Justin J Taylor

Associate Professor of Medicine, Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology

Website

https://www.immunology.virginia.edu/Taylor/index.php

Bio & Overview

The Taylor lab is focused on unlocking the potential of B cells to protect against infection, cancer, and other diseases where these cells could benefit human health. B cells are best known for their ability to produce protective antibodies in response to infection or vaccination. Unfortunately, there are many deadly infections where researchers have not been able to make a vaccine able to induce B cells to produce protective antibodies. The Taylor lab aims to help the development of protective vaccines by using powerful techniques to analyze B cells with the potential to antibodies that would protect against infectious diseases such as AIDS, Malaria and Syphilis. Over the past few years strong evidence has indicated that B cells may play a role in killing tumor cells. While this vibrant area of research is still in the early stages, the Taylor lab has begun using their powerful approaches to study B cells targeting tumor cells in a rare but deadly skin cancer called Merkel Cell Carcinoma. As Merkel Cell Carcinoma cases continue to rise worldwide, the Taylor lab aims to understand the protective response of B cells targeting this cancer so therapies can be developed to stop this cancer. In parallel, the Taylor lab has also developed a genetic engineering approach to make B cells produce protective or therapeutic antibodies. This approach aims to provide an alternative to vaccination for situations where ideal antibodies have been difficult to stimulate, or situations where individuals do not have an immune system able to produce protective antibodies on their own. Ongoing work is focused upon bringing engineered B cells to the clinic to treat or prevent infections, cancer, and other diseases.

Academic Information

Department: Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology

Primary Education

PhD, Immunology, University of Pennsylvania, 2008

Other Affiliations

Beirne Carter Center for Immunology
MSTP

Research Interests

B cell Analysis and Engineering

Research Disciplines

Biotechnology
Cancer Biology
Immunology
Infectious Diseases/Biodefense

Research Opportunities

Biotechnology
Cancer Immunology and Immunotherapy
Immunology
Infectious Diseases

PhD Programs

Microbiology

Selected Publications

2024

Cooper, L., Xu, H., Polmear, J., Kealy, L., Szeto, C., Pang, E. S., . . . Good-Jacobson, K. L. (2024). Type I interferons induce an epigenetically distinct memory B cell subset in chronic viral infection.. Immunity, 57(5), 1037-1055.e6. doi:10.1016/j.immuni.2024.03.016

Phelps, A., Pazos-Castro, D., Urselli, F., Grydziuszko, E., Mann-Delany, O., Fang, A., . . . Koenig, J. F. E. (2024). Production and use of antigen tetramers to study antigen-specific B cells. NATURE PROTOCOLS, 19(3). doi:10.1038/s41596-023-00930-8

2023

Prior, J. T., Limbert, V. M., Horowitz, R. M., D'Souza, S. J., Bachnak, L., Godwin, M. S., . . . McLachlan, J. B. (2023). Establishment of isotype-switched, antigen-specific B cells in multiple mucosal tissues using non-mucosal immunization.. NPJ vaccines, 8(1), 80. doi:10.1038/s41541-023-00677-z

Fitzpatrick, K. S., Degefu, H. N., Poljakov, K., Bibby, M. G., Remington, A. J., Searles, T. G., . . . Taylor, J. J. (2023). Validation of Ligand Tetramers for the Detection of Antigen-Specific Lymphocytes. JOURNAL OF IMMUNOLOGY, 210(8), 1156-1165. doi:10.4049/jimmunol.2200934

Caban, M., Rodarte, J. V. V., Bibby, M., Gray, M. D. D., Taylor, J. J. J., Pancera, M., & Boonyaratanakornkit, J. (2023). Cross-protective antibodies against common endemic respiratory viruses. NATURE COMMUNICATIONS, 14(1). doi:10.1038/s41467-023-36459-3

2022

Tang, J., Zeng, C., Cox, T. M., Li, C., Son, Y. M., Cheon, I. S., . . . Sun, J. (2022). Respiratory mucosal immunity against SARS-CoV-2 after mRNA vaccination. SCIENCE IMMUNOLOGY, 7(76). doi:10.1126/sciimmunol.add4853

Coelho, C. H., Tang, W. K., Burkhardt, M., Galson, J. D., Muratova, O., Salinas, N. D., . . . Duffy, P. E. (2022). A human monoclonal antibody blocks malaria transmission and defines a highly conserved neutralizing epitope on gametes (vol 12, 1750, 2021). NATURE COMMUNICATIONS, 13(1). doi:10.1038/s41467-022-32574-9

Hopp, C. S., Taylor, J. J., & Crompton, P. D. (2022). Assessment of Plasmodium falciparum Antigen-Specific B Cells.. Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.), 2470, 689-713. doi:10.1007/978-1-0716-2189-9_52

2021

Cheon, I. S., Li, C., Son, Y. M., Goplen, N. P., Wu, Y., Cassmann, T., . . . Sun, J. (2021). Immune signatures underlying post-acute COVID-19 lung sequelae. SCIENCE IMMUNOLOGY, 6(65). doi:10.1126/sciimmunol.abk1741

Boonyaratanakornkit, J., Sholukh, A. M., Gray, M., Bossard, E. L., Ford, E. S., Corbett, K. S., . . . Taylor, J. J. (2021). Methods to Measure Antibody Neutralization of Live Human Coronavirus OC43.. Viruses, 13(10), 2075. doi:10.3390/v13102075

Walti, C. S., Loes, A. N., Shuey, K., Krantz, E. M., Boonyaratanakornkit, J., Keane-Candib, J., . . . Hill, J. A. (2021). Humoral immunogenicity of the seasonal influenza vaccine before and after CAR-T-cell therapy: a prospective observational study.. Journal for immunotherapy of cancer, 9(10), e003428. doi:10.1136/jitc-2021-003428

Walti, C. S., Krantz, E. M., Maalouf, J., Boonyaratanakornkit, J., Keane-Candib, J., Joncas-Schronce, L., . . . Hill, J. A. (2021). Antibodies against vaccine-preventable infections after CAR-T cell therapy for B cell malignancies.. JCI insight, 6(11), 146743. doi:10.1172/jci.insight.146743

Seydoux, E., Wan, Y. -H., Feng, J., Wall, A., Aljedani, S., Homad, L. J., . . . McGuire, A. T. (2021). Development of a VRC01-class germline targeting immunogen derived from anti-idiotypic antibodies.. Cell reports, 35(5), 109084. doi:10.1016/j.celrep.2021.109084

Coelho, C. H., Tang, W. K., Burkhardt, M., Galson, J. D., Muratova, O., Salinas, N. D., . . . Duffy, P. E. (2021). A human monoclonal antibody blocks malaria transmission and defines a highly conserved neutralizing epitope on gametes.. Nature communications, 12(1), 1750. doi:10.1038/s41467-021-21955-1

Son, Y. M., Cheon, I. S., Wu, Y., Li, C., Wang, Z., Gao, X., . . . Sun, J. (2021). Tissue-resident CD4⁺ T helper cells assist the development of protective respiratory B and CD8⁺ T cell memory responses. SCIENCE IMMUNOLOGY, 6(55). doi:10.1126/sciimmunol.abb6852

Boonyaratanakornkit, J., Singh, S., Weidle, C., Rodarte, J., Bakthavatsalam, R., Perkins, J., . . . Taylor, J. J. (2021). Protective antibodies against human parainfluenza virus type 3 infection.. mAbs, 13(1), 1912884. doi:10.1080/19420862.2021.1912884

2020

Coelho, C. H., Nadakal, S. T., Gonzales Hurtado, P., Morrison, R., Galson, J. D., Neal, J., . . . Duffy, P. E. (2020). Antimalarial antibody repertoire defined by plasma IG proteomics and single B cell IG sequencing.. JCI insight, 5(22), 143471. doi:10.1172/jci.insight.143471

Künzli, M., Schreiner, D., Pereboom, T. C., Swarnalekha, N., Litzler, L. C., Lötscher, J., . . . King, C. G. (2020). Long-lived T follicular helper cells retain plasticity and help sustain humoral immunity.. Science immunology, 5(45), eaay5552. doi:10.1126/sciimmunol.aay5552

2019

Steach, H. R., DeBuysscher, B. L., Schwartz, A., Boonyaratanakornkit, J., Baker, M. L., Tooley, M. R., . . . Taylor, J. J. (2020). Cross-Reactivity with Self-Antigen Tunes the Functional Potential of Naive B Cells Specific for Foreign Antigens. JOURNAL OF IMMUNOLOGY, 204(3), 498-509. doi:10.4049/jimmunol.1900799

Boonyaratanakornkit, J., & Taylor, J. J. (2019). Immunoglobulin M, more than just an early responder to malaria.. Immunology and cell biology, 97(9), 771-773. doi:10.1111/imcb.12292

Dosenovic, P., Pettersson, A. -K., Wall, A., Thientosapol, E. S., Feng, J., Weidle, C., . . . McGuire, A. T. (2019). Anti-idiotypic antibodies elicit anti-HIV-1-specific B cell responses.. The Journal of experimental medicine, 216(10), 2316-2330. doi:10.1084/jem.20190446

Bancroft, T., DeBuysscher, B. L., Weidle, C., Schwartz, A., Wall, A., Gray, M. D., . . . Taylor, J. J. (2019). Detection and activation of HIV broadly neutralizing antibody precursor B cells using anti-idiotypes.. The Journal of experimental medicine, 216(10), 2331-2347. doi:10.1084/jem.20190164

Moffett, H. F., Harms, C. K., Fitzpatrick, K. S., Tooley, M. R., Boonyaratanakornkit, J., & Taylor, J. J. (2019). B cells engineered to express pathogen-specific antibodies protect against infection. SCIENCE IMMUNOLOGY, 4(35). doi:10.1126/sciimmunol.aax0644

Hartweger, H., McGuire, A. T., Horning, M., Taylor, J. J., Dosenovic, P., Yost, D., . . . Nussenzweig, M. C. (2019). HIV-specific humoral immune responses by CRISPR/Cas9-edited B cells. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL MEDICINE, 216(6), 1301-1310. doi:10.1084/jem.20190287

Boonyaratanakornkit, J., & Taylor, J. J. (2019). Techniques to Study Antigen-Specific B Cell Responses.. Frontiers in immunology, 10, 1694. doi:10.3389/fimmu.2019.01694

2017

Frosch, A. E., Odumade, O. A., Taylor, J. J., Ireland, K., Ayodo, G., Ondigo, B., . . . John, C. C. (2017). Decrease in Numbers of Naive and Resting B Cells in HIV-Infected Kenyan Adults Leads to a Proportional Increase in Total and Plasmodium falciparum-Specific Atypical Memory B Cells. JOURNAL OF IMMUNOLOGY, 198(12), 4629-4638. doi:10.4049/jimmunol.1600773

2016

Spanier, J. A., Frederick, D. R., Taylor, J. J., Heffernan, J. R., Kotov, D. I., Martinov, T., . . . Fife, B. T. (2016). Efficient generation of monoclonal antibodies against peptide in the context of MHCII using magnetic enrichment. NATURE COMMUNICATIONS, 7. doi:10.1038/ncomms11804

2015

Hamilton, J. A., Li, J., Wu, Q., Yang, P., Luo, B., Li, H., . . . Hsu, H. -C. (2015). General Approach for Tetramer-Based Identification of Autoantigen-Reactive B Cells: Characterization of La- and snRNP-Reactive B Cells in Autoimmune BXD2 Mice.. Journal of immunology (Baltimore, Md. : 1950), 194(10), 5022-5034. doi:10.4049/jimmunol.1402335

Fairfax, K. C., Everts, B., Amiel, E., Smith, A. M., Schramm, G., Haas, H., . . . Pearce, E. J. (2015). IL-4-secreting secondary T follicular helper (Tfh) cells arise from memory T cells, not persisting Tfh cells, through a B cell-dependent mechanism.. Journal of immunology (Baltimore, Md. : 1950), 194(7), 2999-3010. doi:10.4049/jimmunol.1401225

Lee, J. -Y., Skon, C. N., Lee, Y. J., Oh, S., Taylor, J. J., Malhotra, D., . . . Jameson, S. C. (2015). The Transcription Factor KLF2 Restrains CD4⁺ T Follicular Helper Cell Differentiation. IMMUNITY, 42(2), 252-264. doi:10.1016/j.immuni.2015.01.013

Taylor, J. J., Pape, K. A., Steach, H. R., & Jenkins, M. K. (2015). Apoptosis and antigen affinity limit effector cell differentiation of a single naive B cell. SCIENCE, 347(6223), 784-787. doi:10.1126/science.aaa1342

2014

Nanton, M. R., Lee, S. -J., Atif, S. M., Nuccio, S. -P., Taylor, J. J., Baeumler, A. J., . . . McSorley, S. J. (2015). Direct visualization of endogenous Salmonella-specific B cells reveals a marked delay in clonal expansion and germinal center development. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF IMMUNOLOGY, 45(2), 428-441. doi:10.1002/eji.201444540

Taylor, J. J., Laudenbach, M., Tucker, A. M., Jenkins, M. K., & Pravetoni, M. (2014). Hapten-specific naive B cells are biomarkers of vaccine efficacy against drugs of abuse. JOURNAL OF IMMUNOLOGICAL METHODS, 405, 74-86. doi:10.1016/j.jim.2014.01.010

Anderson, K. G., Mayer-Barber, K., Sung, H., Beura, L., James, B. R., Taylor, J. J., . . . Masopust, D. (2014). Intravascular staining for discrimination of vascular and tissue leukocytes. NATURE PROTOCOLS, 9(1), 209-222. doi:10.1038/nprot.2014.005

2013

Haasken, S., Auger, J. L., Taylor, J. J., Hobday, P. M., Goudy, B. D., Titcombe, P. J., . . . Binstadt, B. A. (2013). Macrophage Scavenger Receptor 1 (Msr1, SR-A) Influences B Cell Autoimmunity by Regulating Soluble Autoantigen Concentration. JOURNAL OF IMMUNOLOGY, 191(3), 1055-1062. doi:10.4049/jimmunol.1201680

Tubo, N. J., Pagan, A. J., Taylor, J. J., Nelson, R. W., Linehan, J. L., Ertelt, J. M., . . . Jenkins, M. K. (2013). Single Naive CD4⁺ T Cells from a Diverse Repertoire Produce Different Effector Cell Types during Infection. CELL, 153(4), 785-796. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2013.04.007

2012

Taylor, J. J., Martinez, R. J., Titcombe, P. J., Barsness, L. O., Thomas, S. R., Zhang, N., . . . Mueller, D. L. (2012). Deletion and anergy of polyclonal B cells specific for ubiquitous membrane-bound self-antigen. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL MEDICINE, 209(11), 2065-2077. doi:10.1084/jem.20112272

Taylor, J. J., Jenkins, M. K., & Pape, K. A. (2012). Heterogeneity in the differentiation and function of memory B cells. TRENDS IN IMMUNOLOGY, 33(12), 590-597. doi:10.1016/j.it.2012.07.005

Taylor, J. J., Pape, K. A., & Jenkins, M. K. (2012). A germinal center-independent pathway generates unswitched memory B cells early in the primary response. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL MEDICINE, 209(3), 597-606. doi:10.1084/jem.20111696

2011

Pepper, M., Pagan, A. J., Igyarto, B. Z., Taylor, J. J., & Jenkins, M. K. (2011). Opposing Signals from the Bcl6 Transcription Factor and the Interleukin-2 Receptor Generate T Helper 1 Central and Effector Memory Cells. IMMUNITY, 35(4), 583-595. doi:10.1016/j.immuni.2011.09.009

Taylor, J. J., & Jenkins, M. K. (2011). CD4⁺ memory T cell survival. CURRENT OPINION IN IMMUNOLOGY, 23(3), 319-323. doi:10.1016/j.coi.2011.03.010

Pape, K. A., Taylor, J. J., Maul, R. W., Gearhart, P. J., & Jenkins, M. K. (2011). Different B Cell Populations Mediate Early and Late Memory During an Endogenous Immune Response. SCIENCE, 331(6021), 1203-1207. doi:10.1126/science.1201730

2010

Composto, G., Gonzalez, D., Bucknum, A., Silberman, D., Taylor, J., Kozlowski, M., . . . Riggs, J. (2011). Peritoneal T lymphocyte regulation by macrophages. IMMUNOBIOLOGY, 216(1-2), 256-264. doi:10.1016/j.imbio.2010.04.002