Kelsey M. Wanhainen

UMN MSTP student Kelsey Wanhainen

Email: wanha006@umn.edu

Entering Class: 2016

Education:
Colgate University
Molecular Biology major
B.A., 2015

University of Minnesota
Microbiology, Immunology and Cancer Biology Graduate Program
Ph.D., 2022

Honors and Awards:

  • Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award for Predoctoral MD/PhD Fellows, National Cancer Institute, 2020-2024

MSTP Student Governance:

  • Student Advisory Committee, 2016-2018

Thesis Advisor: Stephen Jameson, Ph.D.

Thesis Research

Role of P2RX7 in making CD8+ T cells for tumor immunotherapy.

Publications (pubmed)

Wanhainen KM, Peng C, Zhou MH, Macedo BG, O'Flanagan S, Yang T, Kelekar A, Burbach BJ, Borges da Silva H, Jameson SC. P2RX7 Enhances Tumor Control by CD8+ T Cells in Adoptive Cell Therapy. Cancer Immunol Res. 2022 Jul 1;10(7):871-884

Vardam-Kaur T, van Dijk S, Peng C, Wanhainen KM, Jameson SC, Borges da Silva H. The Extracellular ATP Receptor P2RX7 Imprints a Promemory Transcriptional Signature in Effector CD8+ T Cells. J Immunol. 2022 Apr 1;208(7):1686-1699. PMCID: PMC8976739

Peng C, Huggins MA, Wanhainen KM, Knutson TP, Lu H, Georgiev H, Mittelsteadt KL, Jarjour NN, Wang H, Hogquist KA, Campbell DJ, Borges da Silva H, Jameson SC. Engagement of the costimulatory molecule ICOS in tissues promotes establishment of CD8+ tissue-resident memory T cells. Immunity. 2022 Jan 11;55(1):98-114.e5.

Borges da Silva H, Peng C, Wang H, Wanhainen KM, Ma C, Lopez S, Khoruts A, Zhang N, Jameson SC. Sensing of ATP via the Purinergic Receptor P2RX7 Promotes CD8+ Trm Cell Generation by Enhancing Their Sensitivity to the Cytokine TGF-β. Immunity. 2020 Jul 14;53(1):158-171.e6. PMCID: PMC8026201

Wanhainen KM, Jameson SC, da Silva HB. Self-Regulation of Memory CD8 T Cell Metabolism through Extracellular ATP Signaling. Immunometabolism. 2019;1(1). pii: e190009. PMCID: PMC6699786

Work prior to the UMN MSTP:

Long AH, Haso WM, Shern JF, Wanhainen KM, Murgai M, Ingaramo M, Smith JP, Walker AJ, Kohler ME, Venkateshwara VR, Kaplan RN, Patterson GH, Fry TJ, Orentas RJ, Mackall CL. 4-1BB costimulation ameliorates T cell exhaustion induced by tonic signaling of chimeric antigen receptors. Nat Med. 2015 Jun;21(6):581-90. PMCID: PMC4458184

Kober DL, Wanhainen KM, Johnson BM, Randolph DT, Holtzman MJ, Brett TJ. Preparation, crystallization, and preliminary crystallographic analysis of wild-type and mutant human TREM-2 ectodomains linked to neurodegenerative and inflammatory diseases. Protein Expr Purif. 2014 Apr;96:32-8. PMCID: PMC398073