Deming Sun, MD

Dr. Sun is an immunologist who studies the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases and inflammation. By characterizing the unique properties of pathogenic T cells, his research aims to identify effective ways of treating abnormal immune responses involved in disease development. Dr. Sun has made a number of important findings in his over 30 years of research. He was the first to discover the cytolytic potential of CD4+ autoimmune effector cells (published in Nature, 1986), and he was one of the first authors to start T cell vaccine study in autoimmune treatment (published in Nature, 1988). Dr. Sun was one of the  early researchers who discovered the importance of CD8 autoreactive T cells in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases, a finding which has been celebrated as a spectacular breakthrough of (brain) autoimmune research (Steinman, J.Exp.Med., 2001).

Currently, his research focuses on newly characterized pathogenic T cells – the autoreactive T cells expressing IL-17 (or Th17 cells). Due to the fact that this group of pathogenic T cells was discovered relatively later and effective treatments for these pathogenic T cells remained largely obscure, whereas the importance in disease pathogenesis has now been well established, studies aim at discovering effective treatment. His studies use a well-established animal model called experimental autoimmune uveitis (EAU). The study of the mechanism for tissue remodeling and contractility during disease pathogenesis and its application for biomarkers of disease and real-time monitoring with in vivo tissue imaging is of particular interest to Dr. Sun.

Sun, D., Ko, MK, H. Shao, H J. Kaplan (2021). Augmented Th17-stimulating activity of BMDCs as a result of reciprocal interaction between γδ and dendritic cells. Molecular Immunol. In press.

Ko, MK., H. Shao, HJ. Kaplan, D. Sun, Deming2020. CD73(+) Dendritic Cells in Cascading Th17 Responses of Experimental Autoimmune Uveitis-Induced Mice. Front Immuno. 11: 601272.

Liang,D., JI W Liang,D., H.Shao, WK. Born, RL. O’Brien, HJ. Kaplan, and D.Sun. 2018. High level expression of A2ARs is required for the enhancing function, but not for the inhibiting function, of γδ T cells in the autoimmune responses of EAU. PLoS One. 13: e0199601. PMC6013223.

Liang,D., JI Woo, H.Shao, WK. Born, RL. O’Brien, HJ. Kaplan, and D.Sun. 2018. Ability of γδ T cells to modulate the Foxp3 T cell response is dependent on Adenosine. PLoS One. 13: e0197189. PMC5957379.

2008 Senior Scientific Investigator Award 2008, Research to Prevent Blindness
2010 2nd prize in the field of “Experimental Uveitis“, the EUPIA (European Uveitis Patient Interest Association)
2012 1st prize in the field of “Experimental Uveitis“, the EUPIA (European Uveitis Patient Interest Association)
2015 Mary D. Allen Endowed Chair, Doheny Eye Institute/UCLA