Biography

BS, Johns Hopkins in Chemical Engineering

PhD, MIT in Chemical Engineering

Postcoc,Harvard Medical School and the Brigham & Women’s Hospital

Research interests

Cancer metastasis, lymphedema, lipid transport, and immune cell function all depend on lymphatic function or dysfunction, and are all tied to interstitial fluid balance and transport. The lymphatic system is part of the circulation; it drains fluid, solutes, and macromolecules from the interstitial space and returns them to the blood. It also is a critical component of the immune system; immune cells traffic through lymphatic vessels and reside in lymph nodes, where they communicate with each other and can become activated. Cancer cells also utilize lymphatic vessels, and likely interstitial flow, to spread to distant sites throughout the body. Finally, since lymphatic vessels drain lipids (in the form of chylomicrons) from the gut, they play important roles in lipid trafficking and possibly metabolism. Despite its importance, the regulatory biology of lymphatic function is poorly understood.

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The Swartz Lab is focused on building an integrated understanding of how these functions relate to each other, particularly with respect to immune regulation and cancer immunotherapy. They use approaches from engineering, physiology, and immunology to reveal underlying mechanisms by which lymphatics fine-tune immune responses,  as well as develop translational applications such as in vitro model systems and novel approaches to cancer immunotherapy. The lab is highly interdisciplinary, and they collaborate with colleagues from immunology, biophysics, cancer biology, clinical oncology, and molecular engineering.

Selected publications

https://www.swartz-lab.com/publications

2021

Lymphangiogenesis-inducing vaccines elicit potent and long-lasting T cell immunity against melanomas.
Sasso MS, Mitrousis N, Wang Y, Briquez PS, Hauert S, Ishihara J, Hubbell JA, Swartz MA.Sci Adv. 2021 Mar 24;7(13):eabe4362. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abe4362. Print 2021 Mar.

​2020

Enhanced lymph node trafficking of engineered IL-10 suppresses rheumatoid arthritis in murine models.
Yuba E, Budina E, Katsumata K, Ishihara A, Mansurov A, Alpar AT, Watkins EA, Hosseinchi P, Reda JW, Lauterbach AL, Nguyen M, Solanki A, Kageyama T, Swartz MA, Ishihara J, Hubbell JA.Arthritis Rheumatol. 2020 Nov 10. doi: 10.1002/art.41585. Online ahead of print.PMID: 33169522

​Prolonged residence of an albumin-IL-4 fusion protein in secondary lymphoid organs ameliorates experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis.
Ishihara A, Ishihara J, Watkins EA, Tremain AC, Nguyen M, Solanki A, Katsumata K, Mansurov A, Budina E, Alpar AT, Hosseinchi P, Maillat L, Reda JW, Kageyama T, Swartz MA, Yuba E, Hubbell JA. Nat Biomed Eng. 2020 Oct 12. doi: 10.1038/s41551-020-00627-3.

Pro-lymphangiogenic VEGFR-3 signaling modulates memory T cell responses in allergic airway inflammation.
Maisel K, Hrusch CL, Medellin JEG, Potin L, Chapel DB, Nurmi H, Camacho DF, Gleyzer R, Alitalo K, Sperling AI, Swartz MA. Mucosal Immunol. 2020 Jun 9. doi: 10.1038/s41385-020-0308-4. [Epub ahead of print]

Collagen-binding IL-12 enhances tumour inflammation and drives the complete remission of established immunologically cold mouse tumours.
Mansurov A, Ishihara J, Hosseinchi P, Potin L, Marchell TM, Ishihara A, Williford JM, Alpar AT, Raczy MM, Gray LT, Swartz MA, Hubbell JA. Nat Biomed Eng. 2020 Apr 13. doi: 10.1038/s41551-020-0549-2. [Epub ahead of print]​

Engineering Targeting Materials for Therapeutic Cancer Vaccines.
Briquez PS, Hauert S, de Titta A, Gray LT, Alpar AT, Swartz MA, Hubbell JA. Front Bioeng Biotechnol. 2020 Feb 11;8:19. doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2020.00019.

Lymphoidal chemokine CCL19 promoted the heterogeneity of the breast tumor cell motility within a 3D microenvironment revealed by a Lévy distribution analysis.
Kim BJ, Hannanta-Anan P, Ryd A, Swartz MA, Wu M. Integr Biol (Camb). 2020 Feb 22;12(1):12-20. doi: 10.1093/intbio/zyaa001.

Lymphatic endothelial cells prime naïve CD8+ T cells into memory cells under steady-state conditions
Vokali E, Yu SS, Hirosue S, Rinçon-Restrepo M, V Duraes F, Scherer S, Corthésy-Henrioud P, Kilarski WW, Mondino A, Zehn D, Hugues S, Swartz MA. Nat Commun. 2020 Jan 27;11(1):538. doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-14127-9.

​Adjuvant-free immunization with infective filarial larvae as lymphatic homing antigen carriers.
Card C, Wilson DS, Hirosue S, Rincon-Restrepo M, de Titta A, Güç E, Martin C, Bain O, Swartz MA, Kilarski WW. Sci Rep. 2020 Jan 23;10(1):1055. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-57995-8.

Myeloid Cells Orchestrate Systemic Immunosuppression, Impairing the Efficacy of Immunotherapy against HPV+ Cancers.
Galliverti G, Wullschleger S, Tichet M, Murugan D, Zangger N, Horton W, Korman AJ, Coussens LM, Swartz MA, Hanahan D. Cancer Immunol Res. 2020 Jan;8(1):131-145. doi: 10.1158/2326-6066.CIR-19-0315.​

2019

Recruitment of CD103+ dendritic cells via tumor-targeted chemokine delivery enhances efficacy of checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapy.
Williford JM, Ishihara J, Ishihara A, Mansurov A, Hosseinchi P, Marchell TM, Potin L, Swartz MA, Hubbell JA. Sci Adv. 2019 Dec 11;5(12):eaay1357. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.aay1357.​

Growth factors with enhanced syndecan binding generate tonic signalling and promote tissue healing.
Mochizuki M, Güç E, Park AJ, Julier Z, Briquez PS, Kuhn GA, Müller R, Swartz MA, Hubbell JA, Martino MM. Nat Biomed Eng. 2019 Nov 4. doi: 10.1038/s41551-019-0469-1.

Inherent biomechanical traits enable infective filariae to disseminate through collecting lymphatic vessels.
Kilarski WW, Martin C, Pisano M, Bain O, Babayan SA, Swartz MA.Nat Commun. 2019 Jul 1;10(1):2895. doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-10675-2.

Tumor-associated factors are enriched in lymphatic exudate compared to plasma in metastatic melanoma patients.
Broggi MAS, Maillat L, Clement CC, Bordry N, Corthésy P, Auger A, Matter M, Hamelin R, Potin L, Demurtas D, Romano E, Harari A, Speiser DE, Santambrogio L, Swartz MA. J Exp Med. 2019 May 6;216(5):1091-1107. doi: 10.1084/jem.20181618.

Targeted antibody and cytokine cancer immunotherapies through collagen affinity.
Ishihara J, Ishihara A, Sasaki K, Lee SS, Williford JM, Yasui M, Abe H, Potin L, Hosseinchi P, Fukunaga K, Raczy MM, Gray LT, Mansurov A, Katsumata K, Fukayama M, Kron SJ, Swartz MA, Hubbell JA. Sci Transl Med. 2019 Apr 10;11(487). pii: eaau3259. doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.aau3259.

​Combination of Synthetic Long Peptides and XCL1 Fusion Proteins Results in Superior Tumor Control.
Botelho NK, Tschumi BO, Hubbell JA, Swartz MA, Donda A, Romero P. Front Immunol. 2019 Feb 26;10:294. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2019.00294. eCollection 2019.​

Trojan horses for immunotherapy.
Hubbell JA, Swartz MA. Nat Nanotechnol. 2019 Mar;14(3):196-197. doi: 10.1038/s41565-019-0380-7. No abstract available.

Antigens reversibly conjugated to a polymeric glyco-adjuvant induce protective humoral and cellular immunity.
Wilson DS, Hirosue S, Raczy MM, Bonilla-Ramirez L, Jeanbart L, Wang R, Kwissa M, Franetich JF, Broggi MAS, Diaceri G, Quaglia-Thermes X, Mazier D, Swartz MA, Hubbell JA. Nat Mater. 2019 Feb;18(2):175-185. doi: 10.1038/s41563-018-0256-5.

Interleukin-17 Drives Interstitial Entrapment of Tissue Lipoproteins in Experimental Psoriasis.
Huang LH, Zinselmeyer BH, Chang CH, Saunders BT, Elvington A, Baba O, Broekelmann TJ, Qi L, Rueve JS, Swartz MA, Kim BS, Mecham RP, Wiig H, Thomas MJ, Sorci-Thomas MG, Randolph GJ. Cell Metab. 2019 Feb 5;29(2):475-487.e7. doi: 10.1016/j.cmet.2018.10.006.

​Experimental Drainage Device to Reduce Lymphoedema in a Rat Model.
Triacca V, Pisano M, Lessert C, Petit B, Bouzourene K, Nahimana A, Vozenin MC, Stergiopulos N, Swartz MA, Mazzolai L. Eur J Vasc Endovasc Surg. 2019 Jun;57(6):859-867. doi: 10.1016/j.ejvs.2018.04.014.

BPHYS student

Margo MacDonald