Faculty

Xiaoyu Ariel Zhou, Ph.D.

Wistar Institute Assistant Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Department: Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Graduate Group Affiliations

Cell and Molecular Biology

Contact information

3601 Spruce St
Philadelphia, PA 19104-4205

Office: 215-898-3726
Lab: 215-898-3725

Email:
xazhou@wistar.org

Links
Wistar Page
Lab website

Permanent link

> Perelman School of Medicine > Faculty > Details

Description of Research Expertise

Research Interests:
Our lab studies how immune cells communicate with each other and with tumors, with the goal of engineering these interactions to develop next-generation cancer immunotherapies. Using CRISPR-based genome editing, synthetic receptor engineering, we dissect and reprogram intercellular signaling networks that govern immune activation, tolerance, and resistance to therapy.

Key Words: Cancer immunotherapy, immune interactions, T cell engineering, gene editing, synthetic receptors/proteins

Selected Publications

Tang K, Zhou L, Tian X, Fang SY, Vandenbulcke E, Du A, Shen J, Cao H, Zhou J, Chen K, Kim HR, Luo Z, Xin S, Lin SH, Park D, Yang L, Zhang Y, Suzuki K, Majety M, Ling X, Lam SZ, Chow RD, Ren P, Tao B, Li K, Codina A, Dai X, Shang X, Bai S, Nottoli T, Levchenko A, Booth CJ, Liu C, Fan R, Dong MB, Zhou X, Chen S.: Cas12a-knock-in mice for multiplexed genome editing, disease modelling and immune-cell engineering. Nat Biomed Eng 2025.

Zhou X, Cao H, Fang SY, Chow RD, Tang K, Majety M, Bai M, Dong MB, Renauer PA, Shang X, Suzuki K, Levchenko A, Chen S.: CTLA-4 tail fusion enhances CAR-T antitumor immunity. Nat Immunol 2023.

Zhou X, Renauer PA, Zhou L, Fang SY, Chen S.: Applications of CRISPR technology in cellular immunotherapy. Immunol Rev 2023.

Park JJ, Codina A, Ye L, Lam S, Guo J, Clark P, Zhou X, Peng L, Chen S.: Double knockout CRISPR screen for cancer resistance to T cell cytotoxicity. J Hematol Oncol 15: 172, Dec 2022.

Dong MB, Tang K, Zhou X, Zhou JJ, Chen S.: Tumor immunology CRISPR screening: present, past, and future. Trends Cancer 2022.

Dong MB, Wang G, Chow RD, Ye L, Zhu L, Dai X, Park JJ, Kim HR, Errami Y, Guzman CD, Zhou X, Chen KY, Renauer PA, Du Y, Shen J, Lam SZ, Zhou JJ, Lannin DR, Herbst RS, Chen S.: Systematic Immunotherapy Target Discovery Using Genome-Scale In Vivo CRISPR Screens in CD8 T Cells. Cell 178: 1189-1204, Aug 2019.

Geng S, Zhong Y, Zhou X, Zhao G, Xie X, Pei Y, Liu H, Zhang H, Shi Y, Wang B.: Induced Regulatory T Cells Superimpose Their Suppressive Capacity with Effector T Cells in Lymph Nodes via Antigen-Specific S1p1-Dependent Egress Blockage. Front Immunol 8: 663, Jun 2017.

Zhou X, Zhao S, He Y, Geng S, Shi Y, Wang B.: Precise Spatiotemporal Interruption of Regulatory T-cell-Mediated CD8(+) T-cell Suppression Leads to Tumor Immunity. Cancer Res 79: 585-597, Feb 2019.

Peng L, Renauer PA, Ökten A, Fang Z, Park JJ, Zhou X, Lin Q, Dong MB, Filler R, Xiong Q, Clark P, Lin C, Wilen CB, Chen S.: Variant-specific vaccination induces systems immune responses and potent in vivo protection against SARS-CoV-2. Cell Rep Med 3: 100634, May 2022.

Fang Z, Peng L, Lucas C, Lin Q, Zhou L, Yang L, Feng Y, Ren P, Renauer PA, Monteiro VS, Hahn AM, Park JJ, Zhou X; Yale SARS-CoV-2 Genomic Surveillance Initiative; Grubaugh ND, Wilen CB, Chen S.: Heterotypic vaccination responses against SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.2. Cell Discov 8: 69, Jul 2022.

Peng L, Fang Z, Renauer PA, McNamara A, Park JJ, Lin Q, Zhou X, Dong MB, Zhu B, Zhao H, Wilen CB, Chen S.: Multiplexed LNP-mRNA vaccination against pathogenic coronavirus species. Cell Rep 40: 111160, Aug 2022.