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Faculty Detail    
Name HUI HU
  
Campus Address BBRB 859 Zip 2170
Phone  (205) 996-1820
E-mail  huihu@uab.edu
Other websites PubMed
Hu Lab
     

Education
Graduate  Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden      Licentiate  
Graduate  Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden      Ph.D. 


Faculty Appointment(s)
Appointment Type Department Division Rank
Primary  Microbiology  Microbiology Professor
Center  Center for AIDS Research  Center for AIDS Research Professor
Center  Comp Arthritis, MSK, Bone & Autoimmunity Ctr  Comp Arthritis, MSK, Bone & Autoimmunity Ctr Professor
Center  Comprehensive Cancer Center  Comprehensive Cancer Center Professor
Center  Ctr for Clinical & Translational Sci  Ctr for Clinical & Translational Sci Professor
Center  UAB Immunology Institute  UAB Immunology Institute Professor
Center  UWIRC Microbiome Center  UWIRC Microbiome Center Professor

Graduate Biomedical Sciences Affiliations
Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics Program 
Cancer Biology 
Cell, Molecular, & Developmental Biology 
Cellular and Molecular Biology Program 
Immunology 
Medical Scientist Training Program 
Microbiology 
Molecular and Cellular Pathology Program 

Biographical Sketch 
Before joining the Department of Microbiology at UAB, Hu was an Associate Professor at the Wistar Institute in Philadelphia. He worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the Trudeau Institute and as a postdoctoral associate at the Center for Cancer Research at MIT and the CBR Institute for Biomedical Research (IDI) at Harvard Medical School. He was also an instructor in the Department of Pediatrics at Harvard’s Children’s Hospital before moving to the Wistar Institute. Hu earned his doctorate from Stockholm University in Stockholm, Sweden. He has received several awards and honors, including the ACGT Young Investigator Award.

Society Memberships
Organization Name Position Held Org Link
American Association of Immunologists (AAI)     
 



Research/Clinical Interest
Title
Transcriptional regulation of adaptive immunity in viral infections, allergy, and tumor models
Description
Transcriptional regulation of adaptive immunity in viral infections, allergy, and tumor models. I. Regulation of Tfh cell differentiation and humoral immune responses: Tfh cells are essential for germinal center formation and long-lived, high-affinity antibody responses. In this research direction, our goals are to identify novel genes and pathways involved in the differentiation of Tfh cells and to help develop innovative vaccine design strategies for addressing emerging pandemic threats and effectively managing infectious diseases, autoimmune disorders, and cancer. II. Non-Tfh effector functions and generation of cytotoxic CD4+ T cells: Recently, we have identified a novel transcriptional control in regulating multiple functions of non-Tfh effector cells, including cell egress and the generation of cytotoxic CD4+ T cells. In this research direction, we aim to elucidate the molecular underpinning of a transcriptional network that regulates T cell egress, non-Tfh effector functions, and the generation of cytotoxic CD4+ T cells in viral infection and tumor models. III. Tertiary lymphoid structure (TLS) in tumors: Studies have shown that in many types of solid tumors, TLS helps generate anti-tumor immunity and is associated with favorable clinical responses to both chemotherapy and checkpoint immunotherapy. We are establishing mouse tumor models in which TLS is induced. In this research direction, with our unique experimental tools and insights in Tfh cell differentiation, T-B interaction dynamics, and other immune cells involved in a germinal center response in secondary lymphoid organs, we aim to elucidate the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying TLS formation and function in tumors. IV. Generation and maintenance of stem-like memory CD8+ T cells in infection and tumor models: In this research direction, we aim to elucidate the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the generation and maintenance of stem-like CD8+ T cells in viral infection and tumor models. In addition, we have a long-term interest in developing new adoptive T-cell immunotherapies. The new components/players of the transcriptional networks and pathways unveiled in our study will provide novel candidates for CAR-T immunotherapies.

Selected Publications 
Publication PUBMEDID
Zhu, F., McMonigle, R.J., Schroeder, A.R., Xia, X., Figge, D., Greer, B.D., Gonzalez-Avalos, E., Sialer, D., Wang, Y-H., Chandler, K.M., Getzler, A.J., Brown, E.R., Xiao, C., Kutsch, O., Harada, Y., Pipkin, M.E., and Hu, H. (2023) Spatiotemporal resolution of germinal center Tfh cell differentiation and divergence from central memory CD4+ T cell fate. Nature Communications. 14(1):3611 PMID: 37330549. PMCID: PMC10276816

Andrew R. Schroeder, Fangming Zhu and Hui Hu (2021) Stepwise Tfh cell differentiation revisited: new advances and long-standing questions. Faculty Opinions. 10:3 PMID: 33644779 PMCID: PMC7894273
Wang, H., Geng J., Wen, X., Bi, E., Kossenkov, A. V., Wolf, A. I., Tas, J., Choi, Y.S., Takata, H., Day, T. J., Chang, L-Y., Sprout, S. L., Becker, E. K., Willen, J., Li, T., Wang, Xin., Xiao C., Jiang, P., Crotty, S., Victora, G.D., Showe, L. C., Tucker, H. O., Erikson, J. and Hu, H. (2014) The transcription factor Foxp1 is a critical negative regulator of T follicular helper cell differentiation. Nature Immunology. 15, 667-675 (see News and Views in Nat. Immunol 15, 597-599) PMID: 24859450 PMCID: PMC4142638.

Feng, X., Wang, H., Takada, H., Day, T., Willen, J. and Hu, H. (2011) Transcription factor Foxp1 exerts essential cell-intrinsic regulation of the quiescence of naive T cells. Nature Immunology. 12, 544-550 (see News and Views in Nat. Immunol. 12, 522-524; featured as Article of the month).

Hu, H., Wang, B., Borde, M., Maika, S., Nardone, J., Allred, L., Tucker, P.W. and Rao, A (2006) Foxp1 is an essential transcriptional regulator of B cell development. Nature Immunology. 7, 819-826 (see News and Views in Nat. Immunol. 7, 793-794).

Hu, H., Huston, G., Duso, D., Lepak, N., Roman, E. and Swain, S.L. (2001) CD4 T cell effectors can become memory cells with high efficiency and without division. Nature Immunology. 2, 705-710.

Swain, S. L., Hu, H. and Huston, G. (1999) Class II independent generation of CD4 memory T cells from effectors. Science. 286, 1381-1383.
 		  
 

Keywords
Tfh cell differentiation, germinal center and humoral responses, CD8+ T cell activation and exhaustion, immune memory, vaccines