• Gene Regulation in Skeletal Muscle Stem Cells, Muscle Regeneration and Aging
• Biological Regulatory Functions of DNA/RNA G-quadruplexes
• Gene Regulatory Functions of Helicase Proteins

Xiaona Chen’s research focuses on deciphering the regulatory mechanisms of G-quadruplexes (G4), helicase proteins, RNA structure and RNA binding proteins in modulating gene expression in skeletal muscle stem cells (also known as muscle satellite cells, SC) during muscle regeneration and aging.

Xiana Chen obtained her BSc degree from the School of Life Sciences, East China Normal University (ECNU) in 2006. She continued her study at ECNU, focusing on miRNAs and cancer, and obtained her MSc degree in 2009. She switched to lncRNAs and skeletal muscle related research and obtained her PhD degree in Obstetrics and Gynaecology from the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) in 2014. She pursued her postdoctoral training in the Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology of CUHK (2015-2019) and in the Division of Life Science at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (2019-2022).

1. Faculty Postdoctoral Fellowship Scheme, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (2015 – 2018)
2. Postgraduate Student Grants for Overseas Academic Activities, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (2013)
3. Postgraduate Studentship, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (2011 – 2014)

1. Zhang K, Nie Q, Li M, Chen X, Zhong L, Dai T, Guo X, Zhao H, Lau TCK, Wang H, Chen S Bin, Kwok CK. RNA G-quadruplex structure-based PROTACs for targeted DHX36 protein degradation and gene activity modulation in mammalian cells. Nucleic Acids Research. 2025;53(3). doi:10.1093/nar/gkaf039.
2. Sun Q, Zhou Q, Qiao Y, Chen X, Sun H, Wang H. Pervasive RNA-binding protein enrichment on TAD boundaries regulates TAD organization. Nucleic Acids Research. 2025;53(1). doi:10.1093/nar/gkae1271.
3. Chen X, Yang F, Zhang S, Guo X, Zhao J, Qiao Y, He L, Li Y, Zhou Q, Ong MTY, Kwok CK, Sun H, Wang H. DNA G-quadruplex profiling in skeletal muscle stem cells reveals functional and mechanistic insights. Genome Biology. 2025;26(1). doi:10.1186/s13059-025-03753-w.
4. Zhang Y, Zhao J, Chen X, Qiao Y, Kang J, Guo X, Yang F, Lyu K, Ding Y, Zhao Y, Sun H, Kwok CK, Wang H. DHX36 binding induces RNA structurome remodeling and regulates RNA abundance via m6A reader YTHDF1. Nature Communications. 2024;15(1):9890. doi:10.1038/s41467-024-54000-y.
5. Qiao Y, Sun Q, Chen X, He L, Wang D, Su R, Xue Y, Sun H, Wang H. Nuclear m6A reader YTHDC1 promotes muscle stem cell activation/proliferation by regulating mRNA splicing and nuclear export. eLife. 2023;12. doi:10.7554/elife.82703.
6. Zhao Y, Ding Y, He L, Zhou Q, Chen X, Li Y, Alfonsi MV, Wu Z, Sun H, Wang H. Multiscale 3D genome reorganization during skeletal muscle stem cell lineage progression and aging. Science Advances. 2023;9(7). doi:10.1126/sciadv.abo1360.
7. He Z, Chen X, Liu G, Li Y, Yang F, Sun H, Wang H. Sugt1 loss in skeletal muscle stem cells impairs muscle regeneration and causes premature muscle aging. Life Medicine. 2023;2(4). doi:10.1093/lifemedi/lnad039.
8. So KKH, Huang Y, Zhang S, Qiao Y, He L, Li Y, Chen X, Sham MH, Sun H, Wang H. seRNA PAM controls skeletal muscle satellite cell proliferation and aging through trans regulation of Timp2 expression synergistically with Ddx5. Aging Cell. 2022;21(8). doi:10.1111/acel.13673.
9. Chen X, Xue G, Zhao J, Zhang Y, Zhang S, Wang W, Li Y, Yuan J, He L, Chan CY, Liu Y, Chen W, Zhao Y, Hu P, Sun H, Kwok CK, Wang H. Lockd promotes myoblast proliferation and muscle regeneration via binding with DHX36 to facilitate 5’UTR rG4 unwinding and Anp32e Cell Reports. 2022;39(10):110927. doi:10.1016/j.celrep.2022.110927.
10. Chen X, Yuan J, Xue G, Campanario S, Wang D, Wang W, Mou X, Liew SW, Umar MI, Isern J, Zhao Y, He L, Li Y, Mann CJ, Yu X, Wang L, Perdiguero E, Chen W, Xue Y, Nagamine Y, Kwok CK, Sun H, Muñoz-Cánoves P, Wang H. Translational control by DHX36 binding to 5’UTR G-quadruplex is essential for muscle stem-cell regenerative functions. Nature Communications. 2021;12(1):5043-. doi:10.1038/s41467-021-25170-w.
11. Li Y, Yuan J, Chen F, Zhang S, Zhao Y, Chen X, Lu L, Zhou L, Chu CY, Sun H, Wang H. Long noncoding RNA SAM promotes myoblast proliferation through stabilizing Sugt1 and facilitating kinetochore assembly. Nature Communications. 2020;11(1):2725-. doi:10.1038/s41467-020-16553-6.
12. Zhao Y, Zhou J, He L, Li Y, Yuan J, Sun K, Chen X, Bao X, Esteban MA, Sun H, Wang H. MyoD induced enhancer RNA interacts with hnRNPL to activate target gene transcription during myogenic differentiation. Nature Communications. 2019;10(1):5787-. doi:10.1038/s41467-019-13598-0.
13. Li Y, Chen X, Sun H, Wang H. Long non-coding RNAs in the regulation of skeletal myogenesis and muscle diseases. Cancer Letters. 2018;417:58-64. doi:10.1016/j.canlet.2017.12.015. (Review)
14. Chen X, He L, Zhao Y, Li Y, Zhang S, Sun K, So K, Chen F, Zhou L, Lu L, Wang L, Zhu X, Bao X, Esteban MA, Nakagawa S, Prasanth K V., Wu Z, Sun H, Wang H. Malat1 regulates myogenic differentiation and muscle regeneration through modulating MyoD transcriptional activity. Cell Discovery. 2017;3(1):17002-. doi:10.1038/celldisc.2017.2.
15. Wang L, Zhao Y, Bao X, Zhu X, Kwok YKY, Sun K, Chen X, Huang Y, Jauch R, Esteban MA, Sun H, Wang H. LncRNA Dum interacts with Dnmts to regulate Dppa2 expression during myogenic differentiation and muscle regeneration. Cell Research. 2015;25(3):335-350. doi:10.1038/cr.2015.21.
16. Zhou L, Sun K, Zhao Y, Zhang S, Wang X, Li Y, Lu L, Chen X, Chen F, Bao X, Zhu X, Wang L, Tang LY, Esteban MA, Wang CC, Jauch R, Sun H, Wang H. Linc-YY1 promotes myogenic differentiation and muscle regeneration through an interaction with the transcription factor YY1. Nature Communications. 2015;6. doi:10.1038/ncomms10026.
17. Lu L, Sun K, Chen X, Zhao Y, Wang L, Zhou L, Sun H, Wang H. Genome-wide survey by ChIP-seq reveals YY1 regulation of lincRNAs in skeletal myogenesis. EMBO Journal. 2013;32(19):2575-2588. doi:10.1038/emboj.2013.182.
18. Sun K, Chen X, Jiang P, Song X, Wang H, Sun H. iSeeRNA: Identification of long intergenic non-coding RNA transcripts from transcriptome sequencing data. BMC Genomics. 2013;14(2):S7-. doi:10.1186/1471-2164-14-s2-s7.
19. Wang L, Zhou L, Jiang P, Lu L, Chen X, Lan H, Guttridge DC, Sun H, Wang H. Loss of miR-29 in myoblasts contributes to dystrophic muscle pathogenesis. Molecular Therapy. 2012;20(6):1222-1233. doi:10.1038/mt.2012.35.
20. Qi Y, Chen X, Chan CY, Li D, Yuan C, Yu F, Lin MC, Yew DT, Kung HF, Lai L. Two-dimensional differential gel electrophoresis/analysis of diethylnitrosamine induced rat hepatocellular carcinoma. International Journal of Cancer. 2008;122(12):2682-2688. doi:10.1002/ijc.23464.