59678-Luo, Wei
Faculty

Wei Luo, PhD

Assistant Professor of Microbiology & Immunology

Email wl47@iu.edu
Phone 317-274-8042
Address
R2 302
MCIM
IN
Indianapolis, IN
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Bio

Dr. Wei Luo is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Indiana University School of Medicine. Dr. Luo received his PhD in Biochemistry from SUNY Buffalo for his work that identified the pathways connecting transcription factor Ets1 to B cell mediated autoimmunity. He completed his first postdoctoral training at University of Pittsburgh focused on defining the important signaling pathways regulating germinal center B cell selection. His second postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University focused on B cell response to vaccination and developing better vaccines against influenza. In 2021, Dr. Luo started his lab at IU as an Assistant Professor to continue his studies on B cell biology. Dr. Luo’s research group is currently trying to connect the mechanisms regulating germinal center reaction to vaccine design. The ultimate goal is to develop vaccines that can induce broad and durable B cell memory against deadly infectious diseases. On the other hand, uncontrolled B cell response may lead to autoimmune diseases, such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. Dr. Wei Luo is also interested in understanding the pathogenesis of these autoimmune diseases to help develop new treatments. 

Key Publications

Wei Luo*,#, Julia Z Adamska*, Chunfeng Li*, Rohit Verma, Qing Liu, Thomas Hagan, Florian Wimmers, Shakti Gupta, Yupeng Feng, Wenxia Jiang, Jiehao Zhou, Erika Valore, Yanli Wang, Meera Trisal, Shankar Subramaniam, Timothy F Osborne and Bali Pulendran#. SREBP signaling is essential for effective B cell responses and memory formation. Nature Immunology 24 (2), 337-348 (2023)

Qian Yin*, Wei Luo*, Vamsee Mallajosyula, Yang Bo, Jing Guo, Jinghang Xie, Meng Sun, Rohit Verma, Chunfeng Li, Christian M. Constantz, Lisa E. Wagar, Jing Li, Elsa Sola, Neha Gupta, Chunlin Wang, Oliver Kask, Xin Chen, Xue Yuan, Nicholas C. Wu, Jianghong Rao, Yueh-hsiu Chien, Jianjun Cheng, Bali Pulendran and Mark M. Davis. A novel TLR7-nanoparticle adjuvant promotes broad immune responses against heterologous strains of Influenza and SARS-CoV-2. Nature Materials 22 (3), 380-390 (2023)

Wei Luo*, Laura Conter*, Rebecca A. Elsner*, Shuchi Smita, Florian Weisel, Derrick Callahan, Shuxian Wu, Maria Chikina and Mark Shlomchik. IL-21R signal reprogramming cooperates with CD40 and BCR signals to select and differentiate germinal center B cells. Science Immunology 8 (80), eadd1823 (2023)

Wei Luo*, William Hawse*, Laura Conter, Nikita Trivedi, Florian Weisel, Daniel Wikenheiser, Richard T. Cattley, and Mark Shlomchik. (2019) “The AKT signaling network is rewired by PTEN to control proximal BCR signaling in germinal center B cells”, Nature Immunology, 20(6),736-746.

Wei Luo, Florian Weisel, Mark J Shlomchik. (2018) “CD40 and BCR Signaling are Rewired for Synergistic c-Myc Induction in Germinal Center B cells”, Immunity, 48(2): 313-326.

Wei Luo, Jessica Mayeux, Maria Toni Gutierrez, Andy Getahun, Jennifer Müller, Thomas Tedder, Shu-Hsia Chen, Robert Rickert, Lars Nitschke, John Cambier, Anne B. Satterthwaite, and Lee Ann Garrett-Sinha. (2014) “A balance between BCR and inhibitory receptor signaling controls plasma cell differentiation by maintaining optimal Ets1 levels”, The Journal of Immunology, 193(2): 909-92.

Mark J Shlomchik, Wei Luo, and Florian Weisel. (2019) “Linking signaling and selection in the germinal center”, Immunological Reviews, 288(1), 49-63.

Florian Weisel, Steven Mullett, Rebecca Elsner, Ashley Menk, Nikita Trivedi, Wei Luo, Daniel Wilkenheiser, William Hawse, Maria Chikina, Shuchi Smita, Laura Conter, Stephen Joachim, Stacy Wendell, Thomas Winkler, Greg Delgoffe, Mark Shlomchik. (2020) “Germinal center B cells selectively oxidize fatty acids for energy while conducting minimal glycolysis”, Nature Immunology, 21, 331–342

Matthew Charles Woodruff, Eui Ho Kim, Wei Luo, and Bali Pulendran. (2018) “B cell competition for restricted T cell help suppresses rare-epitope responses”, Cell Reports, 25 (2), 321-327

Titles & Appointments

  • Assistant Professor of Microbiology & Immunology
  • Education
    2014 PhD State University of New York at Buffalo
    2009 MS China Pharmaceutical University
    2007 BS China Pharmaceutical University
  • Research
    Immunology: Germinal center B cell signaling, metabolism and differentiation.

    Vaccinology: B cell response to vaccination;
                    Developing vaccines against mutable viruses such as HIV, influenza  and SARS-CoV2 

    Cancer: Targeted therapy for germinal center B-cell lymphoma;
                   The role of B cells in cancer immunotherapy
  • Professional Organizations
    American Association of Immunologists

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