Alison E. Ringel

Alison E. Ringel

Assistant Professor of Biology; Core Member, Ragon Institute; Phillip and Susan Ragon Career Development Professor

Alison E. Ringel seeks to understand the molecular adaptations that enable immune cells to function and survive within unfavorable environments.

857-268-7031

Phone

600 Main Street, Rm 376

Office

aringel@mit.edu

Email

Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard

Location

Lab Website

Education

  • PhD, 2015, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
  • BA, 2009, Molecular Biology & Biochemistry/Physics, Wesleyan University

Research Summary

We investigate crosstalk between CD8+ T cells and their environment at a molecular level, by dissecting the biological and metabolic programs engaged under conditions of stress. Using an array of approaches to model and perturb the local microenvironment, our research aims to reveal both the adaptive molecular changes as well as intrinsic vulnerabilities in T cells that arise within the tumor niche. Our goal is to understand how disease states remodel the fundamental mechanisms that regulate immune cell function and contribute to pathogenesis.

Awards

  • Forbeck Scholar, 2021

Key Publications

  1. Obesity Shapes Metabolism in the Tumor Microenvironment to Suppress Anti-Tumor Immunity. Ringel, AE, Drijvers, JM, Baker, GJ, Catozzi, A, García-Cañaveras, JC, Gassaway, BM, Miller, BC, Juneja, VR, Nguyen, TH, Joshi, S et al.. 2020. Cell 183, 1848-1866.e26.
    doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2020.11.009PMID:33301708
  2. Chemical and Physiological Features of Mitochondrial Acylation. Ringel, AE, Tucker, SA, Haigis, MC. 2018. Mol Cell 72, 610-624.
    doi: 10.1016/j.molcel.2018.10.023PMID:30444998
  3. Nucleosome competition reveals processive acetylation by the SAGA HAT module. Ringel, AE, Cieniewicz, AM, Taverna, SD, Wolberger, C. 2015. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 112, E5461-70.
    doi: 10.1073/pnas.1508449112PMID:26401015
  4. Alternate deacylating specificities of the archaeal sirtuins Sir2Af1 and Sir2Af2. Ringel, AE, Roman, C, Wolberger, C. 2014. Protein Sci 23, 1686-97.
    doi: 10.1002/pro.2546PMID:25200501

Recent Publications

  1. Fatty acid synthesis restricts HIV-1 infection through regulation of the nuclear envelope in CD4+ T cells. Acklin, JA, Ye, M, Pontillo, EA, Wörös, ME, Krupa, EH, Walker, BD, Ringel, AE. 2026. bioRxiv , .
    doi: 10.64898/2026.09.22.753563PMID:42818361
  2. Sensory neuronal mTORC1 kinase signaling establishes neuroimmune memory that initiates allergic immunity. Zhu, X, Yang, H, Zhan, H, Kernin, IJ, Buttaci, DR, Le, N, Han, C, Naik, PR, Matatia, PR, Zaghouani, S et al.. 2026. Immunity , .
    doi: 10.1016/j.immuni.2026.08.012PMID:42772277
  3. Systems analysis reveals alternate metabolic states adopted by Mycobacterium tuberculosis across species. Padilla-Gomez, J, McGinn, R, De Andrade, V, Liang, Y, Libby, K, Ni, HM, Ringel, AE, Evavold, CL, Bryson, BD. 2026. mSphere 11, e0014126.
    doi: 10.1128/msphere.00141-26PMID:42400496
  4. Citrate Compartmentalization Controls Calcium-Dependent Cytokine Production in Effector T Cells. Cote, AL, McIntyre, CL, Acklin, JA, Delacruz, LR, Qiu, Y, Kurland, IJ, Ringel, AE. 2026. bioRxiv , .
    doi: 10.64898/2026.06.11.731694PMID:42327233
  5. MARBL: A Live-Cell Method for Profiling Bioenergetic Heterogeneity by Noncanonical Methionine Labeling of the Cell Surface Proteome. Delacruz, LR, Ye, M, Libby, KA, Han, K, Munger, CJ, Qiu, Y, Kurland, IJ, Ringel, AE. 2026. bioRxiv , .
    doi: 10.64898/2026.06.01.729353PMID:42282597
  6. FIP200 regulates plasma B cell differentiation via mitochondrial and heme homeostasis. Xu, L, Bottermann, M, Villavicencio, PM, Warner, J, Weldon, SR, Xie, Z, Filby, A, Liu, X, Ganley, IG, Ringel, AE et al.. 2026. J Exp Med 223, .
    doi: 10.1084/jem.20250535PMID:41405578
  7. Systems analysis reveals alternate metabolic states adopted by Mycobacterium tuberculosis across species. Padilla-Gomez, J, McGinn, R, Liang, Y, Libby, K, Ringel, AE, Evavold, C, Bryson, BD. 2025. bioRxiv , .
    doi: 10.1101/2025.11.15.688116PMID:41292990
  8. Immunometabolic defects of CD8+ T cells disrupt gut barrier integrity in people with HIV. Das Adhikari, U, Froehle, LM, Pipkin, AN, Baharlou, H, Linder, AH, Shah, P, Hussey, A, Zhang, Q, Nyquist, S, Khwaled, S et al.. 2025. Cell 188, 5666-5679.e19.
    doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2025.08.024PMID:40939591
  9. Ageing, immune fitness and cancer. Dolan, M, Libby, KA, Ringel, AE, van Galen, P, McAllister, SS. 2025. Nat Rev Cancer 25, 848-872.
    doi: 10.1038/s41568-025-00858-zPMID:40813902
  10. PD-1 regulates tumor-infiltrating CD8+ T cells in both a cell-intrinsic and a cell-extrinsic fashion. Pauken, KE, Markson, SC, Conway, TS, Juneja, VR, Shahid, O, Burke, KP, Rowe, JH, Nguyen, TH, Collier, JL, Walsh, JML et al.. 2025. J Exp Med 222, .
    doi: 10.1084/jem.20230542PMID:40705010
More Publications

 

Photo credit: Raleigh McElvery