Lab Leader: Junke Zheng

Lab Name: Laboratory of The Blood Stem Cell Metabolism and Immune Regulation

Lab Info：Zheng’s Lab mainly focuses on the studies of the metabolic regulation of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and leukemia stem cells (LSCs) and the identification of the potential immunotherapeutic targets for leukemia treatment. We have made several important findings in the fate determinations of HSCs/LSCs related to intrinsic metabolic pathways or extrinsic niche components. We demonstrated that glucose and amino acid metabolisms play critical roles in the maintenance of HSC or LSC activities, and that bone marrow niche factors (such as ANGTPLs and APOE) sustains HSC or LSC stemness through the immune inhibitory receptor LILRBs. These findings have been published in Nature, Cell Metabolism (cover story), Blood (cover story), JCI and other high-profile journals. We have also applied for several domestic and overseas patents according to these original findings. By using our established unique techniques, including metabolic sensors, bone marrow niche imaging and immunotherapeutic platforms (antibody and CAR-T), we currently aim to: 1) unravel the intrinsic metabolic properties of HSCs/LSCs and their potential connections with bone marrow niches; 2) identify novel targets and potential strategies for the leukemia immunotherapy. These studies will open a new avenue for understanding the underlying mechanisms by which HSCs and LSCs maintain their stemness, and provide some ideal metabolic or immune candidate targets for the treatments of different types of leukemias or solid cancers.

Lab Members: