Ziyang Zhang, PhD

Reshaping Immune Response with Chemistry
Summary
Our immune system has special cells that act like security guards, checking for unusual lipids (fatty molecules) that might come from harmful bacteria. These guards are called natural killer T (NKT) cells. When they detect abnormal lipids, they proliferate quickly and send out alarm signals to other immune cells. This process relies on CD1d, a protein that presents lipids to NKT cells. Interestingly, the same NKT cells can produce very different responses depending on the chemical structure of the lipid presented by CD1d. We hypothesize that carefully designed small molecules that bind to specific areas (or “pockets”) of CD1d could modify how NKT cells function. Our project aims to discover such compounds and investigate how they might reshape the immune response triggered by NKT cells. This research could lead to new ways of enhancing immune responses against cancer or reducing excessive reactions in inflammatory diseases, potentially creating more targeted treatments.
Watch a Q&A with Ziyang
The support from the PhRMA Foundation allows us to test a new hypothesis in the infancy of my independent lab. The project will help us develop chemical tools to probe immune signaling, which could unlock new therapeutic mechanisms for autoimmune diseases.