Research
The interplay of immunity and metabolism
The focus of my lab is to understand how immunity contributes to the maintenance of metabolism, and how metabolism affects immunity. We approach this questions from multiple aspects:
To investigate the immunometabolic relationship between metabolite transporters and immune cells
Immunometabolism is a new term describing the interactions between metabolism and immunity, the biological functions that have long considered as two distinct entities. However, despite the substrate to be pathogens or nutrients, both processes work to restoring the homeostasis of the body.  With modern diet, the correlation between overnutrition and chronic inflammation brings the attention to how metabolic homeostasis contribute to properly controlled immune system. It is becoming clear that immune activation can affect metabolism while metabolic changes also have profound influence
To understand the relationship between microenvironment and the metabolic status of immune cells
Emerging evidence suggests that metabolic reactions and processes exert great influences in the immune effector functions. However, how exactly the microenvironment provides and signals its resident immune cells to perform their tissue-specific functions, is largely unexplored.
The involvement of energy metabolism in neurodegenerative diseases
The medical advances have greatly prolonged human life. At the same time, the aging-related disorders also become emerging challenges. Neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer disease or Huntington disease, are still lacking effective treatments. In this project, we approach these diseases from metabolism angle and aim to further the understanding of pathogenesis.
Novel Vaccine Platform
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the need for medical intervention, our lab also initiate a research project to develop novel vaccine platform. We have established the animal model and related assays to evaluate the efficacy of vaccine in the lab. In this project, we aim to provide the vaccine that is stable yet easy to store and transport in the future.
To explore the immune response in lysosomal storage diseases
Glycosphingolipids (GSLs) are one of the most abundant glyco-conjugates in the body – they are integral part of the plasma membrane. Daily turnover of the senescent red blood cells (RBCs) and apoptotic cells generate large amounts of GSLs that need to be processed, making the proper degradation and recycling of GSLs crucial events for maintaining body homeostasis. Degradation of GSLs is a stepwise process that requires multiple lysosomal hydrolases and defective enzyme activity often leads to GSL storage diseases. For example, mutations of the enzyme a-galactosidase A (GLA) result in Fabry disease (FD), that features accumulation of its substrate – globotriaosylceramide (Gb3). Gb3 buildup eventually leads to tissue damage and organ malfunction such as kidney failure and cardiomyopathy – the clinical features known to have immunological components. However, how Gb3 accumulation may affect immune cells and how immune cells may contribute to the pathogenesis of FD are largely unexplored questions.