Sun Lab

Beirne B. Carter Center for Immunology Research
Medicine, Infectious Diseases
University of Virginia School of Medicine

Publications

Selected publications

  1. Wei X et al. Macrophage peroxisomes guide alveolar regeneration and limit SARS-CoV-2 tissue sequelae. Science. 2025.
  2. Narasimhan H et al. An immune-epithelial progenitor niche drives viral lung sequelae. # equal contributor. Nature. 2024.
  3. Li C et al. Comparative single cell analysis reveals IFN-γ as a driver of respiratory sequelae post COVID-19. Science Translational Medicine. 2024.
  4. Zhu B et al. Inhibition of MPC simultaneously mitigates hyperinflammation and hyperglycemia in COVID-19. Science Immunology. 2023.
  5. Tang J et al. Respiratory mucosal immunity against SARS-CoV-2 following mRNA vaccination. Science Immunology. 2022.
  6. Cheon IS et al. Immune signatures underlying post-acute COVID-19 lung sequelae. Science Immunology. 2021.
  7. Zhu B, et al. Uncoupling of macrophage inflammation from self-renewal modulates host disease and recovery following respiratory viral infection. Immunity. 2021.
  8. Son YM et al. Tissue-resident CD4+ T helper cells assist the development of protective respiratory mucosal B and CD8+ T cell memory responses. Science Immunology. 2021.
  9. Goplen NP et al. Tissue-resident CD8+ T cells drive age-associated chronic lung sequelae following viral pneumonia. Science Immunology. 2020.
  10. Wang Z et al. PD-1hi CD8+ resident memory T cells balance protective immunity and fibrotic sequelae. Science Immunology. 2019.
  11. Li C et al. BHLHE40 programs mitochondrial regulation of resident CD8+ T cell fitness and functionality. Immunity. 2019.
  12. Yao S et al. Interferon regulatory factor 4 sustains CD8+ T cell expansion and effector differentiation. Immunity. 2013.

2025

  1. Wei X, Qian W, Narasimhan H, Chan T, Liu X, Arish M, Young S, Cheon IS, Li C, Parimon T, Ewald SE, Hahn YS, Bullock TNJ, Somerville LA, Kaplan MH, Shim YM, Vassallo R, Roden AC, Chen P, Que J, Jiang D & Sun J. Macrophage peroxisomes guide alveolar regeneration and limit SARS-CoV-2 tissue sequelae. Science. 2025 Mar 7;387(6738):eadq2509. doi: 10.1126/science.adq2509.
  2. Canderan G, Muehling LM, Kadl A, Ladd S, Bonham C, Cross CE, Lima SM, Yin X, Sturek JM, Wilson JM, Keshavarz B, Enfield KB, Ramani C, Bryant N, Murphy DD, Cheon IS, Solga M, Pramoonjago P, McNamara CA, Sun J, Utz PJ, Dolatshahi S, Irish JM, Woodfolk JA. Distinct Type 1 Immune Networks Underlie the Severity of Restrictive Lung Disease after COVID-19. Nature Immunology. 2025 Apr;26(4):595-606. doi: 10.1038/s41590-025-02110-0.

2024

  1. Guo K, Yombo DJK, Wang Z, Navaeiseddighi Z, Xu J, Schmit T, Ahamed N, Tripathi J, Kumar BD, Mathur R, Hur J, Sun J, Olszewski MA & Khan N. The chemokine receptor CXCR3 promotes CD8+ T cell-dependent lung pathology during influenza pathogenesis. Science Advances. 2024 Jan 5;10(1):eadj1120. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adj1120.
  2. Bingham GC, Muehling LM, Li C, Huang Y, Ma SF, Abebayehu D, Noth I, Sun J, Woodfolk JA, Barker TH, Bonham CA. High-dimensional comparison of monocytes and T cells in post-COVID and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Frontiers in Immunology. 2024 Jan 16:14:1308594. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1308594. eCollection 2023.
  3. Son YM, Cheon IS, Li C & Sun J. Persistent MHCII signaling is required for the optimal maintenance of tissue-resident helper T cells. ImmunoHorizons. 2024 Feb 1; 8(2): 163–171.
  4. Enninga EAL, Quach HQ, Jang JS, de Araujo Correia MCM, Fedyshyn Y, Fedyshyn B, Lemens M, Littlefield D, Behl S, Sintim-Aboagye E, Mejia Plazas MC, Cardenas MC, Chakraborty S, Yamaoka S, Ebihara H, Pandey A, Li H, Badley AD, Johnson EL, Sun J, Norgan AP, Theiler RN, Chakraborty R. Maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection in pregnancy disrupts gene expression in Hofbauer cells with limited impact on cytotrophoblasts. PLoS Pathogens. 2024 Feb 7;20(2):e1011990. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1011990.
  5. Min W, Zhu B, Zhang C, Li, C, Zhang R, Rathmell JC, Li H, Cui W, Hitosogui T and Sun J. Glutamine metabolism is required for alveolar macrophage proliferation. Journal of Respiratory Biology and Translational Medicine. 2024/3.
  6. Li C#, Qian W#, Wei X#, Wu Y, Narasimhan H, Arish M, Cheon IS, Sharifi K, Kern R, Vassallo R and Sun J. Comparative single cell analysis reveals IFN- as a driver of respiratory sequelae post COVID-19. Science Translational Medicine. 16 (756), eadn0136, 2024. Article highlighted by. Helena Kudiabor. Long COVID lung damage linked to immune system response. Nature. July 18th, 2024.
  7. Auld SC, Sheshadri A, Alexander-Brett J, Ashner Y, Barczak AK, Basil M, Cohen KA, Dela Cruz C, McGroder C, Restrepo M, Ridge K, Schnapp L, Traber K, Wunderink R, Zhang D, Ziady A, Attia E, Carter J, Chalemers JD, Crothers K, Feldman C, Jones B, Kaminski N, Keane J, Lewinsohn D, Metersky M, Mizgerd JP, Morris A, Ramirez J, Samarasinghe AE, Staitieh BS, Stek C, Sun J and Evans SE. Post-infectious Pulmonary Complications: Establishing Research Priorities to Advance the Field. An Official American Thoracic Society Workshop Report. Ann Am Thorac Soc. 2024 Jul 25. doi: 10.1513/AnnalsATS.202406-651ST.
  8. Narasimhan H#, Cheon IS#, Qian W#, Hu S#, Parimon T#, Li, C, Goplen N, Wu Y, Wei X, Son YM, Fink E, Santos G, Tang J, Yao C, Muehling L, Candran G, Kadl A, Cannon A, Young S, Hannan R, Bingham G, Arish M, Chandhari AS, Sturek J, Pramoonjago P, Shim YM, Woodfolk J, Zang C*, Chen P*, Sun J* An immune-epithelial progenitor niche drives viral lung sequelae. # equal contributor. * co-corresponding authors. Nature. 04 September 2024.
  9. Tang J and Sun J. From blood to mucosa. Science Translational Medicine. 2024 Oct 23;16(770):eads6271. doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.ads6271.
  10. Narasimhan H and Sun J. Nanotech Unveils Cytokine Traces in Post-COVID Cardiovascular Complications. Nature Immunology. 2024 Dec;25(12):2178-2179. doi: 10.1038/s41590-024-02017-2.
  11. Zhu X, Wu Y, Li Y, Zhou X, Watzlawik JO, Chen YM, Raybuck AL, Billadeau DD, Shapiro VS, Springer W, Sun J, Boothby MR, Zeng H. The nutrient-sensing Rag-GTPase complex in B cells controls humoral immunity via TFEB/TFE3-dependent mitochondrial fitness. Nature Communications. 2024 Nov 23;15(1):10163. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-54344-5.
  12. Chaudhuri A and Sun J. Lung-resident lymphocytes in immunity and Immunopathology. Invited review. CMJ-PCCM Volume 2, Issue 4, December 2024, Pages 214-223.

2023

  1. Wei X*, Zhu B*, Narasimhan H* and Sun J. Host recovery from respiratory viral infection. Annual Review of Immunology. Invited review article. 2023.
  2. Zhu B*, Wei X*, Narasimhan H, Qian W, Zhang R, Cheon IS, Wu Y, Li C, Jones RG, Kaplan MH, Vassallo RA, Braciale TJ, Somerville L, Colca JR, Pandy A, Jackson PEH, Mann BJ, Krawczyk CM, Sturek JM and Sun J. Inhibition of MPC simultaneously mitigates hyperinflammation and hyperglycemia in COVID-19. Science Immunology, 23 Feb 2023. First Release DOI: 10.1126/sciimmunol.adf0348.
  3. Cheon IS, Son Y and Sun J. Tissue resident memory T cells and lung immunopathology. Immunological Reviews. Invited review article. Corresponding author. 4/2023. (Cover article).
  4. Wu Y, Zhang R, Goplen NP, Gao X, Narasimhan H, Shi A, Chen Y, Li Y, Dong H, Braciale TJ, Zhu B#, and Sun J#. Single cell RNA sequencing reveals mechanisms underlying a senescence-like phenotype of Alveolar Macrophages during Aging. iScience. 2023 Jun 23;26(7):107197. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.107197. eCollection 2023 Jul 21.
  5. Prieto LI, Sturmlechner I, Graves SI, Zhang C, Goplen NP, Yi ES, Sun J, Li H, Baker DJ. Senescent alveolar macrophages promote early-stage lung tumorigenesis. Cancer Cell. 2023 Jul 10;41(7):1261-1275.e6. doi: 10.1016/j.ccell.2023.05.006. Epub 2023 Jun 1.PMID: 37267954.
  6. Fain CE, Zheng J, Jin F, Ayasoufi K, Wu Y, Lilley MT, Dropik AR, Wolf DM, Rodriguez RC, Aibaidula A, Tritz ZP, Bouchal SM, Chen Y, Chang S, Hansen MJ, Kachergus JM, Shi J, Thompson EA, Harty JT, Parney IF, Sun J, Wu, LJ, Johnson AJ. Antigen presentation by class I molecules on brain endothelium dynamically regulates T-cell mediated neuropathology in experimental cerebral malaria. Brain. In Press.

2022

  1. Wu X, Kasmani M, Zheng S, Khatun A, Chen Y, Winkler W, Zander R, Sun J and Cui W. BATF Promotes Group 2 Innate Lymphoid Cell-mediated Lung Tissue Protection During Acute Respiratory Virus Infection. Science Immunology. 2022 Jan 14;7(67):eabc9934. doi: 10.1126/sciimmunol.abc9934. Epub 2022 Jan 14.
  2. Gao X, Zhu B, Wu Y, Li C, Zhou X and Sun J. TFAM-dependent mitochondrial metabolism is required for alveolar macrophage maintenance. Journal of Immunology, 2022 Feb 14:ji2100741. doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.2100741.
  3. Wen T, Barham W, Li Y, Zhang H, Gicobi J, Hirdler J, Liu C, Ham HJ, Lucien_Matteoni F, Li H, Correia C, Monie D, An Z, Harrington SM, Wu X, Guo X, Dronca R, Mansfield A, Yan Y, Markovic S, Park S, Sun J, Qin H, Liu M, Vasmatzis G, Billadeau D and Dong H. NKG7 mRNA therapy increases the anti-tumor cytotoxicity of CD8+ T cells and improves response to immune checkpoint inhibitors. Cancer Immunology Research. 2022 Feb;10(2):162-181. doi: 10.1158/2326-6066.CIR-21-0539. Epub 2021 Dec 15.
  4. Fu Y, Wang J, Zhou B, Gao H, Zhou H, Fisher AJ, Ramdas B, Omstead D, Koh B, Ulrich BJ, Han L, Yang S, Kapur R, Bilgicer B, Renauld JC, Kirsch A, Paczesny S, Tighe RM, Kitamura D, Tepper RS, Sun J, Sears CR, Yang K and Kaplan MH. An IL-9-pulmonary macrophage axis defines the allergic lung inflammatory environment. Science Immunology. 2022 Feb 18;7(68):eabi9768. doi: 10.1126/sciimmunol.abi9768.
  5. Ulrich BJ, Kharwadkar R, Chu M, Koh B, Gao H, Fu Y, Pajulas A, Hayes TA, Goplen NP, Nelson AS, Licona-Limon P, Flavell RA, Jenkins MK, Sun J and Kaplan MH. Allergic airway recall responses require IL-9 from resident memory CD4+ T cells. Science Immunology. 2022 Mar 18;7(69):eabg9296. doi: 10.1126/sciimmunol.abg9296.
  6. Fu Y, Wang J, Zhou B, Gao H, Zhou H, Fisher AJ, Omstead DT, Khan S, Han L, Pajulas A, Renauld J, Paczesny S, Liu Y, Yang L, Tighe RM, Licona-Limón P, Flavell RA, Takatsuka S, Kitamura D, Sun J, Bilgicer B, Sears CR, Yang K, Kaplan MH. Pulmonary interstitial macrophages are required to mediate the pro-tumorigenic effects of IL-9. Nature Communications. 2022 Jul 1;13(1):3811. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-31596-7.
  7. Narasimhan H, Wu Y, Goplen NP and Sun J. Immune determinants of chronic sequelae following respiratory viral infection. Science Immunology. 2022 Jul 15;7(73):eabm7996. PMID: 35857581.
  8. *Tang J, *Zeng C, Cox TM, Li C, Son YM, Cheon IS, Wu Y, Behl S, Taylor JJ, Chakaraborty R, Johnson AJ, Shivato DN, Utz JP, Reisenauer JS, Midthun DE, Mullon JJ, Edell ES, Alameh MG, Borish L, Kaplan MH, Weissman D, Kern R, Hu H, Vassallo R, Liu SL# and Sun J#. Respiratory mucosal immunity against SARS-CoV-2 following mRNA vaccination. *, # equal contributor. Science Immunology. 2022 Jul 19; eadd4853. PMID: 35857583. Article is accompanied by an Editorial by Eric Topol and Akiko Iwasaki: Operation Nasal Vaccine—Lightning speed to counter COVID-19. Science Immunology. 21 Jul 2022.
  9. Hajnik RL, Plante JA, Liang Yj, Alameh MG, Tang J, Zhong C, Adam A, Scharton D, Rafael GH, Liu Y, Hazell NC, Sun J, Soong L, Shi PY, Wang T, Weissman D, Weaver SC, Plante KS and Hu H. Combinatorial mRNA vaccination induces robust protection against SARS-CoV-2 Omicron and Delta variants. Science Translational Medicine, 2022 Sep 14;14(662):eabq1945. doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.abq1945.
  10. Mohd A, Qian W, Narasimhan H and Sun J. COVID-19 immunopathology: From acute diseases to chronic sequelae. Journal of Medical Virology. 2022 Sep 3;10.1002/jmv.28122. doi: 10.1002/jmv.28122.
  11. Huang H, Fang Y, Jiang M, Zhang Y, Biermann J, Melms JC, Danielsson JA, Yang Y, Qiang L, Liu J, Zhou Y, Wang M, Hu Z, Wang TC, Saqi A, Sun J, Matsumoto I, Cardoso WV, Emala CW, Zhu J, Izar B, Mou H, Que J. Contribution of Trp63CreERT2-labeled cells to alveolar regeneration is independent of tuft cells. Elife. 2022 Sep 21;11:e78217. doi: 10.7554/eLife.78217.
  12. Tang J and Sun J. Lung Tissue-Resident Memory T cells: The Gatekeeper To Respiratory Viral (Re)-Infection. Current Opinion in Immunology. Invited review article. Curr Opin Immunol. 2022 Dec 22;80:102278. doi: 10.1016/j.coi.2022.102278. Online ahead of print. PMID: 36565508.

2021

  1. Son YM, Cheon IS, Wu Y, Li C, Wang Z, Chen Y, Takahashi Y, Dent AL, Kaplan MH, Fu YX, Taylor JJ, Cui W and Sun J. Tissue-resident CD4+ T helper cells assist the development of protective respiratory mucosal B and CD8+ T cell memory responses. Science Immunology. Jan. 2021. Vol. 6, Issue 55, eabb6852. DOI: 10.1126/sciimmunol.abb6852. (Cover story of the Jan. 2021 issue). Article highlighted by Thoma PG et al. TRH cells, helpers making an impact in their local community. Science Immunology. 08 Jan 2021.
  2. Swarnalekha N, Schreiner D, Litzler LC, Iftikhar S, Kirchmeier D, Kunzli M, Son YM, Sun J, Moreira EA and King CG. T resident helper cells promote humoral responses in the lung. Science Immunology. Jan. 2021. Vol. 6, Issue 55, eabb6808 DOI: 10.1126/sciimmunol.abb6808. (Cover story of the Jan. 2021 issue). Article highlighted by Thoma PG et al. TRH cells, helpers making an impact in their local community. Science Immunology. 08 Jan 2021.
  3. Zhou X, Zhu X, Li C, Li Y, Ye Z, Shapiro V, Copland JA, Hitosugi T, Jensen M, Berlohr D, Sun J and Zeng H. Stearoyl-CoA desaturase mediated monounsaturated fatty acid availability supports humoral immunity. Cell Reports. 2021 Jan 5;34(1):108601. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2020.108601.
  4. Guo G, Gao M, Gao X, Zhu B, Huang J, Tu X, Kim W, Zhao F, Zhou Q, Zhu S, Wu Z, Yan Y, Zhang Y, Zeng X, Zhu Q, Yin P, Luo K, Sun J, Deng M, Lou Z.Reciprocal regulation of RIG-I and XRCC4 connects DNA repair with RIG-I immune signaling. Nat Commun. 2021 Apr 12;12(1):2187. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-22484-7. PubMed PMID: 33846346; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8041803.
  5. Vardam-Kaur T, Sun J and da Silva HB. Understanding how metabolism regulate tissue resident memory CD8+ T cells. Current Opinion in Pharmacology. Volume 57, April 2021, Pages 117-124.
  6. Goplen NP, Cheon IS and Sun J. Age-related dynamics of lung-resident memory CD8+ T cells in the age of COVID-19. Frontiers in Immunology. Corresponding author. Front. Immunol., 29 March 2021. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2021.636118.
  7. Guo G, Gao M, Gao X, Zhu B, Huang J, Luo K, Zhang Y, Sun J, Deng M, Lou Z. SARS-CoV-2 non-structural protein 13 (nsp13) hijacks host deubiquitinase USP13 and counteracts host antiviral immune response. Signal Transduct Target Ther. 2021 Mar 11;6(1):119. doi: 10.1038/s41392-021-00509-3. PubMed PMID: 33707416; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7947159.
  8. Zhu B, Wu Y, Huang S, Zhang R, Li C, Cheon IS, Chen Y, Zhou X, Nguyen Q, Phan A, Behl S, Taketo MM, Mack M, Shapiro S, Zeng H, Mullon JJ, Edell ES, Reisenauer JS, Kern RM, Chakraborty R, Cui W, Kaplan MH, Zhou X, Goldrath AW and Sun J. Uncoupling of macrophage inflammation from self-renewal modulates host disease and recovery following respiratory viral infection. Immunity. Jun. 06 (2021) DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.immuni.2021.04.001 Article previewed by: Ray A et al. A no-Wnt situation for alveolar macrophage self-renewal. Immunity. 2021 Jun 8;54(6):1099-1101. doi: 10.1016/j.immuni.2021.05.013.
  9. Wu Y, Goplen NP and Sun J. Aging and respiratory viral infection: from acute morbidity to chronic sequelae. Cell & Bioscience. 2021 Jun 22;11(1):112. doi: 10.1186/s13578-021-00624-2.
  10. Vanderboom PM, Mun DG, Madugundu AK, Mangalaparthi KK, Saraswat M, Garapati K, Chakraborty R, Ebihara H, Sun J, Pandey A. Proteomic signature of host response to SARS-CoV-2 infection in the nasopharynx. Mol Cell Proteomics. 2021 Aug 13;:100134. doi: 10.1016/j.mcpro.2021.100134.
  11. Son Y and Sun J. Co-Ordination of Mucosal B Cell and CD8 T Cell Memory by Tissue-Resident CD4 Helper T Cells. Cells 2021, 10(9), 2355; https://doi.org/10.3390/cells10092355.
  12. Cheon IS*, Li C*, Son YM*, Goplen NP, Wu Y, Cassmann T, Wang Z, Wei X, Tang J, Li Y, Marlow H, Hughes S, Hammel L, Goddery E, Ayasoufi K, Weiskopf D, Boonyaratanakornkit J, Chakraborty R, Johnson AJ, Edell E, Taylor J, Kaplan MH, Sette A, Bartholmai BJ, Kern R, Vassallo R# and Sun J#. Immune signatures underlying post-acute COVID-19 lung sequelae. Science Immunology. 30 Sep 2021. DOI: 10.1126/sciimmunol.abk1741.
  13. Berti A, Hillion S, Hummel AM, Son YM, Chriti N, Peikert T, Carmona EM, Abdullahad W, Heeringa P, Harris KM, St. Clair EW, Brunetta P, Fervenzaxp FC, Langford CA, Kallenberg CGM, Merkel PA, Monach PA, Seo P, Spiera RF, Stone JH, Grandi G, Sun J, Pers JO, Specks U and Cornec D. Circulating Proteinase 3-Reactive B Cells and Tolerance Checkpoints in ANCA-Associated Vasculitis. JCI Insight. 2021 Oct 7;e150999. doi: 10.1172/jci.insight.150999.

2020

  1. Son MS, Cheon IS, Goplen NP, Dent AL and Sun J. Inhibition of Stearoyl-CoA desaturase suppresses follicular help T and germinal center B cell responses. European J. of Immunology. 2020 Mar 4. doi: 10.1002/eji.201948257.
  2. Yang S, Adaway M, Huang S, Sun J, Bidwell JP and Zhou B. NMP4 regulates the innate immune response to influenza A virus infection. Mucosal Immunology. 2020 Mar 9. doi: 10.1038/s41385-020-0280-z. Article highlighted by Boehme J et al. NMP4: a nuclear driver of innate inflammatory responses during influenza A virus infection. Cell & Molecular Immunology. 2020 Dec;17(12):1220-1221. doi: 10.1038/s41423-020-0517-5.
  3. Hsieh W, Zhou Q, York AG, Williams KH, Scumpia PO, Kronenberger EB, Hoi X, Su B, Chi X, Bui VL, Khialeeva E, Kaplan A, Son Y, Divakaruni AS, Sun J, Smale ST, Flavell RA and Bensinger SJ. A roadmap for understanding how distinct pro-inflammatory signals reprogram the lipidome of macrophages. Cell Metabolism. 2020 Jul 7;32(1):128-143.e5. doi: 10.1016/j.cmet.2020.05.003. Epub 2020 Jun 8. PMID: 32516576.
  4. Fu Y, Wang J, Panangiapalli G, Ulrich BJ, Koh B, Xu C, Kharwadkar R, Wang Y, Gao H, Wu W, Sun J, Tepper RS, Zhou B, Janga SC, Yang K and Kaplan MH. STAT5 is a pioneer factor for BATF-mediated plasticity at the Il9 locus. Nature Communications. volume 11, Article number: 4882 (2020).
  5. Goplen NP, Wu Y, Son Y, Li C, Wang Z, Cheon IS, Jiang L, Zhu B, Ayasoufi K, Chini E, Johnson AJ, Vassallo R, Limper AH, Zhang N and Sun J. Tissue-resident CD8+ T cells drive age-associated chronic lung sequelae following viral pneumonia. Science Immunology. 2020 Nov 6;5(53):eabc4557. doi: 10.1126/sciimmunol.abc4557. (Cover story of the Nov. 2020 issue). Article highlighted by Shenoy A et al. Seedy CD8s in the aging lung after infection. Cell & Molecular Immunology. Jan. 8. 2021.

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