Research Area
The immune system is everywhere in the body. How can we tap into this bodily global positioning system? How can we design immune cells as living drugs? Is it possible to reeducate an immune system? The Ferreira Lab uses engineered immune receptors to systematically study how specificity, affinity, and signaling modulate T cell function in immunity and tolerance. We aim to shed light on the biology of different subsets of T cells and help unleash their potential as cell-based therapies for autoimmune disease, cancer, and aging. More information available at ferreiralab.com
Team Description
Leonardo Ferreira (PI, www.ferreiralab.com) Rob Robino (Research Scientist) Rob Robino obtained a B.S. in molecular biology at the College of Charleston. His research interests include using chimeric antigen receptors to combat cancer and to re-introduce immune tolerance in autoimmune disorders. His long-term goal is to become a physician-scientist specializing in cancer and autoimmunity. Russell Cochrane (PhD student) Russell Cochrane is a Ph.D. student in the biomedical sciences program. He obtained a B.S in genetics from Clemson University. His ambition is to uncover and understand the underlying immune mechanisms that could be leveraged to engineer innovative next-generation immunotherapies. He hopes that he can make a lasting impact in the cell and gene therapy field. Eva Allen (High School Student) Eva Allen is a High School Senior at Charleston School of The Arts and this is her first time working in a lab. She is interested in autoimmune disorder research, specifically T1D
Team Members
Team Show
Publications
1. Metabolic reprogramming during the early stages of lung cancer
a. Ferreira*, L.M.R., 2010. Cancer metabolism: The Warburg effect today. Exp Mol Pathol 89, 372-380
b. Ferreira*, L.M.R., Hebrant, A., Dumont*, J.E., 2012. Metabolic reprogramming of the tumor. Oncogene 31
(36), 3999-4011
c. Abreu, P.L., Cunha-Oliveira, T., Ferreira*, L.M.R., Urbano* A.M., 2018. Hexavalent chromium, a lung
carcinogen, confers resistance to thermal stress and interferes with heat shock protein expression in human
bronchial epithelial cells. Biometals 31 (4), 477-87
d. Ferreira, L.M.R., Li, A.M., Serafim, T.L., Sobral, M.C., Alpoim, M.C., Urbano*, A.M., 2020. Intermediary
metabolism: An intricate network at the crossroads of cell fate and function. Biochim Biophys Acta Mol Basis Dis, 1866 (10), 165887 *Corresponding author
2. Transcriptional regulation of immune tolerance at the maternal-fetal interface
a. Ferreira*, L.M.R., 2013. Gammadelta T cells: Innately adaptive immune cells? Int Rev Immunol 32 (3), 223-48
b. Ferreira*, L.M.R., Meissner, T.B., Mikkelsen, T.S., Mallard, W., O’Donnell, C.W., Tilburgs, T., Gomes, H.A.B., Camahort, R., Sherwood, R.I., Gifford, D.K., Rinn, J.L., Cowan, C.A., Strominger*, J.L., 2016. A distant trophoblast-specific enhancer controls HLA-G expression at the maternal-fetal interface. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 113 (19), 5364-69 PMCID: PMC4868469
c. Ferreira, L.M.R., Meissner, T.B., Tilburgs, T., Strominger, J.L., 2017. HLA-G: at the interface of maternal- fetal tolerance. Trends Immunol 38 (4), 272-86
d. Tilburgs, T., Meissner, T.B., Ferreira, L.M.R., Mulder, A., Musunuru, K., Ye, J., Strominger, J.L., 2017. NLRP2 is a suppressor of NF-kB signaling and HLA-C expression in human trophoblasts. Biol Reprod 96 (4), 831-42 PMCID: PMC5803763 *Corresponding author
3. CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing in primary human hematopoietic cells and embryonic stem cells
a. Mandal#, P.K., Ferreira#, L.M.R., Collins R., Meissner T.B., Boutwell C.L., Friesen M., Vrbanac V., Garrison B.S., Stortchevoi A., Bryder D., Musunuru K., Brand H., Tager A.M., Allen T.M., Talkowski M.E.,Rossi D.J., Cowan C.A., 2014. Efficient ablation of genes in human hematopoietic stem and effector cells
using CRISPR/Cas9. Cell Stem Cell 15 (5), 643-52 PMCID: PMC4269831 [cover] #Co-first author
b. Cowan, C.A., Ferreira, L.M.R., Meissner, T.B., Strominger, J.L., 2016. Cells lacking B2M surface expression and methods for allogeneic administration of such cells. U.S. patent US20180141992A1
[licensed March 2019]
c. Meissner, T.B., Ferreira, L.M.R., Strominger, J.L., Cowan, C.A., 2017. Universal donor stem cells and
related methods. U.S. patent US10968426B2 [licensed March 2019]
d. Han, X., Wang, M., Duan, S., Franco, P.J., Kenty, J.H.-R., Hedrick, P., Xia, Y., Allen, A., Ferreira, L.M.R.,
Strominger, J.L., Melton, D.A., Meissner, T.B., Cowan, C.A., 2019. Generation of hypoimmunogenic human pluripotent stem cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 116 (21), 10441-46 PMCID: PMC6535035 [F1000]
4. Designing the next generation of chimeric antigen receptors for regulatory T cell therapy
a. Ferreira, L.M.R., Tang Q., 2017. Generating antigen-specific regulatory T cells in the fast lane. Am J Transplant 17 (4), 851-53
b. Ferreira#, L.M.R., Muller#, Y.D., Bluestone, J.A., Tang, Q., 2019. Next-generation regulatory T cell therapy. Nat Rev Drug Discov 18, 749-769 PMCID: PMC7773144 [cover] #Co-first author
c. Bluestone, J.A., Tang, Q., Ferreira, L.M.R., 2021. Cellular signaling domain engineering in chimeric
antigen receptor-modified regulatory T cells. U.S. patent US20210017248A1
d. Muller*, Y.D., Nguyen, D.P., Ferreira, L.M.R., Ho, P., Raffin, C., Valencia, R.B., Congrave-Wilson, Z.,
Roth, T., Eyquem, J., Van Gool, F., Marson, A., Perez, L., Wells, J.A., Bluestone, J.B., Tang*, Q., 2021. The CD28-transmembrane domain mediates chimeric antigen receptor heterodimerization with CD28. Front Immunol 12:639818 PMCID: PMC8021955
5. Dissecting the impact of diet on autoimmune disease pathogenesis and severity
a. Gershteyn*, I.M., Ferreira*, L.M.R., 2019. Immunodietica: A data-driven approach to investigate interactions between diet and autoimmune disorders. J Transl Autoimmun 1, 100003 PMCID: PMC7388395 [Editor’s Highlight] *Corresponding author
b. Gershteyn*, I.M., Burov, A.A., Miao, B.Y., Morais, V.H., Ferreira*, L.M.R., 2020. Immunodietica: interrogating the role of diet in autoimmune disease. Int Immunol 32 (12), 771-783 *Corresponding author
Complete List of Published Work in MyBibliography:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/leonardo.ferreira.2/bibliography/public/