Adjunct Associate Professor Ren Ee Chee

Ren Ee Chee

BSc (Hons), PhD

Adjunct Associate Professor

Department of Microbiology and Immunology

Affliations:

Singapore Immunology Network

Email: micrenec@nus.edu.sg

Research Interest

Mechanism of hepatitis B virus replication

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection occurs in many parts of the world and infected individuals who cannot clear the virus remain as chronic carriers. They have a 200 times increase in risk for developing liver cancer. Although some anti-virals such as interferon alpha have been used to treat chronic carriers, the results are not consistent and do not provide a long-term cure.This area of research focuses on identifying the host factors that support HBV replication. We have previously identified host specific factors such as hnRNPK that are required to drive HBV replication. By using a series of proteomics and genomics tools, we hope to identify the host factors that will then be used as target to block HBV replication.

Molecular modeling of MHC-peptide binding

We have developed a series of applications that will allow the accurate prediction of whether a peptide will bind into the HLA antigen binding groove. This will be greatly beneficial to selecting target peptides that can be used for immunization or therapeutic applications. The process involves a prediction algorithm to first select possible binding peptides. These are then passed through a high throughput in-vitro validation binding assay. The binding peptides are further examined using functional assays to confirm their usefulness.

Current Projects

  • Hepatitis B Virus – Host Interactions
  • ArrayCGH and expression profiling of HBV positive liver cancer
  • MHC-peptide binding
  • MHC crystallization

Recent Publications

  1. Huan XL, Zhuo N, Lee HY, Ren EC. Allopurinol non‐covalently facilitates binding of unconventional peptides to HLA‐B*58:01. Sci Rep. 2023. 13:9373. doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-36293-z.
  2. Ko HL, Zhuo N, Chang ZW, Santosa A, Kalimuddin S, Lim XR, Tan SY, Lye DC, Toh D, Young BE, Renia L, Lee HY, Ren EC. In vitro vaccine challenge of PBMCs from BNT162b2 anaphylaxis patients reveal HSP90-NOD2-NLRP3 nexus. Allergy, 2022. DOI: 10.1111/all.15503
  3. Huan XL, Zhuo ZY, Xiao ZW, Ren EC. Crystal structure of suboptimal viral fragments of Epstein Barr Virus Rta peptide-HLA complex that stimulate CD8 T cell response. Sci Rep. 2019 Nov 13;9(1):16660. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-53201-6.
  4. Wang B, Lam TH, Soh MK, Ye Z, Chen JM, Ren EC. Influenza A virus facilitates its infectivity by activating p53 to inhibit the expression of interferon-induced transmembrane proteins (IFITMs). Front Immunol. 2018, 9: 113. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2018.01193/full
  5. Ko HL, Lam TH, Ng H, Toh J, Wang LW, Ren EC. Identification of Slug and SOX7 as transcriptional repressors binding to the hepatitis B virus core promoter. J. Hepatol. 2018 Jan 68(1): 42–52. doi.org/10.1016/j.jhep.2017.08.033
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