Education & Training
- B.A., Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Tsinghua University-2014
- Ph.D., Biology, Tsinghua University-2018
- Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Stanford University-2023
Research Interest Summary
Research Categories
Research Interests
Regulation of anti-tumor immunity by regulatory CD8+ T cells. Previously, we have demonstrated the important role of KIR+CD8+ regulatory T cells in maintenance of peripheral tolerance by suppressing autoreactive T cells. Since a large fraction of tumor antigens is derived from the self, we are curious whether the regulatory functions of KIR+CD8+ T cells extend to anti-tumor immunity. We will leverage cutting-edge technologies, mouse cancer models and patient-derived specimens to understand the role of KIR+/Ly49+CD8+ Tregs in regulating anti-tumor immunity and how their differentiation or functions are regulated by the tumor microenvironment.
Dynamic changes of cell-surface proteomes on tumor-infiltrating T cells. In the field of tumor immunology, a central question that requires further investigation is how T cells ‘talk’ to neighboring cells through signaling at the cellular interface to promote tumor progression. We will use a newly developed technology to profile the dynamic changes of cell-surface proteomes on anti-tumor T cells and regulatory T cells in situ in the tumor microenvironment. We aim to identify new targets to reinvigorate the anti-tumor T cells or suppress the regulatory T cells for cancer immunotherapy.
Understanding the pathogenesis of human Type 1 Diabetes. We are currently working on the analysis of samples obtained from the TEDDY cohort, a study that involves the longitudinal collection of PBMCs from individuals at various stages: before seroconversion, during seroconversion, and up to the onset of Type 1 Diabetes (T1D). Our primary objective is to gain insights into the breakdown of immune tolerance during the progression to T1D and to identify antigenic drivers of T1D. To achieve this, we will monitor the quantitative and phenotypic changes in CD4+ and CD8+ regulatory T cells over time using single-cell RNA sequencing. Additionally, we will be collaborating with Dr. Alok Joglekar to decode the antigen specificities of T cell receptors associated with disease progression.
Representative Publications
Li J, Zaslavsky M, Su Y, Guo J, Sikora MJ, van Unen V, Christophersen A, Chiou SH, Chen L, Li J, Ji X, Wilhelmy J, McSween AM, Palanski BA, Mallajosyula VVA, Bracey NA, Dhondalay GKR, Bhamidipati K, Pai J, Kipp LB, Dunn JE, Hauser SL, Oksenberg JR, Satpathy AT, Robinson WH, Dekker CL, Steinmetz LM, Khosla C, Utz PJ, Sollid LM, Chien YH, Heath JR, Fernandez-Becker NQ, Nadeau KC, Saligrama N, Davis MM. KIR+CD8+ T cells suppress pathogenic T cells and are active in autoimmune diseases and COVID-19. Science 376(6590):eabi9591, 2022.
Li J, Lee Y, Li Y, Jiang Y, Lu H, Zang W, Zhao X, Liu L, Chen Y, Tan H, Yang Z, Zhang MQ, Mak TW, Ni L, Dong C. Co-inhibitory Molecule B7 Superfamily Member 1 Expressed by Tumor-Infiltrating Myeloid Cells Induces Dysfunction of Anti-tumor CD8+ T Cells. Immunity 48:773-786, 2018.
Li J, He Y, Hao J, Ni L, Dong C. High Levels of Eomes Promote Exhaustion of Anti-tumor CD8+ T Cells. Front Immunol. 9:2981, 2018.
Li J, Shayan G, Avery L, Jie HB, Gildener-Leapman N, Schmitt N, Lu BF, Kane LP, Ferris RL. Tumor-infiltrating Tim-3+ T cells proliferate avidly except when PD-1 is co-expressed: Evidence for intracellular cross talk. Oncoimmunology 5:e1200778, 2016.
Li J, Srivastava RM, Ettyreddy A, Ferris RL. Cetuximab ameliorates suppressive phenotypes of myeloid antigen presenting cells in head and neck cancer patients. J Immunother Cancer 3:54, 2015.
Li J, Jie HB, Lei Y, Gildener-Leapman N, Trivedi S, Green T, Kane LP, Ferris RL. PD-1/SHP-2 inhibits Tc1/Th1 phenotypic responses and the activation of T cells in the tumor microenvironment. Cancer Research 75:508-518, 2015.