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Xiaoyu Ariel Zhou, Ph.D.

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Wistar Institute Assistant Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
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Department: Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
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1f Graduate Group Affiliations 8 a
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3601 Spruce St
Philadelphia, PA 19104-4205
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2e Office: 215-898-3726
3e Lab: 215-898-3725
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b6 > Perelman School of Medicine   > Faculty   > Details a
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Description of Research Expertise

24 Research Interests:
17a 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.
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7b Key Words: Cancer immunotherapy, immune interactions, T cell engineering, gene editing, synthetic receptors/proteins
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Selected Publications

1fa 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.

108 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.

c5 Zhou X, Renauer PA, Zhou L, Fang SY, Chen S.: Applications of CRISPR technology in cellular immunotherapy. Immunol Rev 2023.

100 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.

c5 Dong MB, Tang K, Zhou X, Zhou JJ, Chen S.: Tumor immunology CRISPR screening: present, past, and future. Trends Cancer 2022.

17c 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.

153 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.

10d 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.

158 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.

16b 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.

11b 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.

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