification unveils ubiquitous net charge-driven protein–protein interaction," [Link]
J. Am. Chem. Soc., 146,10973–10978, 2024.


M. A. Steves, C. He, K. Xu, "Single-molecule spectroscopy and super-resolution mapping of physicochemical parameters in living cells," [Invited Review] [Link]
Annu. Rev. Phys. Chem., 75, 163-183, 2024.


C. He, C. Y. Wu, W. Li, K. Xu, "Multidimensional super-resolution microscopy unveils nanoscale surface aggregates in the aging of FUS condensates," [Link] [Cover]
J. Am. Chem. Soc., 145, 24240-24248, 2023.


A. A. Choi, L. Xiang, W. Li, K. Xu, "Single-molecule displacement mapping indicates unhindered intracellular diffusion of small (<~1 kDa) solutes," [Link]
J. Am. Chem. Soc., 145, 8510-8516, 2023.


H. H. Park, A. A. Choi, K. Xu, "Size-dependent suppression of molecular diffusivity in expandable hydrogels: A single-molecule study," [Link] [Xiaoliang Sunney Xie Festschrift]
J. Phys. Chem. B, 127, 3333-3339, 2023.


L. Xiang, R. Yan, K. Chen, W. Li, K. Xu, "Single-molecule displacement mapping unveils sign-asymmetric protein charge effects on intraorganellar diffusion," [Link]
Nano Lett., 23, 1711-1716, 2023.


I. O. Aparin||, R. Yan||, R. Pelletier, A. A. Choi, D. I. Danylchuk, K. Xu, A. S. Klymchenko, "Fluorogenic dimers as bright switchable probes for enhanced super-resolution imaging of cell membranes," [Link]
J. Am. Chem. Soc., 144, 18043-18053, 2022.


A. A. Choi, H. H. Park, K. Chen, R. Yan, W. Li, K. Xu, "Displacement statistics of unhindered single molecules show no enhanced diffusion in enzymatic reactions," [Link]
J. Am. Chem. Soc., 144, 4839-4844, 2022.


B. Wang, M. Xiong, J. Susanto, X. Li, W.-Y. Leung, K. Xu, "Transforming rhodamine dyes for (d)STORM super-resolution microscopy via 1,3-disubstituted imidazolium substitution," [Link]
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 61, e202113612, 2022.


L. Xiang||, K. Chen||, K. Xu, "Single molecules are your quanta: A bottom-up approach toward multidimensional super-resolution microscopy," [Invited Perspective] [Link]
ACS Nano, 15, 12483-12496, 2021.


K. Chen, R. Yan, L. Xiang, K. Xu, "Excitation spectral microscopy for highly multiplexed fluorescence imaging and quantitative biosensing," [Link]
Light Sci. Appl., 10, 97, 2021.


R. Yan, K. Chen, K. Xu, "Probing nanoscale diffusional heterogeneities in cellular membranes through multidimensional single-molecule and super-resolution microscopy," [Link]

J. Am. Chem. Soc., 142, 18866-18873, 2020.


L. Xiang||, K. Chen||, R. Yan, W. Li, K. Xu, "Single-molecule displacement mapping unveils nanoscale heterogeneities in intracellular diffusivity," [Link]
Nature Methods, 17, 524-530, 2020.


J. Kim, M. Wojcik, Y. Wang, S. Moon, E. A. Zin, N. Marnani, Z. L. Newman, J. G. Flannery, K. Xu, X. Zhang, "Oblique-plane single-molecule localization microscopy for tissues and small intact animals," [Link]
Nature Methods, 16, 853-857, 2019.


D. I. Danylchuk||, S. Moon||, K. Xu, A. S. Klymchenko, "Switchable solvatochromic probes for live-cell super-resolution imaging of plasma membrane organization," [Link]
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 58, 14920-14924, 2019.


T. Kim||, S. Moon||, K. Xu, "Information-rich localization microscopy through machine learning," [Link]
Nature Commun., 10, 1996, 2019.


R. Yan||, S. Moon||, S. J. Kenny||, K. Xu, "Spectrally resolved and functional super-resolution microscopy via ultrahigh-throughput single-molecule spectroscopy," [Invited review] [Link]
Acc. Chem. Res., 51, 697-705, 2018.


L. Xiang, M. Wojcik, S. J. Kenny, R. Yan, S. Moon, W. Li, K. Xu, "Optical characterization of surface adlayers and their compositional demixing at the nanoscale," [Link]
Nature Commun., 9, 1435, 2018.


S. Moon||, R. Yan||, S. J. Kenny, Y. Shyu, L. Xiang, W. Li, K. Xu, "Spectrally resolved, functional super-resolution microscopy reveals nanoscale compositional heterogeneity in live-cell membranes," [Link]
J. Am. Chem. Soc., 139, 10944-10947, 2017.


D. Kim, Z. Zhang, K. Xu, "Spectrally resolved super-resolution microscopy unveils multipath reaction pathways of single spiropyran molecules, "[Link]
J. Am. Chem. Soc., 139, 9447-9450, 2017.


Z. Zhang, S. J. Kenny, M. Hauser, W. Li, K. Xu, "Ultrahigh-throughput single-molecule spectroscopy and spectrally resolved super-resolution microscopy," [Link]
Nature Methods, 12, 935-938, 2015



Nanoscale cell biology




Selected work:


B. A. Unger, C. Y. Wu, A. A. Choi, C. He, K. Xu, "Hypersensitivity of the vimentin cytoskeleton to net-charge states and Coulomb repulsion," [Link]
eLife, 13, RP99568, 2024.


R. Yan, K. Chen, B. Wang, K. Xu, "SURF4-induced tubular ERGIC selectively expedites ER-to-Golgi transport," [Link]
Dev. Cell, 57, 512-525, 2022.


B. Wang, Z. Zhao, M. Xiong, R. Yan, K. Xu, "The endoplasmic reticulum adopts two distinct tubule forms," [Link]
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 119, e2117559119, 2022.


C. Kaplan, S. J. Kenny, X. Chen, J. Schöneberg, E. Sitarska, A. Diz-Muñoz, M. Akamatsu, K. Xu, D. G. Drubin, "Load adaptation by endocytic actin networks," [Link] [Cover]
Mol. Biol. Cell, 33, ar50, 2022.


S. J. Kenny||, X. S. Chen||, L. Ge, K. Xu, "Super-resolution microscopy unveils FIP200-scaffolded, cup-shaped organization of mammalian autophagic initiation machinery," [Link]

bioRxiv, 712828.


L. Yuan, S. J. Kenny, J. Hemmati, K. Xu, R. Schekman, "TANGO1 and SEC12 are copackaged with procollagen I to facilitate the generation of large COPII carriers," [Link]
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 115, E12255-E12264, 2018.


M. Hauser, R. Yan, W. Li, N. A. Repina, D. V. Schaffer, K. Xu, "The spectrin-actin-based periodic cytoskeleton as a conserved nanoscale scaffold and ruler of the neural stem cell lineage," [Link]
Cell Rep., 24, 1512-1522, 2018.


L. Pan, R. Yan, W. Li, K. Xu, "Super-resolution microscopy reveals the native ultrastructure of the erythrocyte cytoskeleton," [Link]
Cell Rep., 22, 1151-1158, 2018.


S. Köhler||, M. Wojcik||, K. Xu, A. F. Dernburg, "Superresolution microscopy reveals the three-dimensional organization of meiotic chromosome axes in intact Caenorhabditis elegans tissue, "[Link]
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 114, E4734-E4743, 2017.


A. Gorur, L. Yuan, S. J. Kenny, S. Baba, K. Xu, R. Schekman, "COPII-coated membranes function as transport carriers of intracellular procollagen-I," [Link]
J. Cell Biol., 216, 1745-1759, 2017.


L. Ge, M. Zhang, S. J. Kenny, D. Liu, M. Maeda, K. Saito, A. Mathur, K. Xu, R. Schekman, "Remodeling of ER-exit sites initiates a membrane supply pathway for autophagosome biogenesis, "[Link]
EMBO Rep., 18, 1586-1603, 2017.




Graphene microscopy and chemistry



Selected work:


W. Li||, Y. Li||, B. Wang, K. Xu, "Visible-light azidation and chemical patterning of graphene via photoredox catalysis," [Link]
J. Phys. Chem. C, 126, 21281-21286,2022.


Y. Li, B. Wang, W. Li, K. Xu, "Dynamic, spontaneous blistering of substrate-supported graphene in acidic solutions," [Link] [Cover]
ACS Nano, 16, 6145-6152, 2022.


W. Li, Y. Li, K. Xu, "Facile, electrochemical chlorination of graphene from an aqueous NaCl solution," [Link]
Nano Lett., 21, 1150-1155, 2021.


S. Moon||, W. Li||, M. Hauser, K. Xu, "Graphene-enabled, spatially controlled electroporation of adherent cells for live-cell super-resolution microscopy," [Link]
ACS Nano, 14, 5609-5617, 2020.


W. Li, Y. Li, K. Xu, "Azidated graphene: direct azidation from monolayers, click chemistry, and bulk production from graphite," [Link]
Nano Lett., 20, 534-539, 2020.


Y. Li, W. Li, M. Wojcik, B. Wang, L.-C. Lin, M. B. Raschke, K. Xu, "Light-assisted diazonium functionalization of graphene and spatial heterogeneities in reactivity," [Link]
J. Phys. Chem. Lett., 10, 4788-4793, 2019.


W. Li, M. Wojcik, K. Xu, "Optical microscopy unveils rapid, reversible electrochemical oxidation and reduction of graphene," [Link]
Nano Lett., 19, 983-989, 2019.


D. Joshi||, M. Hauser||, G. Veber, A. Berl, K. Xu, F. R. Fischer, "Super-resolution imaging of clickable graphene nanoribbons decorated with fluorescent dyes," [Link]
J. Am. Chem. Soc., 140, 9574-9580, 2018.


M. Wojcik||, Y. Li||, W. Li, K. Xu, "Spatially resolved in situ reaction dynamics of graphene via optical microscopy,"[Link]
J. Am. Chem. Soc., 139, 5836-5841, 2017.


W. Li||, S. Moon||, M. Wojcik||, K. Xu, "Direct optical visualization of graphene and its nanoscale defects on transparent substrates,"[Link]
Nano Lett., 16, 5027-5031, 2016.


M. Wojcik||, M. Hauser||, W. Li, S. Moon, K. Xu, "Graphene-enabled electron microscopy and correlated super-resolution microscopy of wet cells," [Link]
Nature Commun., 6, 7384, 2015