HO Lab
Our focus
Our research centers on deciphering how nutrients affect immune responses of an array of immune cells through the unexplored metabolic regulations and to investigate how metabolic reprogramming and targeting can be harnessed to fine-tune immune responses in diseases, especially tumor immunity and autoimmune.
Our projects
Metabolic adaptation of T cells
Metabolic stress imposed by the tumor microenvironment and peripheral tissues to CD8 T cells and other tissue-resident T cells challenges cellular behaviors. In this research theme, we would like to decipher how these regulations tailor T cell behavior and differentiation program by intervening signaling, epitranscripome, and proteome.
Metabolic crosstalk during immuosurveillance
Metabolic competition and communication between cancer cells and their neighboring immune cells determines the amplitude and type of immune response. In this direction, we would like to understand how this communication influence immune cell’s behavior and metabolic makeup of cancer cells uring tumorigenesis.
Firing up immune ignorant tumor
Lack of T cell infiltration in tumors represents one of the major barriers of effective cancer immunotherapy, especially checkpoint blockade. In this project, we would like to understand how we can fire up cold tumors to synergize with current immunotherapy and aim to define new types of immunotherapies for cancer treatment.
Immunometabolic regulations in macrophages
The functional plasticity of macrophages is tightly regulated by cytokines. In vivo, metabolic activities of macrophages have been revealed to play a new layer of regulation to orchestrate macrophage activities. We would like to decipher how these metabolic regulations, especially mitochondrial processes, guide macrophage activation and shape their functions in tumor and inflammatory diseases.
Exosome and immunometabolic regulations
Exosome released by dendritic cells play a critical role on guiding T cell activation. However, it remains unclear if it regulates T cell metabolism. Here, we would like to explore this and aim to exploit novel approaches for vaccine design and cancer immunotherapy.
KEY PUBLICATIONS
- Pu-Ste Liu, Haiping Wang, Xiaoyun Li, Tung Chao, Stefan Christen, Giusy Di Conza, Wan-Chen Cheng, Chih-Hung Chou, Magdalena Vavakova, Charlotte Muret, Koen Debackere, Massimiliano Mazzone, Hsien-Da Hung, Sarah Maria-Fendt, Julijana Ivanisevic, Ping-Chih Ho (2017) α-Ketoglutarate orchestrates macrophage activation through metabolic and epigenetic reprogramming. Nat. Immunol. 18; 985-994.
- Haiping Wang, Fabien Franco, Yao-Chen Tsui, Xin Xie, Marcel P. Trefny, Roberta Zappasodi, Syed Raza Mohmood, Juan Fernández-García, Chin-Hsien Tsai, Isabell Schulze, Florence Picard, Etienne Meylan, Roy Silverstein, Ira Goldberg, Sarah-Maria Fendt, Jedd D. Wolchok, Taha Merghoub, Camilla Jandus, Alfred Zippelius, Ping-Chih Ho (2020) CD36-mediated metabolic adaptation supports regulatory T cell survival and function in tumors. Nat. Immunol. 21; 298-308.
- Yi-Ru Yu, Hana Imrichova, Haiping Wang, Tung Chao, Zhengtao Xiao, Min Gao, Marcela Rincon-Restrepo, Fabien Franco, Raphael Genolet, Wan-Chen Cheng, Camilla Jandus, George Coukos, Yi-Fan Jiang, Jason W. Locasale, Alfred Zippelius, Pu-Ste Liu, Li Tang, Christoph Bock, Nicola Vannini, Ping-Chih Ho (2020) Disturbed mitochondrial dynamics rewire the epigenetic program for CD8+ TIL exhaustion. Nat. Immunol. 21; 1540-1551.
Meet all the Ho Lab Members.
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