Wen lab has two different, but interconnected research focuses. One focus of the Wen lab is aimed at understanding the signaling pathways that govern proper B and T cell activation and communications and how aberrant signaling in T and B cells will lead to human diseases. The lab has studied the mechanisms by which molecules in antigen receptor signaling pathways such as: phospholipase C gamma (PLCg), B-cell lymphoma 10 (Bcl10), and molecules in cytokine signaling pathways, including Grb2-associated binding (Gab) proteins, control and modulate T and B cell development and activation and how aberrant functions of these molecules lead to lymphopenia and autoimmunity.

Another major focus of the Wen lab is understanding the interplay between immune systems and coagulation systems in healthy and disease states. Currently, the lab is studying how antibodies regulate the function of platelets and other cells involved in the coagulation system and the prevalence, ontogeny, and activation of the host B cells that make such antibodies in healthy people and patients with heparin-induced thrombocytopenia and thrombosis (HIT) and COVID-19. Studies will be performed in both human and mouse systems using techniques of biochemistry, cell biology, molecular biology, and bioinformatics with the goal of understanding the molecular pathogenesis underlying antibody mediated thrombotic complications in HIT and COVID-19 and developing new diagnostic and therapeutic tools for these conditions. 

Click here for a complete list of publications.

Selected Publications

1. Zeng H, Di L, Fu G, Cheng Y, Gao X, Xu L, Lin X, and Wen R. Phosphorylation of Bcl10 negatively regulates T cell receptor-mediated NF-κB activation. Mol Cell Biol. 2007, 27: 5235-5245. PMID: 17502353
2. Zeng H, Chen Y, Yu M, Xue L, Gao X, Morris SW, Wang D, and Wen R. T cell ceceptor-mediated activation of CD4⁺CD44^hi T cells bypasses Bcl10: an implication of differential NF-κB dependence of naïve and memory T cells during T cell receptor-mediated responses. J Biol Chem. 2008, 5:24392-24399. PMCID: PMC2528987
3. Fu G, Chen Y, Yu M, Podd A, Di L, He Y, Williams CB, North PE, Wang D, and Wen R. Phospholipase Cγ1 is essential for T-cell development, activation and tolerance. J Exp Med. 2010, 207:309-318. PMCID: PMC2822604
4. Fu G, Chen Y, Schuman J, Wang D, Wen R. Phospholipase Cγ2 Plays a Role in TCR Signal Transduction and T Cell Selection. J. Immunol. 2012, 189: 2326-2332, PMID: 22837484
5. Fu G, Yu M, Chen Y, Zheng Y, Zhu W, Newman DK, Wang D, and Wen R. Phospholipase Cγ1 is required for pre-TCR signal transduction and pre-T cell development. Eur J Immunol, 2017, 47: 74-83. PMID: 27759161, PMCID: PMC5559087.
6. Jobe SM, Wen R. Another front in COVID-19's perfect storm. Blood. 2021, 137:1006-1007. PMID: 33630053, PMCID: PMC7906012.
7. Zhu W, Zheng Y, Yu M, Wu Y, Wei J, Zhou L, Fu G, Schneider N, Jones C, Irani M, Padmanabhan A, Aster R, Wang D, Wen R. Cloned antibodies from patients with heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) provide new clues to HIT pathogenesis. Blood, 141: 1060-1069, 2023. PMID: 36493339, PMCID: PMC10023725.
8. Zheng Y, Yu M, Chen Y, Xue L, Zhu W, Fu G, Morris SW, Wen R*, Wang D*. CARD19, a Novel Regulator of the TAK1/NF-κB Pathway in Self-Reactive B Cells. J Immunol. 2023, 210: 1222-1235. PMID: 36961449, PMCID: PMC10156913, *equal senior authorship. 
9. Kanack AJ, Schaefer JK, Sridharan M, Splinter NP, Kohlhagen MC, Singh B, De Lorenzo SB, Mauch EE, Hussein MA, Shaikh M, Kumar S, Wen R, Wang D, Murray D, Padmanabhan A. Monoclonal gammopathy of thrombotic/thrombocytopenic significance. Blood, 141: 1772-1776. 2023, PMID: 36626584, PMCID: PMC10113173. 
10. Zhu W, Zheng Y, Yu M, Witman N, Zhou L, Wei J, Zhang Y, Topchyan P, Nguyen C, Wang D, Janecke R, Padmanabhan A, Baumann Kreuziger L, White GC, Hari P, Gu T, Fields AT, Kornblith LZ, Aster R, Zhu J, Cui W, Jobe S, Graham MB, Wang D, and Wen R. Prothrombotic Antibodies Targeting the Spike Protein's Receptor-Binding Domain in Severe COVID-19. Blood, Accepted.

Complete List of Published Work in MyBibliography:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/myncbi/1-KSbdkQcRkN/bibliography/47701908/public/?sort=date&direction=ascending