Zexian Zeng

Email: zexianzeng@pku(dot)edu(dot)cn

Lab Homepage：http://cqb.pku.edu.cn/zenglab/

Research Area：

Our lab focuses on advancing cancer immunology and immunotherapy by integrating artificial intelligence with spatial biology to uncover the mechanisms underlying tumor-immune interactions. We develop innovative spatial sequencing and spatial perturbation technologies, alongside AI models for integrative multi-omics analysis. By combining bench-based experimentation with computational modeling, we have a highly interdisciplinary environment where insights from each approach inform and accelerate the other. In our lab, our goal is to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the tumor microenvironment and to uncover novel therapeutic strategies for improving cancer treatment.

Selected Publications：(*Correspondence)：

2026

1. Zhang H, Zhang Z, Wang P, Xu T, Chen X, Zhao Y, Lin S, Cai W, Ren P, Luo C, Zhang P, Wang Y, Hou S, Zhao Y, Zeng H, Liu Z, Wang C, Gao Z, Feng Y*, Pan D*, Zeng Z*. Uncovering spatially resolved functional genomics with CRISPR screen sequencing. Cell. 2026, 04.049

2. He Y, Zhao Y, Zhang R, Yang H, Zhang Z, Ren P, Luo C, Zhang P, Zhang Z, Hou S, Bu Z*, Luo Y*, Pan D*, Zeng Z*. DISSECT integrates cytological images and spatial transcriptomics for cell segmentation. Nature Computational Science, 2026, (accepted in principle)

3. Wang S, Hou S, Luo C, Zhang H, Jin Y, Zhang R, Zhao Y, Xiong X, Guo R, Wang C, Bao Y, Wen L, Pan D, Ye Y*, Zeng Z*, Gao Z*. Arid3b suppresses CD8+ T cell infiltration and function in MSS colorectal cancer1 via Runx3. Nature Communications. 2026 03.18

4. Lin K, Zhang N, Zhang Z, Zhou X, Qiao B, Yang D, Guo J, Zeng Z*, Xie X*, Zhuang B*. High-resolution spatial transcriptomics identifies Insufficient Radiofrequency ablation induces hepatocellular carcinoma progression via CEBPD/CXCL2 axis. Hepatology, 2026, (in press)

5. Zhan X, Huang M, Zhang Y, Liu Z, Liu C, Guo Y, … Zuo Li, Wang H, Liu X, Wu Z, Zhou J*, Zeng Z*, Feng Y*. Uncovering ectopic GC-like niches for tumor reactive lymphocyte priming in lung adenocarcinoma using Stereo-XCR-seq. Nature Communications. 2026 (in press)

6. Jin Y, Zheng W, Zhang R, Hou S, Luo C, Ren P, Pan D, Luo C*, Zeng Z*. The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) drives human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-II expression in human melanoma. Journal of Experimental & Clinical Cancer Research. 2026 Feb 20

7. Wang H, Zhao F, Li Y, Wang P, Wang Y, Ren P, Li C, Zheng H, Zeng Z*, Pan D*. ZNF296 drives immune evasion in epithelial cancers by repressing immune stimulatory genes. Cancer Research. 2026 Jan 2;86(1):116-130

8. Sun Q, Zhao Y, Qiao S, Wang K, Lu C, Zhang Z, Guo Z, Ding Z, Wang C, Li J, Liu T, Zeng Z*, Liu Z*. Boron neutron capture therapy preserves immune cells and induces robust anti-tumour immunity in preclinical mouse models. Nature Communications. 2026 17, 1229.

2025

1. Luo C, Zhang R, Guo R, Wu L, Xue T, He Y, Jin Y, Zhang P, Ye S, Li X, Li D, Zhang W, Wang C, Lai L, Pan-Hammarström Q, Wucherpfennig K, Gao Z*, Pan D*, Zeng Z*. Integrated computational analysis identifies therapeutic targets with dual action in cancer cells and T cells. Immunity. 2025 Mar 11;58(3):745-765.e9..

2. Ren P, Zhang R, Wang Y, Zhang P, Luo C, Wang S, Li X, Zhang Z, Zhao Y, He Y, Zhang H, Li Y, Gao Z, Zhang X, Zhao Y, Liu Z, Meng Y*, Zhang Z*, Zeng Z*. Systematic benchmarking of high-throughput subcellular spatial transcriptomics platforms across human tumors.Nature Communications.2025 Oct 17;16(1):9232.

3. Zhou X, Xu T, Li C, He Y, Hu Y, Gong H, Li J, Jiang H, Wen L, Fu Y, Zeng Z*, Pan D*. Potentiating anti-tumor immunity by re-engaging immune synapse molecules. Cell Reports Medicine. 2025 Feb 14:101975.

4. Li Y, Ding Y, Dennis S, Hutch MR, Zhou J, Zhou Y, Li Y, Pillai M, Ghotbaldini S, Garcia MA, Broad MS, Mao C, Dulai PS, Cheng F, Zeng Z*, Luo Y*.SOAR elucidates biological insights and empowers drug discovery through spatial transcriptomics. Science Advances.2025 Jun 13;11(24):eadt7450.

5. Lu Y, Luo C, Huang L, Wu G, Zhong L, Chu J, Wang F*, Zeng Z*, Pan D*. Functional Genetic screens reveal key pathways instructing the molecular phenotypes of tumor-associated macrophages. Cancer Immunology Research.2025 Dec 2;13(12):2054-2074.

6. Zhao J, Li X, Li X, Ren P, Wu Y, Gong H, Wu L, Huang J, Wang S, Guo Z, Chen M, Zeng Z*, Pan D*. Targeting plasticity in the pyrimidine synthesis pathway potentiates macrophage-mediated phagocytosis in pancreatic cancer models. Journal of Clinical Investigation (JCI). 2025 Nov 17;135(22):e193370.

7. Tang K, Wu L, Hu Y, Xue T, Jin Y, Zhou X, Luo C, Zhao Y, Tong L, Dai J, Feng D, Zeng Z*, Pan D*.Perturbation of calreticulin potentiates CD8+ T cell-mediated antitumor immunity. Journal of Experimental Medicine (JEM).2025 Oct 6;222(10):e20242360.

2023

1. Wu L, Jin Y, Zhao X, Tang K, Zhao Y, Tong L, Xiong K, Luo C, Zhu J, Wang F, Zeng Z*, Pan D*. Tumor aerobic glycolysis confers immune evasion through modulating sensitivity to T cell-mediated bystander killing via TNF-α. Cell Metabolism. 2023 Sep 5;35(9):1580-1596.e9