About

Ming Xian is the Jesse Houghton Metcalf Professor of Chemistry at Brown University. He received his BS from Nankai University, China, in 1995 and his PhD from Wayne State University in 2003. Following his doctoral studies, he was a DOD postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania in Professor Amos B. Smith, III's laboratory from 2003 to 2006. He began his academic career at Washington State University in 2006, where he was promoted from Assistant Professor to Full Professor by 2015 and was named the first Ralph G. Yount Distinguished Professor in Chemical Biology in 2017. In 2020, he moved to Brown University, where he continues his research. His research focuses on the interface between chemistry and biology, particularly on sulfur-based signaling molecules such as hydrogen sulfide (H2S), persulfides (RSSH), and S-nitrosothiols (RSNO). These molecules are significant in various physiological and pathophysiological processes, and his group aims to understand their fundamental chemistry and properties, as well as to develop chemical tools to facilitate their research. His work also includes projects related to synthetic methodology development, bio-orthogonal chemistry, and fluorescent dye/sensor development. Dr. Xian's laboratory provides training in organic synthesis, bioorganic/medicinal chemistry, analytic chemistry, and cell/molecular biology.

Research topics

• Chemistry
• Biochemistry
• Thermodynamics
• Biology
• Composite material
• Physical chemistry
• Materials science
• Anatomy
• Combinatorial chemistry

Selected publications

• Optimization of the TLR7/8 Activation-Based Sorting System for Goat Sperm

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2026-01-01

  preprintOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• SlSTOP1–SlFRDL1–mediated citrate exudation modulates apoplastic iron–redox homeostasis to promote primary root elongation under phosphate deficiency in tomato

  Plant Physiology and Biochemistry · 2025-12-18 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  concentrations promote, but high concentrations inhibit, PR elongation. Together, these results identify a rewired SlSTOP1-SlFRDL1-citrate module that replaces the Arabidopsis STOP1-ALMT1-malate pathway, converting an inhibitory Fe-ROS signal into a growth-permissive redox regime and providing a mechanistic basis for species-specific root adaptation to Pi deficiency.

  PublisherDOI

• Light responsive hydrogen selenide (H ₂ Se)/hydrogen diselenide (H ₂ Se ₂ ) donors: applied for protein <i>S</i> -selenylation on PRDX6

  Chemical Science · 2025-01-01 · 1 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  -selenylation (CysS-SeH) on Cys47 and Cys91 in both recombinant peroxiredoxin-6 (PRDX6) and PRDX6-overexpressing HEK293T cells. This photo-triggered donor system may serve as a new strategy to control selenium-based protein post-translational modifications for mechanistic studies into selenium metabolic pathways and ferroptosis.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Unique response of polysulfide in serum albumin to oxidative stress

  Scientific Reports · 2025-11-27

  articleOpen access

  H). The physiological activities of intracellular supersulfides have been widely studied, but little is known about the role of supersulfides in extracellular biological fluids. We therefore analyzed the pathological changes and oxidative stress responses of the reduced and oxidized forms of polysulfides in the plasma of patients with diabetic nephropathy. We measured the reduced and oxidized forms of polysulfide with elimination of sulfides using dithiothreitol and ascorbic acid plus alkali conditions, respectively. Oxidation decreased oxidized forms of polysulfide and further polysulfide in human serum albumin, increasing its antioxidative activity. We identified seven cysteine residues that have polysulfides in a reduced form after oxidation in albumin. Further oxidation decreased the levels of the reduced forms of polysulfide and the antioxidative effect of serum albumin. Similar changes were also observed in a mouse model of rhabdomyolysis-induced acute kidney injury; the levels of reduced polysulfide in plasma transiently increased 1 h after glycerol administration, which was accompanied by increased antioxidative activity. In the sera of patients with diabetic nephropathy and chronic renal failure, both forms of polysulfides were decreased compared with those of healthy subjects. Analysis of the stages of renal damage revealed that dithiothreitol-liberated polysulfide increased from stages 1-3 and decreased in stage 5. These results suggest that the antioxidative activity of serum, including that of serum albumin, is regulated by the switch from the oxidized form of polysulfide to its reduced counterparts in response to oxidative stress.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Traceless Peptide Backbone Editing via Bio-inspired Cysteine to Thiazole Conversion

  ChemRxiv · 2025-12-18

  articleSenior author

  Late-stage peptide modification is an important strategy for exploiting and expanding peptide bioactivity. While numerous methods exist for side-chain functionalization, chemical approaches for backbone editing remain limited. Inspired by the natural, enzyme-mediated conversion of cysteine to thiazole within peptides, we developed a traceless “label-and-edit” strategy for the backbone modification of cysteine-containing peptides. This method involves selective, biocompatible labeling of cysteine thiols with bromoacetophenone, followed by photoinduced thioaldehyde/enethiol formation and subsequent SH/amide cyclization to generate thiazole-containing peptides. A broad range of synthetic and natural peptides are compati-ble with this transformation, demonstrating its value as a versatile platform for late-stage peptide modification.

  PublisherDOI

• Non-Replicable Function-Based Multi-Level Random Dynamic Secret Key Algorithm

  2025-06-27

  article1st authorCorresponding

  Based on the proof that, as an encryption function, the residual function <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$y=(a x)_{\bmod m}$</tex> is a non-replicable function, this paper constructs multi-level encryption functions <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$y_{1}=\left(a_{1} x\right)_{\bmod m_{1}, \ldots, y_{n}=\left(a_{n} y_{n-1}\right)_{\bmod } m_{n} \text {. And based on }}$</tex> this the paper constructs the multi-level random dynamic secret key algorithm XM-1. XM-1 has three-fold safeguards. First, the encryption function is not replicable. Secondly, the secret keys and the number of secret keys are randomized. Thirdly, when the system does not run, there is no secret key. After slight changes, the four examples for constructing XM1given in this paper can be put into practical use.

  PublisherDOI

• Hydrogen Sulfide Deficiency and Therapeutic Targeting in Cardiometabolic HFpEF

  JACC Basic to Translational Science · 2025-08-06 · 6 citations

  articleOpen access

  S bioavailability may provide a novel therapeutic strategy for HFpEF.

  PublisherDOI

• Phthalimide-based sulfur transfer reagents for the preparation of biologically relevant trisulfides

  Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry · 2025-01-01

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Reactive sulfur species (RSS) are a class of biological sulfur compounds that play significant roles in various physiological processes. Among these, trisulfides (RSSSR) have been recognized for their unique biological activities such as antioxidation. However, there is still a lack of suitable methods for the preparation of biothiol and protein trisulfides that will enable a better understanding of trisulfide's roles in RSS biology. In this study, we developed and analyzed the use of phthalimide-based disulfide reagents to generate trisulfides from thiols found abundantly in physiologically relevant environments. This approach was tested on both small molecule and larger protein thiols. The results demonstrated that this method provides access to both biothiol- and protein-based trisulfides and may facilitate further exploration of the functions of trisulfides in biological systems.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• endoscoRegional disparities in cost-effectiveness of biologics for CRSwNP warrant tailored treatment strategies

  Rhinology Journal · 2025-10-01 · 1 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding

  We read with great interest the recent study by Fieux et al. (1), which developed an evaluation model based on clinical practices, public health insurance, and private insurance systems in France. Through rigorous cost-effectiveness analysis, the authors concluded that initiating biologic therapy in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) without previous endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) imposes excessive economic burdens. This finding aligns with the current guideline regarding the indications for biological treatment in CRSwNP, which reserves biologics primarily for patients with prior ESS history.

  PublisherDOI

• Corrigendum to “TLR7/8 agonist (R848) inhibit bovine X sperm motility via PI3K/GSK3α/β and PI3K/NFκB pathways” [Int. J. Biol. Macromol. 232 (2023) 123485]

  International Journal of Biological Macromolecules · 2025-01-17

  erratumOpen access
  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• Understanding Opoiod Dependence and Hydrogen Sulfide

  NIH · $408k · 2018–2022

• Mechanistic Chemistry of Reactive Sulfur Species

  NSF · $450k · 2020–2024

• Hydrogen Sulfide Regulation in Cardioprotection

  NIH · $2.3M · 2020–2025

• Chemical Tools for Understanding the Redox Biology of Reactive Sulfur Species

  NIH · $1.3M · 2018–2023

• D3SC: EAGER: Data-driven development of fluorescent sensors for bio-imaging

  NSF · $300k · 2017–2020

Frequent coauthors

• Shi Xu

  91 shared

• Meg Shieh

  Providence College

  72 shared

• Wei Chen

  53 shared

• Xiang Ni

  China Pharmaceutical University

  43 shared

• Chung‐Min Park

  Gangneung–Wonju National University

  42 shared

• Peng George Wang

  39 shared

• Amos B. Smith

  University of Pennsylvania

  38 shared

• Eizo Marutani

  36 shared

Labs

• Ming Xian LabPI

  Postdoctoral Associates & Graduate Students

Awards & honors

• Ralph G. Yount Distinguished Professor in Chemical Biology (…