Andreas Wieland
Ohio State University, OH·Microbiology & Immunology
Human papillomaviruses (HPVs) cause a growing epidemic of head and neck cancer (HNC), expected to exceed 30,000 U.S. cases a year by 2030.
- Fields
Microbiology & Immunology
Medicine & Clinical Research
Biochemistry
- Topics
human papillomavirus
head and neck cancer
oropharyngeal cancer
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Jul 2027
What they work on
- Generate dimeric IgA antibodies that target the HPV cancer-driving proteins E6 and E7, using a platform of human monoclonal antibodies isolated from B cells inside patients' tumors.
- Test whether these E6- and E7-targeting dimeric IgA antibodies slow the growth of a range of HPV-positive head and neck cancer cell lines.
- Measure protein levels of pIGR, the receptor that carries IgA through cells, in primary HPV-positive head and neck tumors to judge how widely IgA-based treatment could apply.
- Identify inflammatory signals that increase pIGR in HPV-positive head and neck cancer cells and could make them more sensitive to dimeric IgA therapy.
More about the research
These tumors depend on two viral proteins, E6 and E7, which keep turning off the cell's natural tumor-blocking proteins p53 and Rb. Blocking E6 and E7 has strong anti-cancer effects, but no clinical drugs target them. Because the proteins sit inside cancer cells, ordinary antibodies cannot easily reach them.
Why it matters
Patients with HPV-positive head and neck cancer currently lack treatments that directly block the virus's cancer-driving proteins. Antibodies able to reach E6 and E7 inside tumor cells could guide development of a new class of HPV-targeted therapies. Such therapies may be gentler and could improve survival and quality of life for these patients.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Dohun Pyeon
Michigan State University, MI·Microbiology & Immunology
Define how the chemokine CXCL14 increases MHC-I antigen presentation, which lets immune cells recognize tumor cells, to suppress HPV-positive head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.
Pippa Cosper
University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI·Medicine & Clinical Research·Early-career
Define the types and extent of chromosomal instability, ongoing errors in how dividing cells sort chromosomes, caused by different HPV genotypes and different levels of the viral oncogenes that drive cancer.
Michelle A Ozbun
University of New Mexico, NM·Microbiology & Immunology
Determine how MEK inhibition changes the built-in antiviral responses of keratinocytes in MmuPV1-infected mouse tumors and HPV-infected raft cultures, using single-cell and spatial transcriptomics.
The school
Ohio State University: 71 labs on PI Pages, $1.6B a year on research, 882 research doctorates a year.
Reach out
A start for your email. Fill in the brackets.