Research Interests
Naïve T cells undergo differentiation into various T cell subsets in infections and during tumor development. Given that T cell differentiation involves significant metabolic reprogramming, our research group is devoted to identifying the metabolic pathways that drive T cell differentiation. Our ultimate goal is to develop pharmaceutical and dietary intervention strategies to treat cancer and infectious diseases through metabolic editing of T cells.
Education
- 2001-2005: Bachelor's degree, Shandong University
- 2005-2010: Ph.D., Shanghai Institute for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Work Experience
- 2010-2012: Research Fellow, GlaxoSmithKline China R&D Center
- 2012-2016: Postdoctoral Fellow, Yale University, USA
- 2016-2021: Junior Group Leader (tenure-track), German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ)
- 2021-2023: Head of Division (tenured), German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ)
- 2023-2024: Senior Investigator, Institute of Health and Medicine, Hefei Comprehensive National Science Center
- 2024-present: Professor, University of Science and Technology of China
Academic Honors
- 2016: Helmholtz Young Investigator Award, Helmholtz Association, Berlin, Germany
- 2020: Georges-Köhler Prize, German Society for Immunology, Berlin, Germany
- 2021: Lloyd J. Old STAR Award, Cancer Research Institute, New York, USA
- 2021: EMBO Young Investigator Program (EMBO YIP), Heidelberg, Germany
- 2022: ERC Consolidator Grant, European Research Council, Brussels, Belgium
Corresponding Author Papers
1. *Science Immunology* 9, eadg8817, 2024
2. *Nature Immunology* 24, 1921-1932, 2023
3. *Science Immunology* 7, eabh1873, 2022
4. *Immunity* 54, 1561-1577.e1567, 2021
5. *Immunity* 50, 1218-1231, 2019
Corresponding Author Papers
1. Sicong Ma*#, Roger Sandhoff*, Xiu Luo*, Fuwei Shang*, Qiaozhen Shi, Zhaolong Li, Jingxia Wu, Yanan Ming, Frank Schwarz, Alaa Madi, Nina Weisshaar, Alessa Mieg, Marvin Hering, Xin Yan, Kerstin Mohr, Nora ten Bosch, Zhe Li, Gernot Poschet, Hans-Reimer Rodewald, Nina Papavasiliou, Xi Wang#, Pu Gao# & Guoliang Cui#. Serine enrichment in tumor promotes regulatory T cell accumulation through sphinganine. Science Immunology 9, eadg8817 (2024). (*co-first authors; #co-corresponding authors).
2,. Nina Weisshaar, Sicong Ma, Yanan Ming, Alaa Madi, Alessa Mieg, Marvin Hering, Ferdinand Zettl, Kerstin Mohr, Nora Ten Bosch, Diana Stichling, Michael Buettner, Gernot Poschet, Glynis Klinke, Michael Schulz, Nina Kunze-Rohrbach, Carolin Kerber, Isabel Madeleine Klein, Jingxia Wu#, Xi Wang# & Guoliang Cui#. The malate shuttle detoxifies ammonia in exhausted T cells by producing 2-ketoglutarate. Nature Immunology 24, 1921-1932, doi:10.1038/s41590-023-01636-5 (2023). (#co-corresponding authors).
3. Nina Weisshaar, Jingxia Wu, Yanan Ming, Alaa Madi, Agnes Hotz-Wagenblatt, Sicong Ma, Alessa Mieg, Marvin Hering, Ferdinand Zettl, Kerstin Mohr, Tilo Schlimbach, Nora Ten Bosch, Franziska Hertel, Lisann Müller, Hannah Byren, Mona Wang, Helena Borgers, Mareike Munz, Lukas Schmitt, Franciscus van der Hoeven, Ulrich Kloz, Rafael Carretero, Nikolai Schleußner, Rene-Filip Jackstadt, Ilse Hofmann & Guoliang Cui. Rgs16 promotes antitumor CD8+ T cell exhaustion. Science Immunology 7, eabh1873, doi:doi:10.1126/sciimmunol.abh1873 (2022).
4. Shihao Xu, Omkar Chaudhary, Patricia Rodríguez-Morales, Xiaoli Sun, Dan Chen, Roberta Zappasodi, Ziyan Xu, Antonio F. M. Pinto, April Williams, Isabell Schulze, Yagmur Farsakoglu, Siva Karthik Varanasi, Jun Siong Low, Wenxi Tang, Haiping Wang, Bryan McDonald, Victoria Tripple, Michael Downes, Ronald M. Evans, Nada A. Abumrad, Taha Merghoub, Jedd D. Wolchok, Maxim N. Shokhirev, Ping-Chih Ho, Joseph L. Witztum, Brinda Emu, Guoliang Cui# & Susan M. Kaech#. Uptake of oxidized lipids by the scavenger receptor CD36 promotes lipid peroxidation and dysfunction in CD8+ T cells in tumors. Immunity 54, 1561-1577.e1567, doi:10.1016/j.immuni.2021.05.003 (2021). (#co-corresponding authors).
5. Jingxia Wu*, Sicong Ma*, Roger Sandhoff*, Yanan Ming, Agnes Hotz-Wagenblatt, Vincent Timmerman, Nathalie Bonello-Palot, Beate Schlotter-Weigel, Michaela Auer-Grumbach, Pavel Seeman, Wolfgang N. Löscher, Markus Reindl, Florian Weiss, Eric Mah, Nina Weisshaar, Alaa Madi, Kerstin Mohr, Tilo Schlimbach, Rubí M. H. Velasco Cárdenas, Jonas Koeppel, Florian Grünschläger, Lisann Müller, Maren Baumeister, Britta Brügger, Michael Schmitt, Guido Wabnitz, Yvonne Samstag & Guoliang Cui. Loss of Neurological Disease HSAN-I-Associated Gene SPTLC2 Impairs CD8+ T Cell Responses to Infection by Inhibiting T Cell Metabolic Fitness. Immunity 50, 1218–1231, doi:10.1016/j.immuni.2019.03.005 (2019). (*co-first authors).
Recruitment
We are continuously seeking talented postdoctoral researchers, Ph.D. students, and undergraduate interns to join our team and explore the exciting field of T cell metabolism in the context of tumor biology and infection.
Contact
Email: gcui@ustc.edu.cn