Skip to Content

'
Sijie Lu, B.S., Ph.D.

Present Title & Affiliation

Primary Appointment

Assistant Professor, Department of Stem Cell Transplantation - Research, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX

Bio Statement

I received my Ph.D. from Michigan State University in1994.  I continued my research career as an NIH postdoctoral fellow at Baylor College of Medicine from 1994 to 2000 in  the lab of Dr. Adam Kuspa, who specialized in molecular genetics.  I joined the faculty at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in December of 2000 as an Instructor in the Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapy Department and promoted to Assistant Professor in September of 2004. Since joining MDACC, I have been a member of the Transplantation Immunology Section.

Research Interests

One of our interests in the  lab is discovering leukemia-associated antigens (LAA), which is the first step towards separating beneficial graft versus leukemia (GvL) effect from the detrimental graft versus host disease (GvHD). We have focused on Myeloperoxidase(MPO), which is overexpressed in 50% of AML, 75% of CML , and 30% of MDSpatients. We have identified two novel, HLA-A2-restricted peptides, MY4 andMY8, as leukemia-associated antigens. We have been able to elicit MY4- andMY8-specific cytotoxic T cells (CTL) from healthy donor’s peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC).  These CTLs have shown the capability to kill leukemic cells but not normal bone marrow in vitro.  In addition, these CTLs can drastically reduce tumor burden (50-70%) in vivo when co-injected with  leukemic cells in an immune-compromised mouse. These data suggest that both MY4 and MY8 could be used as immunotherapy reagents, such as vaccines,  for treating leukemia.

Office Address

The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center
1515 Holcombe Blvd.
Unit Number: Unit 900
Houston, TX 77030
Phone: (713) 563-3323
Fax: (713) 563-3364

Education & Training

Degree-Granting Education

1994 Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, PHD, Biochemistry
1988 Peking University, Beijing, China, BS, Biochemistry

Postgraduate Training

7/1995-7/1997 National Institutes of Health, Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, Dr. Adam Kuspa
10/1988-6/1994 Predoctoral student, Department of Biochemistry, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, Dr. Lee Kroos
9/1977-6/1988 Undergraduate research student, Mei-hua Liu, Department of Biology, Peking University, Beijing, China, Dr. Mei-hua Liu

Experience/Service

Other Appointments/Responsibilities

Lab Coordinator, Section of Transplantation Immunology, Department of Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapy, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 2/2000-present

Honors and Awards

2004 Fujisawa New Investigator Award, American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (ASBMT)
1995-1997 NIH National Research Service Award, Baylor College of Medicine
1992 College of Natural Science Graduate Fellowship for Excellence in Research, Michigan State University
1985 Award for Excellence in Academic Achievement for Undergraduate Students, Peking University

Selected Publications

Peer-Reviewed Original Research Articles
1. Liu X, Alexiou M, Martin-Orozco N, Chung Y, Nurieva RI, Ma L, Tian Q, Kollias G, Lu S, Graf D, Dong C. Cutting edge: A critical role of B and T lymphocyte attenuator in periperal T cell tolerance induction. J Immunol 182(8):4516-20, 4/2009. PMID: 19342624.
2. Wang Y, Li D, Nurieva R, Yang J, Sen M, Carreno R, Lu S, McIntyre BW, Molldrem JJ, Legge GB, Ma Q. LFA-1 affinity regulation is necessary for the activation and proliferation of naive T cells. J Biol Chem 284(19):12645-53, 3/2009. PMCID: PMCPMC2675993.
3. Knuth M, Khaire N, Kuspa A, Lu S, Schleicher M, Noegel A. A novel partner for dictyostelium filamin is an a-helical developmentally regulated protein. Journal of Science 117:5013-5022, 6/2004. PMID: 15383615.
4. Maeda M, Lu S, Shaulsky G, Miyazaki Y, Kuwayama H, Tanaka Y, Kuspa A, Loomis WF. Periodic signaling controlled by an oscillatory circuit that includes protein kinases ERK2 and PKA. Science 304(5672):875-8, 2004. PMID: 15131307.
5. Molldrem JJ, Lee PP, Kant S, Wieder E, Jiang W, Lu S, Wang C, Davis MM. Chronic myelogenous leukemia shapes host immunity by selective deletion of high-avidity leukemia-specific T cells. J Clin Invest 111(5):639-47, 3/2003. PMCID: PMCPMC151894.
6. Molldrem JJ, Kant S, Jiang W, Lu S. The basis of T-cell-mediated immunity to chronic myelogenous leukemia. Oncogene 21(56):8668-73, 12/2002. PMID: 12476312.
7. Wessels DJ, Zhang H, Reynolds J, Daniels K, Heid P, Lu S, Kuspa A, Shaulsky G, Loomis WF, Soll DR. The internal phosphodiesterase RegA is essential for the suppression of lateral pseudopods during Dictyostelium chemotaxis. Mol Biol Cell 11(8):2803-20, 2000. PMCID: PMCPMC14957.
8. Souza GM, Lu S, Kuspa A. YakA, a protein kinase required for the transition from growth to development in Dictyostelium. Development 125(12):2291-302, 1998. PMID: 9584128.
9. Carlson HC, Lu S, Kroos L, Haldenwang WG. Exchange of precursor-specific elements between pro-sigma E and pro-sigma K of Bacillus subtilis. J Bacteriol 178(2):546-9, 1996. PMCID: PMCPMC177691.
10. Lu S, Cutting S, Kroos L. Sporulation protein SpoIVFB from bacillus subtilis enhances processing of the sigma factor precursor Pro-sigma K in the absence of other sporulation gene products. J Bacteriol 177(4):1082-5, 1995. PMCID: PMCPMC176705.
11. Lu S, Kroos L. Overproducing the bacillus subtilis mother cell sigma factor precursor, Pro-sigma K, uncouples sigma K-dependent gene expression from dependence on intercompartmental communication. J Bacteriol 176(13):3936-43, 1994. PMCID: PMCPMC205591.
12. Cutting S, Oke V, Driks A, Losick R, Lu S, Kroos L. A forespore checkpoint for mother cell gene expression during development in B. subtilis. Cell 62(2):239-50, 1990. PMID: 2115401.
13. Lu S, Halberg R, Kroos L. Processing of the mother-cell sigma factor, sigma K, may depend on events occurring in the forespore during Bacillus subtilis development. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 87(24):9722-6, 1990. PMCID: PMCPMC55245.

Grant & Contract Support

Title: Leukemia Specialized Programs of Research
Funding Source: NIH/NCI
Role: Co-Investigator
Principal Investigator: Issa
Duration: 5/1/2008 - 4/30/2013
 
Title: New Approaches to the Biology and Treatment of MDS (PP-5)
Funding Source: NIH/NCI
Role: Co-Investigator
Principal Investigator: Molldrem
Duration: 6/21/2005 - 5/31/2010
 
Title: Selective Expansion of Anti-Leukemic CTL for Donor Lymphocyte Infusion
Funding Source: ASBMT/Fujisawa New Investigator Award
Role: Principal Investigator
Duration: 3/1/2004 - 7/1/2006
 
Title: Myeloperoxidase-Specific CTL Immunity Against Acute Myeloid Leukemia
Funding Source: Institutional Research Grant, UT M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
Role: Principal Investigator
Duration: 8/1/2002 - 7/31/2004
 
Title: Therapy of CML, CML Immunity (PP-3)
Funding Source: NIH/NCI
Role: Co-Investigator
Principal Investigator: Champlin
Duration: 2/12/1997 - 2/28/2010

Last updated: 9/3/2009