Reshmi Parameswaran received her Master’s degree in Biochemistry from Mahatma Gandhi University, India, and obtained a PhD degree in Cell Biology from the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel. She did her post-doctoral fellowship at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, where she explored the role of B cell activating factor (BAFF) in pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and she was the first to identify the expression of BAFF receptors on ALL cells. Parameswaran started her independent laboratory at CWRU in 2016. Her lab focuses on developing new cellular therapy approaches for treating various malignancies, including liquid and solid tumors as well as autoimmune diseases. Parameswaran lab recently developed novel CAR-T and CAR-NK therapies for liquid and solid tumors and filed several patents. BAFF ligand based CAR-T therapy targeting three receptors entered clinical trials for Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma and Multiple Myeloma. Other projects of interest in Parameswaran lab include elucidating the mechanism of tumor microenvironment mediated drug resistance in leukemia patients and understanding novel regulators of immune cell cytotoxic function.
I develop new tools for cancer immunotherapy including adoptive Natural Killer (NK) and CAR-T therapies. I also research mechanisms of drug resistance in leukemia and lymphoma, and understand mechanisms of NK cell cytotoxicity to improve NK therapy.
Research Information
Research Projects
- Developing new CAR-T and CAR-NK therapies for solid and liquid tumors.
- Adoptive Natural Killer (NK) cell transfer has shown promise in cancer therapy, but the field has been hampered by insufficient cytotoxic activity of adoptively transferred NK cells in patients. Parameswaran’s lab is focusing on the role of tumor microenvironmental factors, transcription factors, post-translational modifications as well as dietary ingredients in regulating the cytotoxic function of NK cells.
- B-lineage acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) arises by malignant transformation of a progenitor (pre-B) cell. Cure rates in adults remain low and treatment is complicated by support provided by the microenvironment to the leukemic cells, promoting their survival and drug resistance. Parameswaran’s lab is focusing on understanding the mechanisms of drug resistance in ALL cells and better ways to target these cells.
Publications
Wong, D.P., Roy, N.K., Zhang, K, Anukanth A, Asthana A, Shirkey-Son N, Dunmire S, Jones B, Lahr W, Webber B, Moriarity B, Caimi P, Parameswaran R. A BAFF ligand-based CAR-T cell targeting three receptors and multiple B cell cancers. Nat Commun 2022. PMID: 35017485
Vicioso Y, Wong DP, Roy NK, Das N, Zhang K, Ramakrishnan P, Parameswaran R. NF-κB c-Rel Is Dispensable for the Development but Is Required for the Cytotoxic Function of NK Cells. Front Immunol. 2021. PMID: 33995369.
Wong DP, Fritz CE, Feinberg D, Huang AY, Parameswaran R. p35 is a Crucial Player in NK-cell Cytotoxicity and TGFβ-mediated NK-cell Dysfunction. Cancer Res Commun. 2023. PMID: 37377891.
Feinberg D, Ramakrishnan P, Wong DP, Asthana A, Parameswaran R. Inhibition of O-GlcNAcylation Decreases the Cytotoxic Function of Natural Killer Cells. Front Immunol. 2022. PMID: 35479087.
Vicioso Y, Gram H, Beck R, Asthana A, Zhang K, Wong DP, Letterio J, Parameswaran R. Combination Therapy for Treating Advanced Drug-Resistant Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Cancer Immunol Res. 2019. PMID: 31138521.
Zhang K, Roy NK, Vicioso Y, Woo J, Beck R, de Lima M, Caimi P, Feinberg D, Parameswaran R. BAFF receptor antibody for mantle cell lymphoma therapy. Oncoimmunology. 2021. PMID: 33747637.
Ryva B, Zhang K, Asthana A, Wong D, Vicioso Y, Parameswaran R. Wheat Germ Agglutinin as a Potential Therapeutic Agent for Leukemia. Front Oncol. 2019. PMID: 30847305.
Asthana A, Ramakrishnan P, Vicioso Y, Zhang K, Parameswaran R. Hexosamine Biosynthetic Pathway Inhibition Leads to AML Cell Differentiation and Cell Death. Mol Cancer Ther. 2018. PMID: 30082471.