Research Summary

We study the intercellular communications and cell migration dynamics underlying anti-pathogen and anti-tumor immune responses. We are recognized for defining how lymphoid microenvironments are organized to support adaptive immunity. We played a key role in the discovery of lymphoid tissue chemokines and established the concept that chemokines continuously guide cells to supportive niches. Our group led the way in defining how cells exit from lymphoid organs, a process essential for immune function. We showed the egress-promoting role of sphingosine-1-phosphate and identified the mechanism of action of key egress regulators, including the immunosuppressive molecule FTY720 (Fingolimod). We use immunological, genetic, cell biological, biochemical, and intravital imaging techniques to study these processes. As well as performing mechanistic studies in mouse models, we have translated key findings to humans, such as our identification of a gene pathway that is disrupted in germinal center B cell-type diffuse large B cell lymphoma.

Research Funding

  • April 1, 1999 - August 31, 2024 - Chemokines and Lymphoid Tissue Organization and Function , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01AI045073
  • September 1, 1988 - July 31, 2024 - Molecular and Cellular Immunology , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: T32AI007334
  • June 1, 2021 - May 31, 2023 - GPR35 function in the immune system , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R21AI163036
  • April 1, 1997 - March 31, 2022 - B lymphocyte Migration and Homeostasis , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01AI040098
  • July 1, 1995 - August 31, 2020 - Predoctoral Training in Biomedical Sciences , Co-Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: T32GM008568
  • June 1, 2007 - May 31, 2018 - Cellular and Genetic Analysis of Lymphocyte Egress , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01AI074847
  • April 1, 1997 - March 31, 2012 - Beta Lymphocyte Migration and Homeostasis , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R37AI040098

Education

University of Western Australia, B.S., 1988, Biochemistry and Microbiology
University of Oxford, England, D.Phil., 1992, Immunology
Stanford Univ. Med Center, Stanford, CA, PD Fellow, 1992-1995, Immunology

Honors & Awards

  • 1984
    The Beazely Award for secondary education in Western Australia
  • 1988
    J.A. Wood Memorial prize from the University of Western Australia
  • 1989-1992
    Commonwealth Overseas Studentship
  • 1992-1995
    Cancer Research Institute Postdoctoral Fellowship
  • 1996-2000
    Pew Scholar in the Biomedical Sciences
  • 1997
    Cheryl Whitlock Memorial Prize for Postdoctoral Studies
  • 1998-2003
    David and Lucile Packard Foundation Fellowship
  • 2005
    AAI BD Biosciences Investigator Award
  • 2005
    External Speaker, Harvard Medical School Annual Immunology Retreat
  • 2009
    Alexandre Goidl Memorial Lectureship, University of Maryland Baltimore
  • 2009
    Keynote Speaker, Microanatomy of Immune Responses in Health and Disease, Birmingham, UK
  • 2010
    Organizing Committee Member, International Congress of Immunology, Kobe, Japan
  • 2010
    Keynote Presentation, Antibody Biology & Engineering Gordon Research Conference, Ventura, CA
  • 2010
    14th Köhler Lecture in Immunology, University of Freiburg, Germany
  • 2010
    CRI Fredrick W. Alt Award for New Discoveries in Immunology
  • 2011
    Distinguished Lecture, AAI Annual Meeting, San Francisco
  • 2011
    Elected as an AAAS Fellow
  • 2013
    Keynote Speaker, 14th International TNF conference
  • 2013
    Keynote Speaker, FASEB Meeting on Lysophospholipids
  • 2013
    Keynote Speaker, Gordon Conference on Follicular helper T cells.
  • 2018
    Elected, American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Selected Publications

  1. Cleary SJ, Qiu L, Seo Y, Baluk P, Liu D, Serwas NK, Taylor CA, Zhang D, Cyster JG, McDonald DM, Krummel MF, Looney MR. Intravital imaging of pulmonary lymphatics in inflammation and metastatic cancer. J Exp Med. 2025 May 05; 222(5).  View on PubMed
  2. Mattiuz R, Boumelha J, Hamon P, Le Berichel J, Vaidya A, Soong BY, Halasz L, Radkevich E, Kim HM, Park MD, Donne R, Troncoso L, D'Souza D, Kaiza ME, MacFawn IP, Belabed M, Mestrallet G, Humblin E, Merand R, Hennequin C, Ioannou G, Ozbey S, Figueiredo I, Hegde S, Tepper A, Merarda H, Nemeth E, Goldstein S, Reid AM, Noureddine M, Tabachnikova A, Ahmed J, Polydorides AD, Bhardwaj N, Lujambio A, Chen Z, Kozlova EG, Kim-Schulze S, Brody JD, Schotsaert M, Moussion C, Gnjatic S, Sautès-Fridman C, Fridman WH, Roudko V, Brown BD, Marron TU, Cyster JG, Salmon H, Bruno TC, Joshi NS, Kamphorst AO, Merad M. Dendritic cells type 1 control the formation, maintenance, and function of tertiary lymphoid structures in cancer. bioRxiv. 2024 Dec 27.  View on PubMed
  3. Chen KY, De Giovanni M, Xu Y, An J, Kirthivasan N, Lu E, Jiang K, Brooks S, Ranucci S, Yang J, Kanameishi S, Kabashima K, Brulois K, Bscheider M, Butcher EC, Cyster JG. Inflammation switches the chemoattractant requirements for naive lymphocyte entry into lymph nodes. Cell. 2025 Feb 20; 188(4):1019-1035.e22.  View on PubMed
  4. T.L. Ben-Saanan, K. Knöpper, L. Duan, R. Liu, H. Taglinao, Y. Xu, J. An, M.V. Plikus, J.G. Cyster. 485 A hairy story: Pain facilitating dermal TRPV1 innervations engage a macrophage and fibroblast containing pathway to activate hair growth in mice. Journal of Investigative Dermatology. 2024 Dec 1; 144(12):s312.  View on PubMed
  5. Tam H, Xu Y, An J, Schöneberg T, Schulz A, Muppidi JR, Cyster JG. Phosphatidylserine phospholipase A1 enables GPR34-dependent immune cell accumulation in the peritoneal cavity. J Exp Med. 2024 Nov 04; 221(11).  View on PubMed
  6. Cleary SJ, Qiu L, Seo Y, Baluk P, Liu D, Serwas NK, Cyster JG, McDonald DM, Krummel MF, Looney MR. Intravital imaging of pulmonary lymphatics in inflammation and metastatic cancer. bioRxiv. 2024 Sep 17.  View on PubMed
  7. M.A. Mintz, M. Kazmi, A. Almonte Loya, E. Flynn, L. Maliskova, W. Eckalbar, A.J. Combes, G.K. Fragiadakis, J.G. Cyster, A. Haemel. LB869 Single-cell RNA-seq analysis of circulating immune cells in dermatomyositis in patients with and without a history of cancer. Journal of Investigative Dermatology. 2024 Aug 1; 144(8):s151.  View on PubMed
  8. Theusch E, Ting FY, Qin Y, Stevens K, Naidoo D, King SM, Yang NV, Orr J, Han BY, Cyster JG, Chen YI, Rotter JI, Krauss RM, Medina MW. Participant-derived cell line transcriptomic analyses and mouse studies reveal a role for ZNF335 in plasma cholesterol statin response. Genome Med. 2024 Jul 26; 16(1):93.  View on PubMed
  9. Cyster JG, Wilson PC. Antibody modulation of B cell responses-Incorporating positive and negative feedback. Immunity. 2024 07 09; 57(7):1466-1481.  View on PubMed
  10. Ben-Shaanan TL, Knöpper K, Duan L, Liu R, Taglinao H, Xu Y, An J, Plikus MV, Cyster JG. Dermal TRPV1 innervations engage a macrophage- and fibroblast-containing pathway to activate hair growth in mice. Dev Cell. 2024 Nov 04; 59(21):2818-2833.e7.  View on PubMed
  11. Winer BY, Settle AH, Yakimov AM, Jeronimo C, Lazarov T, Tipping M, Saoi M, Sawh A, Sepp AL, Galiano M, Perry JSA, Wong YY, Geissmann F, Cross J, Zhou T, Kam LC, Pasolli HA, Hohl T, Cyster JG, Weiner OD, Huse M. Plasma membrane abundance dictates phagocytic capacity and functional cross-talk in myeloid cells. Sci Immunol. 2024 Jun 07; 9(96):eadl2388.  View on PubMed
  12. Kirthivasan N, Cyster JG. Lymphoid tissue on the mind. Trends Immunol. 2024 May; 45(5):325-326.  View on PubMed
  13. De Giovanni M, Vykunta VS, Biram A, Chen KY, Taglinao H, An J, Sheppard D, Paidassi H, Cyster JG. Mast cells help organize the Peyer's patch niche for induction of IgA responses. Sci Immunol. 2024 03; 9(93):eadj7363.  View on PubMed
  14. Liu D, Winer BY, Chou MY, Tam H, Xu Y, An J, Gardner JM, Cyster JG. Dynamic encounters with red blood cells trigger splenic marginal zone B cell retention and function. Nat Immunol. 2024 Jan; 25(1):142-154.  View on PubMed
  15. Nie Y, Qiu Z, Chen S, Chen Z, Song X, Ma Y, Huang N, Cyster JG, Zheng S. Specific binding of GPR174 by endogenous lysophosphatidylserine leads to high constitutive Gs signaling. Nat Commun. 2023 09 22; 14(1):5901.  View on PubMed
  16. Winer BY, Settle AH, Yakimov AM, Jeronimo C, Lazarov T, Tipping M, Saoi M, Sawh A, Sepp AL, Galiano M, Wong YY, Perry JSA, Geissmann F, Cross J, Zhou T, Kam LC, Pasoli HA, Hohl T, Cyster JG, Weiner OD, Huse M. Plasma membrane abundance dictates phagocytic capacity and functional crosstalk in myeloid cells. bioRxiv. 2023 Sep 13.  View on PubMed
  17. Theusch E, Ting FY, Qin Y, Stevens K, Naidoo D, King SM, Yang N, Orr J, Han BY, Cyster JG, Chen YI, Rotter JI, Krauss RM, Medina MW. Participant-derived cell line transcriptomic analyses and mouse studies reveal a role for ZNF335 in plasma cholesterol statin response. bioRxiv. 2023 Jun 15.  View on PubMed
  18. De Giovanni M, Dang EV, Chen KY, An J, Madhani HD, Cyster JG. Platelets and mast cells promote pathogenic eosinophil recruitment during invasive fungal infection via the 5-HIAA-GPR35 ligand-receptor system. Immunity. 2023 07 11; 56(7):1548-1560.e5.  View on PubMed
  19. Torres RM, Cyster J. Lipid mediators in the regulation of innate and adaptive immunity. Immunol Rev. 2023 08; 317(1):4-7.  View on PubMed
  20. Chou MY, Liu D, An J, Xu Y, Cyster JG. B cell peripheral tolerance is promoted by cathepsin B protease. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2023 04 18; 120(16):e2300099120.  View on PubMed

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