This laboratory studies stem cell biology and hematopoiesis, the process to generate blood and immune cells. This lab currently focuses on human embryonic stem (ES) cells as well as postnatal human hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) to study human hematopoiesis and to improve HSC transplantation. They recently demonstrated that in vitro differentiated human ES cells generate functional antigen-presenting cells, in addition to other myeloid and erythroid cells. This study provides a foundation for ongoing projects to study human blood and immune cell formation using human ES cell lines. They also are interested in human T cell development and the mechanisms as how to induce immune tolerance to allogeneic cell transplantation. In addition, they are working towards creating engineered human ES cells containing specific genetic mutations that cause human blood and immune diseases. The mutated human ES cells and their in vitro differentiation systems may provide novel experimental models for human blood and immune diseases.

Zhan X, Dravid G, Ye Z, Hammond H, Shamblott M, Gearhart J, Cheng L. (2004) Functional antigen-presenting leucocytes derived from human embryonic stem cells in vitro. Lancet (55):141-54 [PubMed]

Pan F, Ye Z, Cheng L, Liu JO. (2004) Myocyte enhancer factor 2 mediates calcium-dependent transcription of the interleukin-2 gene in T lymphocytes: a calcium signaling module that is distinct from but collaborates with the nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT). J. Biol. Chem. 293(7):817-29 [PubMed]

Zhou X, Cui Y, Huang X, Yu Z, Thomas AM, Ye Z, Pardoll DM, Jaffee EM, Cheng L. (2003) Lentivirus-mediated gene transfer and expression in established human tumor antigen-specific cytotoxic T cells and primary unstimulated T cells. Human Gene Therapy 78(12):6122-33 [PubMed]

Yu X, Zhan X, D'Costa J, Tanavde VM, Ye Z, Peng T, Malehorn MT, Yang X, Civin CI, Cheng L. (2003) Lentiviral vectors with two independent internal promoters transfer high-level expression of multiple transgenes to human hematopoietic stem-progenitor cells. Molecular Therapy 112(22):3400-7 [PubMed]

Cui Y, Golob J, Kelleher E, Ye Z, Pardoll D, Cheng L. (2002) Targeting transgene expression to antigen-presenting cells derived from lentivirus-transduced engrafting human hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells. Blood 13(2):258-65 [PubMed]