Research

Interplay between immunity, cancer, stem cells, and aging

The Bui Lab focuses on how immune cells interact with developing tumor cells and seeks to co-opt natural immunity to combat cancer. On the other hand, diseases associated with aging and inflammation arise due to dysfunctional stem cells and immunity. Using animal models and human tissue, members of the Bui Lab investigate how immune cells respond to antigens from cancer, in the environment, and in the aging human body. This research will provide treatments for cancer and aging based on modifying natural and pathologic immune responses.

Cancer Immunology

As cancer cells develop, they become more and more abnormal, resembling infected cells that are recognized by the immune system. In order to evade immunity, heterogeneous cancer cells undergo a selection process called cancer immunoediting, where immune cells delete highly immunogenic cancer cells from the tumor cell repertoire. Once tumors become evident in patients, the cancer immunoediting process has produced escape mechanisms that thwart antitumor immunity. The Bui Lab studies this process in animal models and focuses on restoring immunity in cancer patients as a form of therapy.

Hematopoiesis, stem cells, inflammation, and aging

The human body produces hundreds of billions of white blood cells daily from progenitor hematopoietic stem cells. This process, called hematopoiesis, occurs at homeostasis but also is highly regulated in order to respond to infection and cancer. The Bui Lab has discovered that immune cells and their cytokines regulate hematopoiesis by acting directly on the stem cell. Defining how stem cells respond to inflammatory signals will provide insight into how cancer, infection, and aging regulate the birth and development of the immune system.

Innate Immunity

By studying how immune cells interact with cancer cells, the Bui Lab discovered the cytokine IL-17D, an innate cytokine that has both pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory activities. Recent studies of IL-17D point to its role in cancer, viral infection, bacterial infection, and wound healing. Research on IL-17D centers on defining the cells that produce it and what genes it regulates.