The main goal of our team is to understand the cell interaction, metabolic and functional homeostasis of liver immune microenvironment (such as macrophages, NK cells, T cells) in both physiological and pathological conditions; to explore the roles of important immune regulatory molecules (including TIM, TIPE1 and ZHX2) in maintaining liver homeostasis and mediating the pathogenesis of chronic inflammation, HBV infection, metabolic liver diseases and liver cancer; to reveal the crosstalk among liver, gut, fat and other tissues and its effect in whole body homeostasis; to discover the potential value of key immune cells and molecules in the diagnosis and therapeutic intervention strategies for related liver diseases.

Recent representive Paper：

1.    Chen C^#, Zhao F^#, Peng J^#, Zhao D^#, Xu L, Li H, Ma S, Peng X, Sheng X, Sun Y, Wang T, Dong H, Ding Y, Wu Z, Liang X, Gao L, Wang H, Ma C*, Li C*. Soluble Tim-3 serves as a tumor prognostic marker and therapeutic target for CD8+ T cell exhaustion and anti-PD-1 resistance. Cell Rep Med. 2024 Aug 20;5(8):101686. doi: 10.1016/j.xcrm.2024.101686. (IF=11.7)

2.    Jiao D^#, Hao M^#, Sun R, Ren X, Wei Y, Ding M, Yue X, Wu Z, Li C, Gao L, Ma C, Sang Y*, Liang X*, Liu H*. Dynamic Hybrid Module-Driven NK Cell Stimulation and Release for Tumor Immunotherapy. Nano Lett. 2024 May 8;24(18):5481-5489. doi: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.4c00425. (IF=10.1)

3.    Ma S^#, Wu Q^#, Wu W^#, Tian Y, Zhang J, Chen C, Sheng X, Zhao F, Ding L, Wang T, Zhao L, Xie Y, Wang Y, Yue X, Wu Z, Wei J, Zhang K, Liang X, Gao L, Wang H, Wang G*, Li C*, Ma C*. Urolithin A hijacks ERK1/2-ULK1 cascade to improve CD8⁺ T cell fitness for antitumor immunity. Adv Sci. 2024 Mar 6:e2310065. (IF=16.3)

4.    Ding L, Sun Y, Liang Y, Zhang J, Fu Z, Ren C, Li P, Liu W, Xiao R, Wang H, Zhang Z, Yue X, Li C, Wu Z, Feng Y, Liang X, Ma C, Gao L. Beta-Cell Tipe1 Orchestrates Insulin Secretion and Cell Proliferation by Promoting Gαs/cAMP Signaling via USP5. Adv Sci (Weinh). 2024 Feb 28:e2304940. (IF=16.3)

5.    Xiao R^#, Tian Y^#, Zhang J, Li N, Qi M, Liu L, Wang J, Li Z, Zhang J, Zhao F, Wang T, Tan S, Li C, Wu Z, Yu M, Jiang X, Zhan P, Gao L, Han B*, Liu X*, Liang X*, Ma C*. Increased Siglec-9/Siglec-9L interactions on NK cells predict poor HCC prognosis and present a targetable checkpoint for immunotherapy. J Hepatol. 2024 Feb 7:S0168-8278(24)00106-5. (IF=28.0)

6.    Ma S^#, Tian Y^#, Peng J^#, Chen C, Peng X, Zhao F, Li Z, Li M, Zhao F, Sheng X, Zong R, Li Y, Zhang J, Yu M, Zhu Q, Tian X, Li Y, Neckenig MR, Liu H, Zhan P, Yue X, Wu Z, Gao L, Liang X, Liu X*, Li C*, Ma C*. Identification of a small-molecule Tim-3 inhibitor to potentiate T cell-mediated antitumor immunotherapy in preclinical mouse models. Sci Transl Med. 2023 Nov 15;15(722):eadg6752. (IF=16.9)

国际期刊Trends in Molecular Medicine (IF = 14.5)为该论文配发热点推荐（spotlight）文章“TIM-3 inhibitors: a promising strategy for tumor immunotherapy”。

7.    Zhang Y, Fan Y, Hu H, Zhang X, Wang Z, Wu Z, Wang L, Yu X, Song X, Xiang P, Zhang X, Wang T, Tan S, Li C, Gao L, Liang X, Li S, Li N, Yue X*, Ma C*. ZHX2 emerges as a negative regulator of mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation during acute liver injury. Nat Commun. 2023 Nov 18;14(1):7527. (IF=16.1)

8.    Tan S^#, Wang Z^#, Li N, Guo X, Zhang Y, Ma H, Peng X, Zhao Y, Li C, Gao L, Li T, Liang X*, Ma C*. Transcription factor Zhx2 is a checkpoint that programs macrophage polarization and antitumor response. Cell Death Differ. 2023 Sep;30(9):2104-2119. (IF=13.7)

9.    Tian P, Yang W, Guo X, Wang T, Tan S, Sun R, Xiao R, Wang Y, Jiao D, Xu Y, Wei Y, Wu Z, Li C, Gao L, Ma C*, Liang X*. Early life gut microbiota sustains liver-resident natural killer cells maturation via the butyrate-IL-18 axis. Nat Commun. 2023 Mar 27;14(1):1710. (IF=16.1)

10. Kong Y, Wu M, Wan X, Sun M, Zhang Y, Wu Z, Li C, Liang X, Gao L, Ma C, Yue X*. Lipophagy-mediated cholesterol synthesis inhibition is required for the survival of hepatocellular carcinoma under glutamine deprivation. Redox Biol. 2023 Jul;63:102732. (IF=11.7)

11. Jiao D, Sun R, Ren X, Wang Y, Tian P, Wang Y, Yuan D, Yue X, Wu Z, Li C, Gao L, Ma C, Liang X. Lipid accumulation-mediated histone hypoacetylation drives persistent NK cell dysfunction in anti-tumor immunity. Cell Rep. 2023 Oct 31;42(10):113211. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2023.113211. (IF=8.5)

12. Guo X, Tan S, Wang T, Sun R, Li S, Tian P, Li M, Wang Y, Zhang Y, Yan Y, Dong Z, Yan L, Yue X, Wu Z, Li C, Yamagata K, Gao L, Ma C, Li T*, Liang X*. NAD+ salvage governs mitochondrial metabolism, invigorating natural killer cell antitumor immunity. Hepatology. 2023 Aug 1;78(2):468-485. (IF=15.5)

13. Wu Z, Lei X, Wang X, Zhang Z, Li Y, Gao L, Liang X, Wang P, Wang J, Ma C. Peptide targeting the interaction of S protein cysteine-rich domain with Ezrin restricts pan-coronavirus infection. Signal Transduct Target Ther. 2023 Jan 18;8(1):19. (IF=40.5)

14. Wang Y, Wang Y, Ding L, Ren X, Wang B, Wang L, Zhao S, Yue X, Wu Z, Li C, Liang X, Ma C, Gao L*. Tim-4 reprograms cholesterol metabolism to suppress antiviral innate immunity by disturbing the Insig1-SCAP interaction in macrophages. Cell Rep. 2022 Nov 29;41(9):111738. (IF= 9.9)

15. Wang L^#, Zhang G^#, Sun Y, Wu Z, Ren C, Zhang Z, Peng X, Zhang Y, Zhao Y, Li C, Gao L, Liang X, Sun H, Cui J*, Ma C*. Enhanced Delivery of TLR7/8 Agonists by Metal-Organic Frameworks for Hepatitis B Virus Cure. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2022 Oct 19;14(41):46176-46187. (IF=9.6)

16. Ding Y^#, Chen C^#, Ma S, Sheng X, Zhao F, Peng J, Dong H, Ma C*, Li C*. Intrinsic PD-L1 promotes antitumor activity of CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes via in cis interaction with CD80. Cancer Commun (Lond). 2022 Aug;42(8):784-788. (IF=14.4)

17. Wu Z, Wang L, Wang X, Sun Y, Li H, Zhang Z, Ren C, Zhang X, Li S, Lu J, Xu L, Yue X, Hong Y, Li Q, Zhu H, Gong Y, Gao C, Hu H, Gao L, Liang X, Ma C. cccDNA Surrogate MC-HBV-Based Screen Identifies Cohesin Complex as a Novel HBV Restriction Factor. Cell Mol Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2022;14(6):1177-1198. doi: 10.1016/j.jcmgh.2022.08.002. (IF=8.4)

18. Sun Y, Teng Y, Wang L, Zhang Z, Chen C, Wang Y, Zhang X, Xiang P, Song X, Lu J, Li N, Gao L, Liang X, Xia Y, Wu Z, Ma C. LINC01431 Promotes Histone H4R3 Methylation to Impede HBV Covalently Closed Circular DNA Transcription by Stabilizing PRMT1. Adv Sci (Weinh). 2022 May;9(16):e2103135. (IF=15.1)

19. Cheng Y^#, Bai F^#, Ren X^#, Sun R, Guo X, Liu W, Wang B, Yang Y, Zhang X, Xu Y, Li C, Yang X, Gao L, Ma C, Li X*, Liang X*. Phosphoinositide-Binding Protein TIPE1 Promotes Alternative Activation of Macrophages and Tumor Progression via PIP3/Akt/TGFβ Axis. Cancer Res. 2022 Apr 15;82(8):1603-1616. (IF=13)

20. Liu L, Bai F, Song H, Xiao R, Wang Y, Yang H, Ren X, Li S, Gao L, Ma C, Yang X, Liang X. Upregulation of TIPE1 in tubular epithelial cell aggravates diabetic nephropathy by disrupting PHB2 mediated mitophagy. Redox Biol. 2022 Apr;50:102260. (IF=11.4)

21. Yang X^#, Li M^#, Qin X, Tan S, Du L, Ma C*, Li M*. Photophosphatidylserine Guides Natural Killer Cell Photoimmunotherapy via Tim-3. J Am Chem Soc. 2022 Mar 9;144(9):3863-3874. (IF=15.0)

22. Wang T^#, Zhang J^#, Li N, Li M, Ma S, Tan S, Guo X, Wang Z, Wu Z, Gao L, Ma C*, Liang X*. Spatial distribution and functional analysis define the action pathway of Tim-3/Tim-3 ligands in tumor development. Mol Ther. 2022 Mar 2;30(3):1135-1148. (IF=12.4)

23. Zhao S, Wang C, Lu P, Lou Y, Liu H, Wang T, Yang S, Bao Z, Han L, Liang X, Ma C, Gao L. Switch receptor T3/28 improves long-term persistence and antitumor efficacy of CAR-T cells. J Immunother Cancer. 2021 Nov;9(12):e003176. (IF=10.9)

24. Wang T, Ma C. The hepatic macrophage pool in NASH. Cell Mol Immunol. 2021 Aug;18(8):2059-2060. (IF=17.7)

25. Wang L, Sun Y, Song X, Wang Z, Zhang Y, Zhao Y, Peng X, Zhang X, Li C, Gao C, Li N, Gao L, Liang X, Wu Z*, Ma C*. Hepatitis B virus evades immune recognition via RNA adenosine deaminase ADAR1-mediated viral RNA editing in hepatocytes. Cell Mol Immunol. 2021 Aug;18(8):1871-1882. (IF=17.7)

26. Tan S, Guo X, Li M, Wang T, Wang Z, Li C, Wu Z, Li N, Gao L, Liang X, Ma C*. Transcription factor Zhx2 restricts NK cell maturation and suppresses their antitumor immunity. J Exp Med. 2021 Sep 6; 218(9):e20210009. (IF=16.4)

27. Chen C, Peng J, Ma S, Ding Y, Huang T, Zhao S, Gao L, Liang X, Li C*, Ma C*. Ribosomal protein S26 serves as a checkpoint of T-cell survival and homeostasis in a p53-dependent manner. Cell Mol Immunol. 2021 Jul;18(7):1844-1846. (IF=17.7)

28. Wu Z, Zhang Z, Wang X, Zhang J, Ren C, Li Y, Gao L, Liang X, Wang P, Ma C. Palmitoylation of SARS-CoV-2 S protein is essential for viral infectivity. Signal Transduct Target Ther. 2021 Jun 11;6(1):231.(IF=39.3)

29. Wang Y, Gao L. Monocyte-derived KCs (MoKCs) contribute to the KC pool in NASH. Cell Mol Immunol. 2021 Mar;18(3):518-519. (IF=17.7)