Dr.Lee is a Research Fellow from the Institute of Biomedical Sciences in Academia Sinica. He focuses on Clinical and Translational research and programs through collaborations with different local and international institutions, such as the National Taiwan University Hospital. Dr.Lee obtained his Medical Degree from the National Taiwan University, Taiwan and his PhD from National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan. He has been awarded multiple accolades within the fields of the Life sciences and Medicine. He continues to inspire and lead his team towards impactful research that could hopefully change the current patient treatment landscape in immune and infectious diseases.

Clinical Immunology Lab: linking innate cells to adaptive immunity

T cell Regulation in Inflammatory Diseases

1. We have demonstrated that UVB-exposed Treg cells contributed to the alleviation of inflammatory skin in a murine model of OVA-induced skin inflammation under UVB irradiation. When depleting Treg cells in Foxp3DTR/GFP mice by the administration of diphtheria toxin, we found UVB irradiation could not suppress OVA-induced skin inflammation. In addition, we found that LAG-3 expression was significantly increased in UVB-exposed Treg cells.

2. Cytokine signaling between keratinocytes and innate cells results in CD4/CD8/Treg cell infiltration of psoriasis lesions. We applied single-cell mass cytometry (Cytometry Time-Of-Flight, CyTOF) to investigate function of Treg cells in the peripheral blood of patients with psoriasis. We will also apply single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) to dissect the differential pattern among skin cells of patients before and after UVB therapy.

DC-based Cancer Immunotherapy

1. Emerging evidence suggests the promoting role of aromatic hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) in the initiation, promotion, progression, invasion, and metastasis of cancer cells. AhR-CD11c-conditional KO mice were generated and we found tumor growth were significantly reduced in conditional KO mice. It was also noted that activation of AhR can induce PD-L1 level on dendritic cell (DC) and Treg recruitment.

2. We employed phage display to select anti-CD11c peptide and AhR-neutralizing single-chain fragment variable (ScFv). PEGylated peptide is inserted into surface of liposome and the transcript of neutralizing ScFv is packaged in the inner space of liposome. Liposome coats acid-labile PEG-PGA-HX to prevent systemic peptidase and accelerating endosomal escape in acidic tumor microenvironment. Finally, we implemented the humanized ASID mice to investigate the efficiency of liposomal drugs. The DC-targeted cancer treatment remodels the tumor microenvironment and reduces side effects.