John Wilson
Associate Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Associate Professor of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology
Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Biomedical Engineering
Intellectual Neighborhoods
Research Focus
Cancer Immunotherapy: We are addressing current challenges in cancer immunotherapy using a multi-faceted approach. First, we are developing new cancer vaccines based on pH-responsive nanoparticles that enable dual-delivery of tumor antigens and diverse immunostimulatory adjuvants. Second, we are engineering drug delivery systems for local modulation of immunosuppressive tumor microenvironments. Finally, we are developing innovative approaches for targeting immunomodulatory agents to specific immune cell types and leveraging these approaches to enhance penetration and accumulation of drugs in tumors.
Diabetes and Islet Transplantation: Our group is contributing to the diabetes challenge in the following ways. First, the foundational drug delivery technologies developed in our group are being explored for tolerance induction through combinatorial delivery of islet auto-antigens and immunomodulatory agents. Second, we are working to improve the outcome of pancreatic islet transplantation through molecularly re-engineering islet cell surfaces with nanostructured materials for controlled release of anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive drugs.
Please see our website for more details: https://my.vanderbilt.edu/wilsonlab/
Selected Publications:
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Wilson JT, Keller S, Manganiello MJ, Cheng C, Lee C-C, Opara C, Convertine AJ, Stayton PS. pH-responsive nanoparticle vaccines for dual-delivery of antigens and immunostimulatory oligonucleotides. ACS Nano 7:3912-3925 (2013).
Mets JM, Wilson JT, Cui W, Chaikof EL. An automated process for layer-by-layer assembly of polyelectrolyte multilayer thin films on viable cell aggregates. Advanced Healthcare Materials 2:266-270 (2013)
Wilson JT, Cui W, Kozlovskaya V, Kharlampieva E, Pan D, Qu Z, Mets J, Kumar V, Krishnamurthy V, Song Y, Tsukruk VV, Chaikof EL. Cell surface engineering with polyelectrolyte multilayer thin films. Journal of the American Chemical Society 133:7054-64 (2011).
Krishnamurthy VR, Wilson JT, Cui W, Song X, Lasanajak Y, Cummings RD, Chaikof EL. Chemoselective immobilization of peptides on abiotic and cell surfaces at controlled densities. Langmuir 26:7675-8 (2010).
Wilson JT, Haller CA, Qu Z, Cui W, Urlam MK, Chaikof EL. Biomolecular surface engineering of pancreatic islets with thrombmodulin. Acta Biomaterialia 6:1895-903 (2010).
Wilson JT, Krishnamurthy VR, Qu Z, Cui W, Chaikof EL. Non-covalent cell surface engineering with cationic graft copolymers. Journal of the American Chemical Society 51:18228-9 (2009).
Cui W, Wilson JT, Wen J, Angsana J, Qu Z, Haller CA, Chaikof EL. Thrombomodulin improves early outcomes after intraportal islet transplantation. American Journal of Transplantation 9: 1308-16 (2009).
Wilson JT, Cui W, Chaikof EL. Layer-by-layer assembly of a conformal nanothin PEG coating for intraportal islet transplantation. Nano Letters 8: 1940-1948 (2008).
Stabler CL, Sun X-L, Cui W, Wilson JT, Haller CA, Chaikof EL. Surface re-engineering of pancreatic islets with recombinant azido-thrombomodulin. Bioconjugate Chemistry 18: 1713-5 (2007).
Wilson JT, Cui W, Sun X-L, Tucker-Burden C, Weber CJ, Chaikof EL. In vivo biocompatibility and stability of a substrate-supported polymerizable membrane-mimetic film. Biomaterials 28: 609-617 (2007).
Dai Z, Wilson JT, Chaikof EL. Construction of PEGylated multilayer architectures via (strept)avidin/biotin interactions. Materials Science and Engineering C 27: 402-408 (2007).