Chandra Group – Tumour antigen presentation and immune regulation
About
Professional antigen-presenting cells (APCs) play a conductor role in the complex orchestra of the immune system. They bridge the innate and the adaptive immune responses. APCs act as sentinels to detect harmful assault, they collect specific information to the kind of assault (eg. type of infection, injury), and they coordinate an appropriate response that aims to fix the harm but limits damage to the body. If, however, professional APCs receive mixed messaging, they may provide wrong instructions that can lead to detrimental outcomes such as autoimmune diseases or immune escape of cancer.
Our research focuses on deciphering the biology of professional APCs to gain a deep understanding of cellular and functional heterogeneity of these cells within different tissues and diseases. Our lab has made significant discoveries in how these cells are altered in intraepithelial neoplasia such as found in early stages of cervical cancer, head and neck cancer and cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma. These discoveries include elements that are essential in the functioning of these cells, and that may be translatable into new therapies for the treatment of cancer.
Our vision is to harness the power of APCs by developing tools that can precisely manipulate and restore functionality, thereby overcoming APC-driven tumour immune suppression and enabling effective anti-tumour responses.
Our lab uses a vast array of multimodal immunological, cellular, molecular and bioinformatic methods, to elucidate the phenotype, behaviour and functions of professional antigen-presenting cells in preclinical disease models and samples from human volunteering participants. These include but are not limited to advanced flow cytometry, single-cell RNA sequencing, chromatin accessibility sequencing, lentivirus and small molecule-based intervention studies, immunotherapy.
Current research projects include:
- Identifying systemic myeloid predictors of response to immunotherapy in cancer patients
- Elucidating differences in systemic professional antigen-presenting cells between healthy volunteers and head and neck cancer patients.
- Defining spatiotemporal changes in professional antigen-presenting cells in the oral mucosa in preclinical models of carcinogen and virus-induced head and neck cancers
- Developing gene therapy-based experimental therapeutics to restore epidermal professional antigen-presenting cells in preclinical models of HPV-mediated cancers
- Elucidating the antigen presentation capacity of epidermal non-immune cells and its relevance in preclinical squamous cell carcinoma models (cervical, head and neck, cutaneous).
- We are also interested in how the microbiome may influence cancer progression and antigen-presenting cell phenotype and function. Therefore, multiple projects are paired with microbiome sequencing, including microbe’s resident to the gut, skin and oral cavity.
Students
- Trinh Dang (PhD student)
- Huang Wang (PhD student)
- Minwoo Kim (Honours student)
- Jiahui Miao (Master student)
Opportunities
With new discoveries made, our research opportunities are continuously evolving, and we are always interested to meet with motivated and talented students. Please reach out if you wish to discuss current opportunities within the lab.
We have received funding from the Princess Alexandra Research Foundation, from Metro South Health, from the Zelman Cowen Academic Initiatives and from the Garnette Passe Rodney Williams Memorial Foundation.
- Metro South Health clinicians (Brisbane, Australia)
- UQ Faculty of Medicine (Australia)
- UQ Institute for Molecular Bioscience (Australia)
- The Australian Centre for Ecogenomics (Australia)
- WEHI (Australia)
- Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Israel)
- Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz (Germany)
- Microba Life Science (Australia)
- Head and Neck cancer consumers (Australia)