Download BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH NAME: Wei Jiang eRA COMMONS USER

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
Provide the following information for the Senior/key personnel and other significant contributors.
Follow this format for each person. DO NOT EXCEED FIVE PAGES.
NAME: Wei Jiang
eRA COMMONS USER NAME (credential, e.g., agency login): JIANG.WEI
POSITION TITLE: Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Pediatrics
EDUCATION/TRAINING (Begin with baccalaureate or other initial professional education, such as nursing,
include postdoctoral training and residency training if applicable. Add/delete rows as necessary.)
INSTITUTION AND LOCATION
Tsinghua University, Beijing, P. R. China
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
DEGREE
(if applicable)
Completion Date
MM/YYYY
B.S.
07/2004
Ph.D.
05/2010
FIELD OF STUDY
Chemical and Biomolecular
Engineering
Chemical and Biomolecular
Engineering
A. Personal Statement
My career goal is to utilize advanced biotechnologies to answer questions in disease-related immunity. This
goal includes the discovery of mechanisms regulating such diseases using innovative tools and the
development of reagents aimed at modulating these immune disorders. I joined Dr. Eric T. Boder’s group at
University of Pennsylvania in 2004. Dr. Boder invented the classical yeast display for engineering of the single
chain variable fragment of an antibody. Under his guidance, I pioneered the design and the development of
yeast co-display, which is the first demonstration of a high-throughput engineering and analysis approach to
co-express an antigenic peptide and an MHC-II protein in yeast and to semi-quantitatively study peptide/MHC-II
interaction using surface display (Jiang and Boder, PNAS, 2010). During my PhD study, I have learned that
certain alleles of the polymorphic MHC-II confer the highest level of inherited risk on autoimmune diseases;
therefore, the recognition of antigenic peptides in the context of MHC-II by CD4+ T cells plays a central role in
autoimmunity. To further investigate the molecular mechanism(s) governing such a tight association, in the
February of 2011, I joined the laboratory of Dr. Elizabeth D. Mellins at Stanford University, who is an expert in
the area of MHC-II-restricted antigen presentation that is tightly associated with autoimmune diseases. As a
postdoctoral fellow, I have applied my biochemistry and bioengineering knowledge to broader aspects of
antigen presentation. I have led the work that elucidated the pH-regulation of the interaction between DM, a
catalyst for MHC-II-restricted peptide exchange, and its inhibitor, DO (Jiang, et al, Being resubmitted to
Nature Immunology, 2015, and the co-author of two other papers in PNAS and Nature Structural &
molecular biology, respectively), which provides significant insights on the intracellular modulation of peptide
repertoire that prevents autoimmunity. I have also made significant contributions to projects concerning MHC-II
DQ2-restricted antigen presentation in celiac disease and MHC-II DQ6-restricted antigen presentation in
narcolepsy. The expression of MHC-II requires professional antigen presenting cells, including multiple cell
types. The current limitation in studies of autoimmunity is a lack of specific and sensitive reagents for both in
vitro and in vivo immunotargeting of these cells. This drives my motivation to design and develop a novel tool to
overcome the bottleneck. A comparison of different cell display technologies and various target-specific
reagents implies that yeast display of TCR-like Fabs or nanobodies specific for MHC-II-associated peptides will
be the ideal solution for future investigation of antigen presenting cells in autoimmunity. I have already obtained
training on index single cell sorting (a paper related to this technique is in preparation) and will utilize next
generation sequencing available at PAN facility at Stanford University. I will focus my years as a senior
postdoctoral fellow on the design and optimization of the high throughput yeast platform, and produce specific
and sensitive TCRL reagents for the identification of celiac disease-associated antigen presenting cells. This
will be the first step of a long-term project aiming at elucidating the pathogenesis of this autoimmune disease.
With the guidance of my mentors, the help of my collaborators, all sources of facilities at Stanford, and the
multi-disciplinary experience and knowledge I acquired throughout my PhD study and during my stay in Dr.
Mellins’ laboratory (so far), I anticipate I can establish the proposed methodology in a 2-3 year time frame and
accomplish the career transition to become an independent investigator.
1
B. Research and/or Professional Experience
Positions
2001-2002
Head of the Extracurricular Activities Section of the Chinese Youth League, Department of
Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University
2002-2003
Deputy Secretary of the Chinese Youth League, Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua
University, P. R. China
2002-2003
Secretary-general, Zijing Voluntary Service, Tsinghua University
2002-2003
Member of the Department for Extracurricular Activities, Tsinghua University
2003-2004
Research Assistant, Biochemical Unit, Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University
2004-2010
Research Assistant, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of
Pennsylvania
2011-present Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Pediatrics, Human Gene Therapy, Stanford University
Honors
2001
SK Scholarship (1st Prize, Awarded by South Korea’s SK Corporation)
2002
Friends of Tsinghua – Wei Lun Foundation Fellowship
2002
Social Work Fellowship, Tsinghua University
2002
Outstanding Student Leader Award, Tsinghua University
2002
Silver Medal Award for Social Service and Activities, Tsinghua University
2003
LG Scholarship (1st Prize, Awarded by South Korea’s LG Corporation)
2004
Outstanding Student Award, Tsinghua University
2004-2010
Research Fellowship, University of Pennsylvania
2009
Graduate Student Achievement Award, 3rd Annual Comparative & Experimental Medicine and
Public Health Research Symposium
2011-2012
Stanford Pediatric Research Fellowship
2013-2014
Stanford Child Health Research Institute Grant Support Award
2014
Stanford University Immunology Program Postdoctoral Fellow Travel Award
2014
The American Association of Immunologists Trainee Poster Award
2015
Stanford University Immunology Program Postdoctoral Fellow Travel Award
2015-2018
Novo Nordisk Senior Postdoctoral Research Award
Professional Societies and Public Advisory Committees
2012-present Faculty of 1000 Prime: Associated Faculty Member
2003-present American Association of Immunologist Member
C. Contributions to Science
1) Designed and developed a cell display system for analysis of peptide binding to polymorphic MHC-II
Antigen recognition is the key step in triggering immune responses in human. In order to specifically
recognize countless self or foreign antigens
(some experiencing fast and drastic mutations),
proteins in mammals that are responsible for the
engagement of antigens or their derived
fragments have evolved to possess a high
degree of polymorphism. These proteins include
B cell receptors (secreted as antibodies), T cell
receptors,
and
major
histocompatibility
complexes (MHC) on the surface of antigen
presenting cells (APCs). The polymorphism
makes the understanding of molecular
mechanisms governing relevant cell functions
extremely
challenging.
Protein
libraries
expressed in yeast have the potential to Figure 1 Design of the yeast co-display system for HLA-DR1
overcome this limitation. Yeast is single cell
eukaryotic expression system, which is ideal for the cloning and engineering, while mimicking the elaborative
post-translational modification of mammalian proteins. Surface display by yeast enables the characterization of
proteins by flow cytometry, making the process efficient and sensitive. I have successfully co-transformed
individual yeast cells with two plasmids directing expression of three polypeptide chains, which associated with
2
each other intracellularly and formed complexes for display on the yeast surface (Figure 1 and Reference 1).
This significantly broadens the spectrum of application of yeast display for the study and engineering
of interactions between antigens and polymorphic antigen receptors. I have demonstrated the capacity of
using this advanced tool to determine the anchor specificity and cooperativity of antigenic peptides binding to
MHC-II molecules. I have also utilized directed evolution and DNA shuffling (data not published) to evolve
MHC-II human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DR1 molecules and isolated a promiscuous clone that shares key
peptide binding characteristics with MHC-II HLA-DQ alleles. The transitional mutant linking different subtypes of
MHC-II alleles for peptide recognition suggests a molecular mechanism in the natural evolution of MHC-II in the
context of antigen presentation to CD4+ T cells.
2) Discovered the mechanism governing DO inhibition of DM catalysis in MHC-II peptide loading compartments
Collaborative efforts of the antigenic peptide-loading catalyst, HLA-DM and its inhibitor, HLA-DO control the
antigen specificity of CD4+ T
cell-mediated immunity. The
Mellins lab and collaborators
(Dr. Lawrence J. Stern’s lab
at U Mass Medical School)
have identified the interaction
surface of the DM-DO
complex
by
fluoresce
resonance energy transfer
(FRET)
assays
and
mutagenesis studies, and
determined the structure of
DM-DO
by
X-ray
crystallization (Reference 3,
5). DO mimics MHC-II to bind
DM, but lacks the ability to
associate
with
peptides;
therefore DO inhibits DM
catalyzed peptide loading
onto MHC-II in the endosomal
compartment. Notably, the Figure 2 pH regulation of class II antigen presentation
substrates of DM differ
significantly in strength of binding [polymorphic MHC-II (>μM affinity) vs DO (~nM affinity)], although MHC-II
and DO share 80% sequence homology and substantial structural similarity. I provided the first evidence
demonstrating the intracellular/pH regulation and restricted localization of DM inhibition in cells expressing DO
using super-resolution microscopy (proposed model illustrated in Fig. 2). Using multiple approaches including
ELISA, size exclusion chromatography, surface plasmon resonance, bio-layer interferometry and FRET, I have
also elucidated the mechanism of generation of functional DM from DM-DO complexes: acidic pH denatures
DO, but does not directly affect the molecular interaction between intact DO and DM proteins (Reference 9, 11).
This finding is fundamental to class II antigen presentation and may suggest approaches for
therapeutic interventions in certain types of immune dysfunction. The mechanism also suggests an
intriguing model for activation of acid-sensitive enzymes regulated by inhibitors.
3) Identified the structural characteristics of HLA-DQ2, an allele that is tightly linked to celiac disease
Celiac disease is exclusively dependent on the consumption of dietary gluten and the expression of
HLA-DQ2 (>90%) and/or HLA-DQ8 alleles. Therefore, DQ2-restricted gluten peptide presentation to CD4+ T
cells plays a central role in the immunophathogenesis of this autoimmune disease. The Mellins lab and
collaborators (Dr. Ludvig M. Sollid’s lab at University of Oslo) have already identified the unique peptide binding
features and the poor DM susceptibility of DQ2 proteins. It is believed that a natural deletion of the amino acid at
the position 53 of the DQ2 α chain leads to these disease-association features, as suggested by the observation
that an insertion of glycine at α53 restored DM susceptibility. However, it remained unclear whether the poor
DM susceptibility or the unique peptide-binding preferences of DQ2 contribute to gluten peptide presentation. I
characterized the peptide loading of a set of relevant peptides to purified DQ2 wild type and α53G mutant
proteins and determined their relative peptide binding preferences, and also analyzed the kinetics in the context
of DM susceptibility. In collaboration with Dr. Karthik Sathiyamoorthy from Dr. Ted Jardetzky’s group at
3
Stanford, I have also resolved the crystal structure of DQ2 in complex with the endogenous peptide CLIP, which
is in the binding grove of nearly every immature MHC-II molecule prior to the exchange with antigenic peptides
(Fig. 2). This is the first DQ structure in complex with CLIP, and it provides insight into the reduced DM
susceptibility of DQ2 and suggests differential peptide exchange capacities for DQ and DR isotypes. A
manuscript describing this work is in preparation. Celiac disease is one of the most studied autoimmune
disorders; however, the specific antigen presenting cells (APCs) that drive the CD4+ T cell response have not
been identified. My proposed project, entitled “Identification of gluten-responsive DQ2-restricted antigen
presenting cells in celiac disease”, aims at screening TCR like reagents in yeast to select out candidates that
can differentiate DQ2-restricted gluten peptides and CLIP, and potentially identify celiac disease-associated
APCs expressing DQ2 in complex with a gluten peptide. This will open a new horizon in studies of celiac
disease. Adaptation of this method to other autoimmune diseases will also be straightforward.
4) Investigated the correlation between HLA-DQ6-associated narcolepsy and 2009 pandemic flu
Narcolepsy is a neurological sleep disorder affecting many ethnic groups worldwide. Deficiency of the
wake-promoting neuropeptide, hypocretin (HCRT, or orexin), is the only direct indication of this disease, as the
pathogenetic mechanism leading to the depletion of HCRT-producing neurons is largely unknown. HLA-DQ6 is
the dominant genetic risk factor for narcolepsy and is found in >98% of narcoleptic patients vs ~20% of normals.
Non-genetic events, especially the 2009 pandemic H1N1 (pH1N1) infection or vaccination, also promote onsets
of narcolepsy cases. Our hypothesis is that pH1N1-derived foreign peptides can mimic HCRT-derived
self-peptides and be presented by DQ6 to drive cross-reactive CD4+ T cell-mediated autoimmune responses
directly or indirectly against HCRT or corresponding neurons. I directed a peptide loading study to identify
potential T cell epitopes derived from HCRT bound by DQ6, and will test their ability to activate primary CD4+ T
cells using ELISPOT. I have also sent the construct of DQ6/HCRT complexes for the synthesis of tetramers,
which will be used for single cell sorting and sequencing analysis for CD4+ T cell receptors from narcoleptic
versus non-narcoleptic patients. This work will provide direct evidence validating the molecular mimicry
hypothesis, and also set up a foundation for future exploration of APCs involved and elucidation of the
immunopathogenesis of narcolepsy.
References
1. Jiang W, Boder ET. High-throughput Engineering and Analysis of Peptide Binding to Class II MHC. Proc
Natl Acad Sci USA, 107:13258-13263, 2010.
2. Boder ET, Jiang W. Engineering Antibodies for Cancer. Annual Review of Chemical and Biomolecular
Engineering, 2:53-75, 2011.
3. Yoon T, Macmillan H, Mortimer SE, Rinderknecht CH, Jiang W, Stern LJ, Mellins ED. Mapping of DO/DM
complex by FRET and mutagenesis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 109:11276-81, 2012.
4. Busch R, De Riva A, Hadjinicolaou AV, Jiang W, Hou T, Mellins ED. On the perils of poor editing: regulation
of peptide loading by HLA-DQ and H2-A molecules associated with celiac disease and type 1 diabetes.
Expert Rev Mol Med, 6;14:e15, 2012.
5. Guce AI, Mortimer SE, Yoon T, Painter C, Jiang W, Mellins ED, Stern LJ. Crystal structure of the
HLA-DO/DM complex shows that HLA-DO acts as a substrate mimic to inhibit HLA-DM by a competitive
mechanism. Nat Struct Mol Biol, 20:90-8, 2013.
6. Macmillan H*, Strohman MJ*, Ayyangar S, Jiang W, Rajasekaran N, Spura A, Hessell A, Madec A-M,
Mellins ED. The MHC class II cofactor HLA-DM interacts with Ig in B cells. J Immunol, 193:2641-50, 2014.
*Equal contributions.
7. Sathiyamoorthy K, Jiang J, Hu Y, Rowe CL, Mohl B, Chen J, Jiang W, Mellins ED, Longnecker R, Zhou H,
Jardetzky TS. Assembly and architecture of the EBV B cell entry-triggering complex. PLoS Pathog,
10:e1004309, 2014.
8. Yin L, Trenh P, Guce A, Wieczorek M, Lange S, Sticht J, Jiang W, Blysma M, Mellins ED, Freund C, Stern
LJ. Susceptibility to HLA-DM protein is determined by a dynamic conformation of major histocompatibility
complex class II bound with peptide. J Biol Chem, 289:23449-64, 2014.
9. Jiang W, Macmillan H, Madec AM, Mellins ED. Purification and characterization of GAD65-specific
monoclonal autoantibodies. F1000Research, 4:135, 2015.
10. Jiang W, Strohman M, Somasundaram S, Ayyangar S, Macmillan H, Hou T, Wang N, Mellins ED.
pH-susceptibility of HLA-DO tunes DO/DM ratios to regulate HLA-DM catalytic activity. Submitted, 2015.
11. Jiang W, Macmillan H, Mellins ED. Index screening of single cells delineates correlation between
intracellular protein functions. In preparation, 2015.
4
D. Research Support
1) Antigen presentation by HLA-DQ2 in celiac disease
The long-term goal of this project was to elucidate the role of DQ2-expressing antigen presentation cells in
celiac disease. I will be directing the development of nanobody-based specific reagents for immunotargeting of
antigen presentation cells. This is directly related to my proposed project.
Stanford ITI Seed Research Award Relevant to IBD (Mellins, PI)
10/01/12-09/30/13
Intestinal organoids for the study of Celiac Disease (Mellins, Fernandez-Becker, PIs) 05/01/15-04/30/16
NIH U19 Stanford NAMSED (Kuo/Amieva, PIs)
04/01/15-03/31/20
Mellins, Co-I. Advanced Co-Culture Engineering and Single Cell Statistics of Gut Immunology
Novo Nordisk Senior Postdoctoral Research Award (Jiang, PI)
07/01/15-06/31/18
This work focuses on next-generation intestinal organoids with integrated immune cells as model systems to
study enteric infection and inflammation.
2) HLA-DQ6-restriced cross-reactive T cells stimulated by H1N1 infection and vaccination
The goal of this project is to develop DQ6 tetramer reagents to isolate cross-reactive T cells from primary or
in vitro expanded HCRT or pH1N1-specific CD4+ T cells and to perform TCR repertoire analysis post H1N1
vaccination in DQ6 subjects, with and without narcolepsy. I will be directing the establishment of single cell
analysis for DQ6-restricted CD4+ T cells.
Stanford Child Health Research Institute Grant UL1 TR000093 (Jiang, PI)
09/01/13-08/31/14
NIH-NIAID / 5 U01 AI101990-02
CSGADP Pilot: (Mellins, PI)
06/01/14-05/31/15
GSK/Belgium (Mellins, PI)
03/01/15-09/31/15
3) Substrates, Inhibitors and ligands for HLA-DM, the class II peptide loading catalyst
The goal of this project is to study the interaction between HLA-DM and its potential substrates including
MHC-II, HLA-DO, and a novel ligand, immunoglobulin. Understanding how DM-DO and/or other intracellular
modulators affect MHC-II-restricted peptide repertoire is the key to future investigations of antigen presenting
cell function.
Stanford Pediatric Research Fund UL1 RR025744 (Jiang, PI)
08/01/11-07/31/12
1R21AI095813-01 (Mellins, PI)
07/01/11-06/30/13
E. PROFESSIONAL SKILLS
•
Cell analysis: yeast display/codisplay, cell culturing, T cell activation, flow cytometry, FACS, single cell
sequencing, Super-resolution microscopy (3D-SIM)
•
Protein manipulation: Protein expression in Ecoli, yeast, insect cells, and mammalian cell lines,
SDS-PAGE, western blot, dot blot, ELISA, Ab purification, FPLC, in vitro folding, fluorescence polarization
assay, immunoprecipitation, cross-linking, FRET, SPR, bio-layer interferometry, directed evolution by yeast
display/codisplay
•
Molecular cloning: DNA/RNA purification and identification, PCR, plasmid manipulation, DNA shuffling,
combinatorial library construction, site directed mutagenesis
Computer software: Vector NTI, PyMol, VMD, NAMD, Swiss PDB Viewer, Flowjo, MATLAB, Illustrator, MS
Office, Graphpad Prism, C programming, Imaris 3D visualization
•
5