Weiping Zou, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor of Surgery
Director of Translational Research
wzou@umich.edu

Research interests:
Tumor immunity, Immune suppression and immune vaccination

Current Research Activity:

B7 family members and dendritic cells in tumors, regulatory T cells in tumors, immune cell trafficking in tumors, novel animal models for cancer, mechanistic interaction between tumor, host immune cells and stems cells, the translational aspects of novel immune-based interventions in patients with cancer.

Recent Publications:

Kryczek, I., R. Liu, G. Wang, K. Wu, X. Shu, W. Szeliga, L. Vatan, E. Finlayson, E. Huang, D. Simeone, B. Redman, T.H. Welling, A. Chang, and W. Zou. 2009. FOXP3 defines regulatory T cells in human tumor and autoimmune disease. Cancer Res 69:3995-4000.

Kryczek, I., S. Wei, W. Szeliga, L. Vatan, and W. Zou. 2009. Endogenous IL-17 contributes to reduced tumor growth and metastasis. Blood 2009 Jul 9;114(2):357-9.

Ruter, J., B.G. Barnett, I. Kryczek, M.J. Brumlik, B.J. Daniel, G. Coukos, W. Zou, and T.J. Curiel. 2009. Altering regulatory T cell function in cancer immunotherapy: a novel means to boost the efficacy of cancer vaccines. Front Biosci 14:1761-1770.

Kryczek, I., M. Banerjee, P. Cheng, L. Vatan, W. Szeliga, S. Wei, E. Huang, E. Finlayson, D. Simeone, T.H. Welling, A. Chang, G. Coukos, R. Liu, and W. Zou. 2009. Phenotype, distribution, generation, functional and clinical relevance of Th17 cells in the human tumor environments. Blood 2009 May 21. [Epub ahead of print]

Zou W , Chen L. Inhibitory B7-family molecules in the tumour microenvironment. Nature Review (Immunology), 2008, 8:467-477.

Wei, S., A.B. Shreiner, N. Takeshita, L. Chen, W. Zou, and A.E. Chang. 2008. Tumor-induced immune suppression of in vivo effector T-cell priming is mediated by the B7-H1/PD-1 axis and transforming growth factor beta. Cancer Res 68:5432-5438.

Kryczek, I., A.T. Bruce, J.E. Gudjonsson, A. Johnston, A. Aphale, L. Vatan, W. Szeliga, Y. Wang, Y. Liu, T.H. Welling, J.T. Elder, and W. Zou. 2008. Induction of IL-17+ T cell trafficking and development by IFN-gamma: mechanism and pathological relevance in psoriasis. J Immunol 181:4733-4741.

Barnett, B.G., J. Ruter, I. Kryczek, M.J. Brumlik, P.J. Cheng, B.J. Daniel, G. Coukos, W. Zou, and T.J. Curiel. 2008. Regulatory T cells: a new frontier in cancer immunotherapy. Adv Exp Med Biol 622:255-260.

Kryczek, I., S. Wei, W. Gong, X. Shu, W. Szeliga, L. Vatan, L. Chen, G. Wang, and W. Zou. 2008. Cutting edge: IFN-gamma enables APC to promote memory Th17 and abate Th1 cell development. J Immunol 181:5842-5846.

P Reddy, Zou W. Blocking HDACs boosts regulatory T cells. Nat Med, 2007, 13:1282-1284.

Ilona Kryczek, Shuang Wei, Gefeng Zhu, Leann Myers, Peter Mottram, Pui Cheng, Lieping Chen, Geroge Coukos, Weiping Zou. Relationship between B7-H4, regulatory T cells and patient outcome in human ovarian carcinoma. Cancer Res . 2007 Sep 15;67(18):8900-5.

Shuang Wei, Ilona Kryczek, Robert P. Edwards, Linhua Vant, Wojciech Szeliga, Mousumi Banerjee, Marilyn Cost, Pui Cheng, Alfred Chang, Bruce Redman, Ronald B. Herberman, Weiping Zou. Interleukin 2 administration alters the CD4+FOXP3+ T cell pool and tumor trafficking in patients with ovarian carcinoma. Cancer Res . 2007 Aug 1;67(15):7487-94.

Ilona Kryczek, Shuang Wei, Linhua Vatan, June Escara-Wilke, Wojciech Szeliga, Evan T. Keller, and Weiping Zou. Cutting Edge: Opposite Effects of IL-1 and IL-2 on the Regulation of IL-17+ T Cell Pool IL-1 Subverts IL-2-Mediated Suppression J. Immunol., Aug 2007; 179: 1423 - 1426.

Ilona Kryczek, Shuang Wei, Linhua Zou, Saleh Altuwaijri, Wojciech Szeliga, Jay Kolls, Alfred Chang, and Weiping Zou. Cutting Edge: Th17 and Regulatory T Cell Dynamics and the Regulation by IL-2 in the Tumor Microenvironment J. Immunol., Jun 2007; 178: 6730 - 6733.

Wei S, Kryczek I, Zou W. Regulatory T-cell compartmentalization and trafficking. Blood. 2006 Jul 15;108(2):426-31.

Kryczek I, Wei S, Zou L, Zhu G, Mottram P, Xu H, Chen L, Zou W. Cutting edge: induction of B7-H4 on APCs through IL-10: novel suppressive mode for regulatory T cells. J Immunol. 2006 Jul 1;177(1):40-4

Kryczek I, Zou L, Rodriguez P, Zhu G, Wei S, Mottram P, Brumlik M, Cheng P, Curiel T, Myers L, Lackner A, Alvarez X, Ochoa A, Chen L, Zou W. B7-H4 expression identifies a novel suppressive macrophage population in human ovarian carcinoma. J Exp Med. 2006 Apr 17;203(4):871-81.

Zou W. Regulatory T cells, tumour immunity and immunotherapy. Nat Rev Immunol. 2006 Apr;6(4):295-307. Review.

Wei S, Kryczek I, Zou L, Daniel B, Cheng P, Mottram P, Curiel T, Lange A, Zou W. Plasmacytoid dendritic cells induce CD8+ regulatory T cells in human ovarian carcinoma. Cancer Res. 2005 Jun 15;65(12):5020-6.

Zou W. Immunosuppressive networks in the tumour environment and their therapeutic relevance. Nat Rev Cancer. 2005 Apr;5(4):263-74. Review.

Kryczek I, Lange A, Mottram P, Alvarez X, Cheng P, Hogan M, Moons L, Wei S, Zou L, Machelon V, Emilie D, Terrassa M, Lackner A, Curiel TJ, Carmeliet P, Zou W. CXCL12 and vascular endothelial growth factor synergistically induce neoangiogenesis in human ovarian cancers. Cancer Res. 2005 Jan 15;65(2):465-72

Zou L, Barnett B, Safah H, Larussa VF, Evdemon-Hogan M, Mottram P, Wei S, David O, Curiel TJ, Zou W. Bone marrow is a reservoir for CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells that traffic through CXCL12/CXCR4 signals. Cancer Res. 2004 Nov 15;64(22):8451-5.

Curiel TJ, Coukos G, Zou L, Alvarez X, Cheng P, Mottram P, Evdemon-Hogan M, Conejo-Garcia JR, Zhang L, Burow M, Zhu Y, Wei S, Kryczek I, Daniel B, Gordon A, Myers L, Lackner A, Disis ML, Knutson KL, Chen L, Zou W. Specific recruitment of regulatory T cells in ovarian carcinoma fosters immune privilege and predicts reduced survival. Nat Med. 2004 Sep;10(9):942-9.

Curiel TJ, Wei S, Dong H, Alvarez X, Cheng P, Mottram P, Krzysiek R, Knutson KL, Daniel B, Zimmermann MC, David O, Burow M, Gordon A, Dhurandhar N, Myers L, Berggren R, Hemminki A, Alvarez RD, Emilie D, Curiel DT, Chen L, Zou W. Blockade of B7-H1 improves myeloid dendritic cell-mediated antitumor immunity. Nat Med. 2003 May;9(5):562-7.

Zou W , Mache Lon V , Coulomb-L'Hermin A , Borvak J , Nome F , Isaeva T , Wei S , Krzysiek R , Durand-Gasselin I , Gordon A , Pustilnik T , Curiel DT , Galanaud P , Capron F , Emilie D , Curiel TJ . Stromal-derived factor-1 in human tumors recruits and alters the function of plasmacytoid precursor dendritic cells. Nat Med. 2001 Dec;7(12):1339-46.