Limin Zheng graduated from Shanghai Medical University in 1984 and then worked as a physician in Hua-Shan University Hospital. He obtained his PhD in Leiden University, The Netherlands, in 1994 and was promoted as Assistant Professor by Swedish Medical Research Council in 1998. Since 2003, he is full Professor at Sun Yat-sen University. He received the Outstanding Young Scientist Fund from National Natural Science Fund of China in 2004 and the honors as Cheung Kong Scholars by Ministry of Education in 2009. He received the National Award for Medical Research in 2014 and is included on the list of Most Cited Chinese Researchers (based on the Scopus database from Elsevier) for eight consecutive years since 2015.

Tumor Immunology, with focus on Myeloid cells in human tumor microenvironments; Macrophage Biology, Liver Cancer, and Tumor Immune Staging/Immunotherapy

The main research activities from Dr. Zheng’s Lab are to delineate the dynamic interactions between the malignant and immune cells (focused on the myeloid cells, including monocytes/macrophages, MDSC and neutrophils) in human solid tumors. We are also interested in the altered origin and functional activities of these myeloid cells in tumor-bearing hosts, which could serve as novel strategy for effective anti-tumor therapy.  

1979 – 1984 MD. Shanghai Medical University (SMU), China

1984 – 1990 Resident, Hua-Shan Hospital, SMU, China

1990 – 1994 PhD, Leiden University, The Netherlands

1994 – 1998 Postdoctoral Fellow, Lund and Linkoping University, Sweden

Selected publications

(1) Liu M*, Wu C*, Luo S, Hua Q, Chen HT, Weng Y, Xu J, Lin H, Wang L, Li J, Zhu L, Guo Z, Zhuang SM, Kang T, Zheng L#. PERK reprograms hematopoietic progenitor cells to direct tumor-promoting myelopoiesis in the spleen. J Exp Med. 2022 Apr 4;219(4):e20211498.

(2) Ning WR, Jiang D, Liu XC, Huang YF, Peng ZP, Jiang ZZ, Kang T, Zhuang SM, Wu Y#, Zheng L#. Carbonic anhydrase XII mediates the survival and prometastatic functions of macrophages in human hepatocellular carcinoma. J Clin Invest. 2022 Apr 1;132(7):e153110.

(3) Chen J*, Sun HW*, Yang YY, Chen HT, Yu XJ, Wu WC, Xu YT, Jin LL, Wu XJ, Xu J#, Zheng L#. Reprogramming immunosuppressive myeloid cells by activated T cells promotes the response to anti-PD-1 therapy in colorectal cancer. Signal Transduct Target Ther. 2021 Jan 8;6(1):447-460.

(4) Wang J*, Wang Y*, Chu Y, Li Z, Yu X, Huang Z, Xu J, Zheng L#. Tumor-derived adenosine promotes macrophage proliferation in human hepatocellular carcinoma. J Hepatol. 2021 Mar;74(3):627-637.

(5) Sun HW*, Chen J*, Wu WC, Yang YY, Xu YT, Yu XJ, Chen HT, Wang Z, Wu XJ, Zheng L#. Retinoic Acid Synthesis Deficiency Fosters the Generation of Polymorphonuclear Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cells in Colorectal Cancer. Cancer Immunol Res. 2021 Jan;9(1):20-33.

(6) Wu C*, Lin J*, Weng Y, Zeng DN, Xu J, Luo S, Xu L, Liu M, Hua Q, Liu CQ, Li JQ, Liao J, Sun C, Zhou J, Chen MS, Liu C, Guo Z, Zhuang SM, Huang JH, Zheng L#. Myeloid signature reveals immune contexture and predicts the prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma. J Clin Invest. 2020 Sep 1;130(9):4679-4693.

(7) Xiao G*, Jin LL*, Liu CQ, Wang YC, Meng YM, Zhou ZG, Chen J, Yu XJ, Zhang YJ, Xu J#, Zheng L#. EZH2 negatively regulates PD-L1 expression in hepatocellular carcinoma. J Immunother Cancer. 2019 Nov 14;7(1):300.

(8) Wu WC*, Sun HW*, Chen J, OuYang HY, Yu XJ, Chen HT, Shuang ZY, Shi M, Wang Z, Zheng L#. Immunosuppressive Immature Myeloid Cell Generation Is Controlled by Glutamine Metabolism in Human Cancer. Cancer Immunol Res. 2019 Oct;7(10):1605-1618.

(9) Wu C, Ning H, Liu M, Lin J, Luo S, Zhu W, Xu J, Wu WC, Liang J, Shao CK, Ren J, Wei B, Cui J, Chen MS, Zheng L#. Spleen mediates a distinct hematopoietic progenitor response supporting tumor-promoting myelopoiesis. J Clin Invest. 2018 Aug 1;128(8):3425-3438.

(10) Chen DP, Ning WR, Li XF, Wei Y, Lao XM, Wang JC, Wu Y, Zheng L#. Peritumoral monocytes induce cancer cell autophagy to facilitate the progression of human hepatocellular carcinoma. Autophagy. 2018; 14:1335-1346. 

Updated June 2022