Dr Joseph Yunis obtained his PhD from the University of Queensland under the mentorship of Associate Professor Philip Stevenson at the School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences on understanding the role of CD4+ T cells in herpesvirus immunity. He uncovered the immune evasion mechanisms of CD4+ T cells by cytomegaloviruses. Subsequently, he chose to conduct a postdoctoral research training with Professor Di Yu, first at the John Curtin School of Medical Research of Australian National University (Canberra) and then moved to UQ Diamantina Institute with the lab. Primarily using various mouse models, he is investigating the role of CD8+ T cells in elimination infection and driving immunopathology, such as promoting acute respiratory distress syndrome. His research has been recognised by a number of awards including, the UQDI publication of the month award, Bootes Foundation Research Grant, Eureka Research Fund for Immunology and Virology and the UQ postdoctoral retention scheme.
Overall goals:
To understand how T cells shape the immune response to respiratory viruses.
My role in The Yu lab is to uncover how T cells differentiate to becoming protective or pathologic, and what factors (age, gender, virus dose, virus strain or therapy, prior exposure etc) drive this process.
Understanding how different hosts deal with respiratory virus infections will give clues about how to enhance protective immunity. Our goal is to discover a pathway or pathways that predispose the host to developing pathologic T cells and devise a novel therapeutic approach that specifically targets this T cell population without affecting anti-viral T cells. This is the ultimate goal.
Similarly, viruses have evolved to evade the host immune response to colonise immune privileged sites. My goal is to understand how we can break this barrier by genetic engineering. If we can engineer T cells to express molecules required to gain entry into the immune privileged sites, we can eliminate chronic infection.
Research interests:
T cell activation is the most important process in the initiating an immune response. How this happens can shape immunity or lead to tissue damage. This is a dynamic process that is not well understood. There is an urgent need therefore, to develop a model to understand T cell activation and the process that drives pathologic T cells. This can then be harnessed in designing targeted therapies that boost antiviral immunity while targeting pathologic T cells. To achieve this, we have developed and use a number of in vivo models of infectious diseases including:
Murine cytomegalovirus Influenza Murid herpesvirus 4 Lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV)
These models provide an opportunity to dissect host, pathogen and environmental relationships in understanding T cell differentiation and function.
We use systems biology and bioinformatics to understand this complex biology. At the technical level, we use a number of approaches including; multiparameter flow cytometry, histology, microscopy, real-time qPCR, virological assays, and ELISA.
Journal Article: Spatial insights into immunotherapy response in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) by multiplexed tissue imaging
Monkman, James, Moradi, Afshin, Yunis, Joseph, Ivison, Geoff, Mayer, Aaron, Ladwa, Rahul, O’Byrne, Ken and Kulasinghe, Arutha (2024). Spatial insights into immunotherapy response in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) by multiplexed tissue imaging. Journal of Translational Medicine, 22 (1) 239. doi: 10.1186/s12967-024-05035-8
Journal Article: MA09.03 High-dimensional profiling of the tumour microenvironment of non-small cell lung cancer
Kulasinghe, A., Monkman, J., Moradi, A., Yunis, J., Ivison, G., Mayer, A. and O'Byrne, K. (2023). MA09.03 High-dimensional profiling of the tumour microenvironment of non-small cell lung cancer. Journal of Thoracic Oncology, 18 (11), S129-s129. doi: 10.1016/j.jtho.2023.09.173
Journal Article: Severe respiratory viral infections: T-cell functions diverging from immunity to inflammation
Yunis, Joseph, Short, Kirsty R. and Yu, Di (2023). Severe respiratory viral infections: T-cell functions diverging from immunity to inflammation. Trends in Microbiology, 31 (6), 644-656. doi: 10.1016/j.tim.2022.12.008
Modelling the immune pathogenesis of COVID-19 severity for target immunotherapy
(2021–2022) Eureka Research Fund for Immunology and Virology
mRNA-based T cell guided cancer vaccine to treat solid cancers.
Doctor Philosophy
Follicular cytotoxic T cell differentiation and function in infection and B-cell lymphoma
Doctor Philosophy
Monkman, James, Moradi, Afshin, Yunis, Joseph, Ivison, Geoff, Mayer, Aaron, Ladwa, Rahul, O’Byrne, Ken and Kulasinghe, Arutha (2024). Spatial insights into immunotherapy response in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) by multiplexed tissue imaging. Journal of Translational Medicine, 22 (1) 239. doi: 10.1186/s12967-024-05035-8
MA09.03 High-dimensional profiling of the tumour microenvironment of non-small cell lung cancer
Kulasinghe, A., Monkman, J., Moradi, A., Yunis, J., Ivison, G., Mayer, A. and O'Byrne, K. (2023). MA09.03 High-dimensional profiling of the tumour microenvironment of non-small cell lung cancer. Journal of Thoracic Oncology, 18 (11), S129-s129. doi: 10.1016/j.jtho.2023.09.173
Severe respiratory viral infections: T-cell functions diverging from immunity to inflammation
Yunis, Joseph, Short, Kirsty R. and Yu, Di (2023). Severe respiratory viral infections: T-cell functions diverging from immunity to inflammation. Trends in Microbiology, 31 (6), 644-656. doi: 10.1016/j.tim.2022.12.008
Chen, Zhian, Cui, Yanfang, Yao, Yin, Liu, Bo, Yunis, Joseph, Gao, Xin, Wang, Naiqi, Cañete, Pablo F., Tuong, Zewen Kelvin, Sun, Hongjian, Wang, Hao, Yang, Siling, Wang, Runli, Leong, Yew Ann, Simon Davis, David, Qin, Jiahuan, Liang, Kaili, Deng, Jun, Wang, Conan K., Huang, Yen-Hua, Roco, Jonathan A., Nettelfield, Sam, Zhu, Huaming, Xu, Huajun, Yu, Zhijia, Craik, David, Liu, Zheng, Qi, Hai, Parish, Christopher and Yu, Di (2023). Heparan sulfate regulates IL-21 bioavailability and signal strength that control germinal center B cell selection and differentiation. Science immunology, 8 (80) eadd1728, 1-17. doi: 10.1126/sciimmunol.add1728
Zhou, Pengcheng, Chen, Jiali, He, Jing, Zheng, Ting, Yunis, Joseph, Makota, Victor, Alexandre, Yannick O., Gong, Fang, Zhang, Xia, Xie, Wuxiang, Li, Yuhui, Shao, Miao, Zhu, Yanshan, Sinclair, Jane E., Miao, Miao, Chen, Yaping, Short, Kirsty R., Mueller, Scott N., Sun, Xiaolin, Yu, Di and Li, Zhanguo (2021). Low-dose IL-2 therapy invigorates CD8+ T cells for viral control in systemic lupus erythematosus with a potential risk of deteriorating immunopathology. PLoS Pathogens, 17 (10) e1009858, e1009858. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1009858
Author Correction: Selenium–GPX4 axis protects follicular helper T cells from ferroptosis
Yao, Yin, Chen, Zhian, Zhang, Hao, Chen, Cailing, Zeng, Ming, Yunis, Joseph, Wei, Yunbo, Wan, Yanmin, Wang, Naiqi, Zhou, Mingzhe, Qiu, Chao, Zeng, Qunxiong, Ong, Hong Sheng, Wang, Hao, Makota, Fadzai Victor, Yang, Yang, Yang, Zhaohui, Wang, Nan, Deng, Jun, Shen, Chao, Xia, Yan, Yuan, Lin, Lian, Zhaoqin, Deng, Yike, Guo, Cuilian, Huang, Ao, Zhou, Pengcheng, Shi, Haibo, Zhang, Weitian ... Yu, Di (2021). Author Correction: Selenium–GPX4 axis protects follicular helper T cells from ferroptosis. Nature Immunology, 22 (12), 1599-1599. doi: 10.1038/s41590-021-01063-4
Selenium–GPX4 axis protects follicular helper T cells from ferroptosis
Yao, Yin, Chen, Zhian, Zhang, Hao, Chen, Cailing, Zeng, Ming, Yunis, Joseph, Wei, Yunbo, Wan, Yanmin, Wang, Naiqi, Zhou, Mingzhe, Qiu, Chao, Zeng, Qunxiong, Ong, Hong Sheng, Wang, Hao, Makota, Fadzai Victor, Yang, Yang, Yang, Zhaohui, Wang, Nan, Deng, Jun, Shen, Chao, Xia, Yan, Yuan, Lin, Lian, Zhaoqin, Deng, Yike, Guo, Cuilian, Huang, Ao, Zhou, Pengcheng, Shi, Haibo, Zhang, Weitian ... Yu, Di (2021). Selenium–GPX4 axis protects follicular helper T cells from ferroptosis. Nature Immunology, 22 (9), 1127-1139. doi: 10.1038/s41590-021-00996-0
Xie, Min, Yunis, Joseph, Yao, Yin, Shi, Jing, Yang, Yang, Zhou, Pengcheng, Liang, Kaili, Wan, Yanmin, Mehdi, Ahmed, Chen, Zhian, Wang, Naiqi, Xu, Shuyun, Zhou, Min, Yu, Muqing, Wang, Ke, Tao, Yu, Zhou, Ying, Li, Xiaochen, Liu, Xiansheng, Yu, Xiao, Wei, Yunbo, Liu, Zheng, Sprent, Jonathan and Yu, Di (2021). High levels of soluble CD25 in COVID‐19 severity suggest a divergence between anti‐viral and pro‐inflammatory T‐cell responses. Clinical & Translational Immunology, 10 (2) e1251, e1251. doi: 10.1002/cti2.1251
CD23 expression on switched memory B cells bridges T-B cell interaction in allergic rhinitis
Yao, Yin, Wang, Nan, Chen, Cai-Ling, Pan, Li, Wang, Zhi-Chao, Yunis, Joseph, Chen, Zhi-An, Zhang, Yu, Hu, Si-Tao, Xu, Xiao-Yan, Zhu, Rong-Fei, Yu, Di and Liu, Zheng (2020). CD23 expression on switched memory B cells bridges T-B cell interaction in allergic rhinitis. Allergy, 75 (10), 1-14. doi: 10.1111/all.14288
Yunis, Joseph, Redwood, Alec J., Belz, Gabrielle T. and Stevenson, Philip G. (2020). Membrane association of a model CD4 + T‐cell vaccine antigen confers enhanced yet incomplete protection against murid herpesvirus‐4 infection. Immunology and Cell Biology, 98 (4) imcb.12319, 332-343. doi: 10.1111/imcb.12319
Murine Cytomegalovirus glycoprotein O promotes epithelial cell infection in vivo
Yunis, Joseph, Farrell, Helen E., Bruce, Kimberley, Lawler, Clara, Wyer, Orry, Davis-Poynter, Nicholas, Brizić, Ilija, Jonjić, Stipan, Adler, Barbara and Stevenson, Philip G. (2018). Murine Cytomegalovirus glycoprotein O promotes epithelial cell infection in vivo. Journal of Virology, 93 (3) e01378-18. doi: 10.1128/jvi.01378-18
Murine cytomegalovirus degrades MHC class II to colonize the salivary glands
Yunis, Joseph, Farrell, Helen E., Bruce, Kimberley, Lawler, Clara, Sidenius, Stine, Wyer, Orry, Davis-Poynter, Nicholas and Stevenson, Philip G. (2018). Murine cytomegalovirus degrades MHC class II to colonize the salivary glands. PLoS Pathogens, 14 (2) e1006905, 1-17. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1006905
Farrell, Helen, Oliveira, Martha, Macdonald, Kate, Yunis, Joseph, Mach, Michae, Bruce, Kimberley, Stevenson, Philip, Cardin, Rhonda and Davis-Poynter, Nicholas (2016). Luciferase-tagged wild-type and tropism-deficient mouse cytomegaloviruses reveal early dynamics of host colonization following peripheral challenge. Journal of General Virology, 97 (12) 000642, 3379-3391. doi: 10.1099/jgv.0.000642
Davis-Poynter, Nick, Yunis, Joseph and Farrell, Helen E. (2016). The cytoplasmic C-tail of the mouse cytomegalovirus 7 transmembrane receptor homologue, M78, regulates endocytosis of the receptor and modulates virus replication in different cell types. PLoS ONE, 11 (10) e0165066, 353-393. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0165066
A murine cytomegalovirus vaccine vector protects against murine gamma herpesvirus 68
Stevenson, P. G. and Yunis, J. (2016). A murine cytomegalovirus vaccine vector protects against murine gamma herpesvirus 68. International Congress of Immunology (ICI), Melbourne Australia, Aug 21-26, 2016. Weinheim, Germany: Wiley.
Anti-herpesvirus CD4+ T cell function
Yunis, Joseph (2018). Anti-herpesvirus CD4+ T cell function. PhD Thesis, School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland. doi: 10.14264/uql.2018.832
Modelling the immune pathogenesis of COVID-19 severity for target immunotherapy
(2021–2022) Eureka Research Fund for Immunology and Virology
mRNA-based T cell guided cancer vaccine to treat solid cancers.
Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor
Other advisors:
Follicular cytotoxic T cell differentiation and function in infection and B-cell lymphoma
Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor
Other advisors: