WU Kaixiang, Selwin

Senior Research Fellow, Mechanobiology Institute, National University of Singapore

selwinwu@nus.edu.sg
Level 10 T-Lab
National University of Singapore
5A Engineering Drive 1
Singapore 117411

Wu Kaixiang, Selwin

Senior Research Fellow

Principal Investigator

Low Boon Chuan

Research Interests

The Cell-Matrix and Cell-Cell Mechanotransduction Group

Biography:

Selwin uses a range of photonic, bioengineered microenvironments, 3D live imaging, protein assays, computational analysis, transcriptomics, and gene-editing methods to reveal how inflammation, aging, and cancer progression emerge from molecular and cellular transformations. He discovered 1) that the cellular oxygen sensing pathway is triggered by ROS and centrosome amplification as part of the aging inflammatory response that promotes tumor cell invasion and 2) how metastatic cells get extruded from crowded transformed epithelium, collectively invade foreign tissues.

Selwin graduated with First-Class Honours and a PhD with a Dean’s award from the University of Queensland, Australia. During his post-doctoral training at Harvard Medical School, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, USA and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, USA, he received a Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Fellow award. He then returned to Singapore and was awarded a Young Individual Research Grant by the National Medical Research Council. Selwin has experience in mentoring and science communication.

Selected Publications

1. Wu SK*, Ariffin J⁺, Tay SC⁺, Picone R⁺ (2023) The variant Senescence-Associated-Secretory-Phenotype induced by centrosome amplification constitutes a pathway that activates Hypoxia-Inducible-Factor-1α. Aging Cell * Corresponding author ⁺Contributed Equally (IF: 11)
2. Wu SK, Gomez GA, Michael M, Verma S, Cox HL, Lefevre JG, Parton RG, Hamilton NA, Neufeld Z, Yap AS (2014) Cortical F-actin stabilization generates apical-lateral patterns of junctional contractility that integrate cells into epithelia. Nature Cell Biology. (IF: 28.8) 16: 167-78.

Recent Publications

1. Liu XO, Lin BL, Bunk S, Chew T, Wu SK*, Motegi F*, Low BC* (2024) A ZO-2 scaffolding mechanism regulates the Hippo signaling pathway. FEBS Journal. * Corresponding author
2. Wu SK*, Gomez GA, Stehbens SJ, Priya R, Ratheesh A, Acharya BR, Lagendijk AK, Bershadsky AD (2022) Editorial: Forces in Biology II- Cell and Developmental Mechanobiology and its implications in disease. (ebook compilation of 10 manuscripts) Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology. * Corresponding author
3. Wu SK*, Gomez GA*, Stehbens SJ, Smutny M. (2020) Editorial: Forces in Biology- Cell and Developmental Mechanobiology and its implications in disease. (book compilation of 14 manuscripts) Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology. (IF: 6) * Corresponding author
4. Wu SK* and Priya R* (2019) Spatio-temporal regulation of RhoGTPases signaling by Myosin II. Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology. (IF: 6) 7(90) * Corresponding author
5. Acharya BR, Wu SK, Liu ZZ, Parton RG, Grill SW, Bershadsky AD, Gomez GA, Yap AS (2017) Mammalian Diaphanous 1 mediates a pathway for E-cadherin to stabilize epithelial barriers through junctional contractility. Cell Reports. (IF: 9.4) 18(12):2854-2867.
6. Wu SK*, Lagendijk AK, Hogan BM, Gomez GA, Yap AS* (2015) Active contractility at E-cadherin junctions and its implications for cell extrusion in cancer. Cell Cycle. 14(3): 315-322. (Featured Cover Article) * Corresponding author
7. Gomez GA, McLachlan RW, Wu SK, Caldwell B, Moussa E, Verma S, Bastiani M, Priya R, Parton RG, Gaus K, Sap J, Yap AS (2015) A PTPRA/SFK/Rap1 signaling module regulates Myosin IIB to support contractile tension at apical E-cadherin junctions. Molecular Biology of the Cell. (IF: 4.1)
8. Greenlees R & Mihelec M, Yousoof S, Spiedel D, Wu SK, et al., and Jamieson RV (2015) Mutations in SIPA1L3 cause eye defects through disruption of cell polarity and cytoskeleton organization. Human Molecular Genetics (IF: 6.15) (Featured cover article)
9. Wu SK*, Budnar S, Yap AS*, Gomez GA (2014) Pulsatile contractility of actomyosin networks organizes the cellular cortex at lateral cadherin junctions. European Journal of Cell Biology. (IF: 4.5) 93: 396-404 * Corresponding author
10. Moore T, Wu SK, Michael M, Yap AS, Gomez GA, Neufeld Z (2014) Self-organizing actomyosin patterns on the cell cortex at epithelial cell-cell junctions. Biophysical Journal. (IF: 4.0) 107: 2652-61.
11. Leerberg JM, Gomez GA, Verma S, Moussa EJ, Wu SK, Priya R, Hoffman BD, Grashoff C, Schwartz MA, Yap AS (2014) Tension-sensitive actin assembly supports contractility at the epithelia zonula adherens. Current Biology. (IF: 9.6) 24:1689-99. – Commented in Current Biology Dispatch
12. Han SP, Gambin Y, Gomez GA, Verma S, Giles N, Michael M, Wu SK, Guo Z, Johnston W, Sierecki E, Parton RG, Alexandrov K, Yap AS (2014) Cortactin scaffolds Arp2/3 and WAVE2 at the epithelial zonula adherens. Journal of Biological Chemistry. (IF: 5.2) 289:7764-75. (Featured cover article and JBC paper of the week)
13. Wu SK* and Yap AS* (2013) Patterns in space- Coordinating adhesion and actomyosin contractility at E-cadherin junctions. Cell Communication and Adhesion. 20:201-12. Review * Corresponding author
14. Smutny M, Wu SK, Gomez GA, Mangold S, Yap AS, Hamilton NA (2011) Multicomponent analysis of junctional movements regulated by Myosin II isoforms at the epithelial zonula adherens. PLOS ONE. (IF: 2.74) 6(7): e22458.
15. Mangold S, Wu SK, Norwood SJ, Collins BM, Hamilton NA, Thorn P, Yap AS (2011) Hepatocyte growth factor acutely perturbs actin filament anchorage at the epithelial zonula adherens. Current Biology (IF: 9.6) 21(6): 503-7.