School of Biomedical Sciences cordially invites you to join the following seminar:

Speaker: Dr. Jun Shen, Research Associate, State Key Laboratory of Experimental Hematology, Institute of Hematology & Blood Diseases Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences
Talk Title: Effective generation of functional immune cells from human pluripotent stem cells for cancer immunotherapy

Date: 19 September 2024 (Thursday)
Time: 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Venue: Lecture Theatre 2, G/F, William M.W. Mong Block, 21 Sassoon Road
Host: Professor Rio Sugimura

Biography

Dr. Jun Shen, M.D. and Ph.D., graduated from Peking Union Medical College in 2019, is now an associate researcher of Institute of Hematology & Blood Diseases Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Science. His study mainly focused on hPSC-derived hematopoiesis and immunotherapy. He has been engaged in this field for more than ten years, and has developed efficient differentiation system for generating multiple blood cells from hPSCs (T cells, NK cells, macrophages, neutrophils, etc.). Some of his studies have been published in Cell Stem Cell (2024, cover story) and Science Advances (2021). He has also obtained a number of authorized patents, and some patents have been authorized to transfer. He presided over and participated in a number of national funds, and won the Tianjin Natural Science Special Prize in 2022.

Abstract

Generation of immune cells from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) offers new prospects for cancer immunotherapy, but is currently challenged by low differentiation efficiency and limited function. Here, we developed and optimized a monolayer-based culture system to direct pluripotent cell differentiation toward early hematopoiesis. Based on this system, we further investigated new strategies for generating various immune cells from hPSCs, such as T cells, NK cells and macrophages. Our single-cell transcriptome of early hematopoiesis showed arterial endothelial-enhanced functional T cell generation from hPSCs. Our 3D organoid feeder-free culture system showed enhanced differentiation of functional NK cells from hPSCs. To expand the application of cell therapy in solid tumors, we developed a highly efficient monolayer-based system to produce macrophages from hPSCs and demonstrated that activating a collaborative innate-adaptive immune response can further enhance the anti-tumor effect of hPSC-derived chimeric antigen receptor macrophages in vivo. Collectively, our studies provide valuable platforms to understand the origins of human hematopoiesis and represent an advance in guiding in vitro generation of functional immune cells for cancer immunotherapy.

ALL ARE WELCOME
Should you have any enquiries, please feel free to contact Miss Crystal Chan at 3917 6830.