RESEARCH01
Cancer-Immune crosstalk and Immune modulation
Cancer cells not only communicate with other cancer cells but also crosstalk
with immune cells to modify their function and ultimately to evade the anti-
tumor immune response. Our goal is to find tumor-dependent immune cell
changes and discover the interaction between cancer and immune cells which underlies the immunomodulatory effects.
We are interested in how tumor-specific features, such as mutations, influence the surrounding immune microenvironment. Specifically, we aim to examine how cancer cells affect the behavior of different immune cell populations, especially cytotoxic and suppressive T cells, and determine the key drivers of immunosuppressive microenvironment development. Based on these findings, we can provide insights into understanding the mechanism behind the limitations of immunotherapy and facilitate development of precision medicine that accommodates the immunomodulatory features of cancer cells.
Key Research Directions
Investigating Cancer-Immune phenotypes
We aim to first investigate the phenotype of immune cells in tumor microenvironment and determine underlying immunomodulatory mechanism of cancer cells and the driving characteristic.
Utilizing Advanced Immunoassays
To examine the phenotypes of cancer and immune cells, we utilize a multitude of immunoassays including flow cytometry, bulk RNA sequencing, T cell suppression assays. We also utilize immunohistochemistry to study the interaction between cancer and immune cells in tumor tissues.