Host-Tumor Interactions Research Program

Tumor growth, invasion, and metastasis depend not only on the tumor cell alone, but also on the complex interactions between the cancer, stromal, and immune cells. The goal of the Host-Tumor Interactions Research Program is to develop a detailed and mechanistic understanding of the complex cell and microenvironment in which cancer cell interact, and how these interactions influence cancer therapies and immunotherapies.

RESEARCH THEMES

With the goal of understanding how complex interactions between tumor cells and their host contribute to cancer, the Host-Tumor Interactions program focuses on three specific research themes:

Inflammation & Immunity

Uncovering basic immune regulatory mechanisms in anti-tumor immunity and how inflammation can be exploited to eliminate cancer or can trigger and promote tumors

Tumor Systems Biology

Establishing single cell biology and modeling approaches to assess the composition and roles of the heterogeneous cell populations in tumor progression or therapeutic responses.

Tumor Imaging & Metabolism

Integrating and developing molecular imaging technologies to understand and monitor how tumors evolve in a changing microenvironment

Program Leader

Jeffrey C. Rathmell, Ph.D.

Program Leader

John T. Wilson, Ph.D.

All Program Members

Featured Publications

Nanoparticle STING Agonist Reprograms the Bone Marrow to an Antitumor Phenotype and Protects Against Bone Destruction.

Florian, D.C., Bennett, N.E., Odziomek, M., Baljon, J.J., Wehbe, M., Merkel, A.R., Fischer, M.A., Savona, M.R. (TR), Rhoades, J.A., Guelcher, S.A. & Wilson, J.T. (HT).

Cancer Res Commun 3(2):223, 2023; PMC10035525.

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Matrix Stiffness Induces Epithelial-to-mesenchymal Transition via Piezo1-regulated Calcium Flux in Prostate Cancer Cells.

Lopez-Cavestany, M., Hahn, S.B., Hope, J.M., Reckhorn, N.T., Greenlee, J.D., Schwager, S.C., VanderBurgh, J.A., Reinhart-King, C.A. (HT) & King, M.R. (GI).

iScience 26(4):106275, 2023; PMC10025097.

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The Cellular and KSHV A-to-I RNA Editome in Primary Effusion Lymphoma and its Role in the Viral Lifecycle.

Rajendren, S., Ye, X., Dunker, W., Richardson, A. & Karijolich, J. (HT).

Nat Commun 14(1):1367, 2023; PMID:36914661.

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Core Polymer Optimization of Ternary siRNA Nanoparticles Enhances in vivo Safety, Pharmacokinetics, and Tumor Gene Silencing.

Patel, S.S., Hoogenboezem, E.N., Yu, F., DeJulius, C.R., Fletcher, R.B., Sorets, A.G., Cherry, F.K., Lo, J.H., Bezold, M.G., Francini, N., d'Arcy, R., Brasuell, J.E., Cook, R.S. & Duvall, C.L. (HT).

Biomaterials 297:122098, 2023; PMID:37031547.

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Matrix Stiffness Regulates Tumor Cell Intravasation Through Expression and ESRP1-mediated Alternative Splicing of MENA.

Wang, W., Taufalele, P.V., Millet, M., Homsy, K., Smart, K., Berestesky, E.D., Schunk, C.T., Rowe, M.M., Bordeleau, F. & Reinhart-King, C.A. (HT).

Cell Rep 42(4):112338, 2023; PMID:37027295.

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STING-activating Nanoparticles Normalize the Vascular-immune Interface to Potentiate Cancer Immunotherapy.

Wang-Bishop, L., Kimmel, B.R., Ngwa, V.M., Madden, M.Z., Baljon, J.J., Florian, D.C., Hanna, A., Pastora, L.E., Sheehy, T.L., Kwiatkowski, A.J., Wehbe, M., Wen, X., Becker, K.W., Garland, K.M., Schulman, J.A., Shae, D., Edwards, D. (HT), Wolf, M.M., Delapp, R., Christov, P.P., Beckermann, K.E., Balko, J.M. (BC), Rathmell, W.K. (GM), Rathmell, J.C. (HT), Chen, J. (CB) & Wilson, J.T. (HT).

Sci Immunol 8(83):eadd1153, 2023; PMID:37146128.

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Improving Combination Therapies: Targeting A2B Adenosine Receptor to Modulate Metabolic Tumor Microenvironment and Immunosuppression.

Evans, J.V., Suman, S., Goruganthu, M.U.L., Tchekneva, E.E., Guan, S., Arasada, R.R., Antonucci, A., Piao, L., Ilgisonis, I., Bobko, A.A., Driesschaert, B., Uzhachenko, R.V., Hoyd, R., Samouilov, A., Amann, J., Wu, R., Wei, L., Pallerla, A., Ryzhov, S.V., Feoktistov, I., Park, K.P., Kikuchi, T., Castro, J., Ivanova, A.V., Kanagasabai, T., Owen, D.H., Spakowicz, D.J., Zweier, J.L., Carbone, D.P., Novitskiy, S.V., Khramtsov, V.V., Shanker, A. (HT) & Dikov, M.M.

J Natl Cancer Inst 2023; PMID:37195421.

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Detection of Treatment Response in Triple-Negative Breast Tumors to Paclitaxel Using MRI Cell Size Imaging.

Jiang, X., McKinley, E.T., Xie, J., Gore, J.C. (HT) & Xu, J. (HT).

J Magn Reson Imaging 2023; PMID:37218596.

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B Cell Overexpression of FCRL5 and PD-1 is Associated with Low Antibody Titers in HCV Infection.

Ogega, C.O., Skinner, N.E., Flyak, A.I., Clark, K.E., Board, N.L., Bjorkman, P.J., Crowe, J.E. (HT), Cox, A.L., Ray, S.C. & Bailey, J.R.

PLoS Pathog 18(1):e1010179, 2022; PMC8769295.

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Viral and Cellular Oncogenes Promote Immune Evasion.

Roetman, J.J., Apostolova, M.K.I. & Philip, M. (HT).

Oncogene 2022; PMID:35022539.

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Microenvironmental Influences on T Cell Immunity in Cancer and Inflammation.

Heintzman, D.R., Fisher, E.L. & Rathmell, J.C. (HT).

Cell Mol Immunol 2022; PMC8762638.

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Proximity of Immune and Tumor Cells Underlies Response to BRAF/MEK-targeted Therapies in Metastatic Melanoma Patients.

Yan, C., Chen, S.C., Ayers, G.D., Nebhan, C.A., Roland, J.T., Weiss, V.L. (TR), Johnson, D.B. (TR) & Richmond, A. (HT).

NPJ Precis Oncol 6(1):6, 2022; PMID:35058553.

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Chemical and Biomolecular Strategies for STING Pathway Activation in Cancer Immunotherapy.

Garland, K.M., Sheehy, T.L. & Wilson, J.T. (HT).

Chem Rev 2022; PMID:35107989.

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Adipose Invariant NKT Cells Interact with CD1d-expressing Macrophages to Regulate Obesity-related Inflammation.

Satoh, M., Iizuka, M., Majima, M., Ohwa, C., Hattori, A., Van Kaer, L. (HT) & Iwabuchi, K.

Immunology 2022; PMID:35137411.

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Mitochondrial Fus1/Tusc2 and Cellular Ca2 Homeostasis: Tumor Suppressor, Anti-inflammatory and Anti-aging Implications.

Uzhachenko, R., Shimamoto, A., Chirwa, S.S., Ivanov, S.V., Ivanova, A.V. & Shanker, A. (HT).

Cancer Gene Ther 2022; PMID:35181743.

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Targeting Glycolysis in Alloreactive T Cells to Prevent Acute Graft--Host Disease while Preserving Graft-Versus-Leukemia Effect.

Huang, Y., Zou, Y., Jiao, Y., Shi, P., Nie, X., Huang, W., Xion, C., Choi, M., Huang, C., Macintyre, A.N., Nichols, A., Li, F., Li, C.Y., MacIver, N.J., Cardona, D.M., Brennan, T.V., Li, Z., Chao, N.J., Rathmell, J.C. (HT) & Chen, B.J.

Front Immunol 13:751296, 2022; PMC8920494.

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The Collagen Receptor Discoidin Domain Receptor 1b Enhances Integrin β1-mediated Cell Migration by Interacting with Talin and Promoting Rac1 Activation.

Borza, C.M., Bolas, G., Zhang, X., Browning Monroe, M.B., Zhang, M.Z., Meiler, J. (CB), Skwark, M.J., Harris, R.C. (CB), Lapierre, L.A., Goldenring, J.R. (GI), Hook, M., Rivera, J., Brown, K.L., Leitinger, B., Tyska, M.J. (ZY), Moser, M., Böttcher, R.T., Zent, R. (HT) & Pozzi, A. (HT).

Front Cell Dev Biol 10:836797, 2022; PMC8928223.

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Fluid Shear Stress Enhances T Cell Activation through Piezo1.

Hope, J.M., Dombroski, J.A., Pereles, R.S., Lopez-Cavestany, M., Greenlee, J.D., Schwager, S.C., Reinhart-King, C.A. (HT) & King, M.R. (GI).

BMC Biol 20(1):61, 2022; PMID:35260156.

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A Nanovaccine for Enhancing Cellular Immunity via Cytosolic Co-delivery of Antigen and PolyIC RNA.

Carson, C.S., Becker, K.W., Garland, K.M., Pagendarm, H.M., Stone, P.T., Arora, K., Wang-Bishop, L., Baljon, J.J., Cruz, L.D., Joyce, S. (HT) & Wilson, J.T. (HT).

J Control Release 2022; PMID:35301055.

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