Harikesh S. Wong

Harikesh S. Wong

Assistant Professor of Biology; Core Member, Ragon Institute

Harikesh S. Wong studies how cells assemble and communicate to control immune responses in tissues.

857-268-7041

Phone

600 Main Street, Rm 480

Office

wonghs@mit.edu

Email

Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard

Location

Lab Website

Education

  • PhD, 2016, University of Toronto
  • BSc, 2010, Biochemistry, McMaster University

Research Summary

The immune system mounts destructive responses to protect the host from threats, including pathogens and tumors. However, a trade-off emerges: if immune responses cause too much damage, they can compromise host tissue function. Conversely, if they fail to generate sufficient damage, the host may succumb to a given threat. How is the optimal balance achieved? The Wong lab investigates how cells communicate with one another and their surrounding tissue environment to accurately control the magnitude of immune responses, both in time and space. To this end, we combine the tools of immunology with interdisciplinary methods—including high-resolution fluorescence microscopy, computational approaches, and gene manipulations—to resolve, model, and perturb the control of immune responses in intact tissues. Ultimately, we aim to understand how subtle shifts in control can lead to widely divergent host outcomes, including the successful elimination of threats, tolerance, autoimmunity, chronic infection, and cancer.

Key Publications

  1. Mesoscale T cell antigen discrimination emerges from intercellular feedback. Wong, HS, Germain, RN. 2021. Trends Immunol 42, 865-875.
    doi: 10.1016/j.it.2021.08.006PMID:34493455
  2. A local regulatory T cell feedback circuit maintains immune homeostasis by pruning self-activated T cells. Wong, HS, Park, K, Gola, A, Baptista, AP, Miller, CH, Deep, D, Lou, M, Boyd, LF, Rudensky, AY, Savage, PA et al.. 2021. Cell 184, 3981-3997.e22.
    doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2021.05.028PMID:34157301
  3. Robust control of the adaptive immune system. Wong, HS, Germain, RN. 2018. Semin Immunol 36, 17-27.
    doi: 10.1016/j.smim.2017.12.009PMID:29290544

Recent Publications

  1. Regulatory T cells constrain T cells of shared specificity to enforce tolerance during infection. Klawon, DEJ, Pagane, N, Walker, MT, Ganci, NK, Miller, CH, Gai, E, Rodriguez, DM, Ryan-Payseur, BK, Duncombe, RK, Adams, EJ et al.. 2025. Science 387, eadk3248.
    doi: 10.1126/science.adk3248PMID:40014689
  2. Non-coding sequence variation reveals fragility within interleukin 2 feedback circuitry and shapes autoimmune disease risk. Simeonov, DR, Park, K, Cortez, JT, Young, A, Li, Z, Nguyen, V, Umhoefer, J, Indart, AC, Woo, JM, Anderson, MS et al.. 2023. bioRxiv , .
    doi: 10.1101/2023.06.17.545426PMID:37503101
  3. Author Correction: Commensal-driven immune zonation of the liver promotes host defence. Gola, A, Dorrington, MG, Speranza, E, Sala, C, Shih, RM, Radtke, AJ, Wong, HS, Baptista, AP, Hernandez, JM, Castellani, G et al.. 2022. Nature 611, E7.
    doi: 10.1038/s41586-022-05462-xPMID:36280745
  4. Mesoscale T cell antigen discrimination emerges from intercellular feedback. Wong, HS, Germain, RN. 2021. Trends Immunol 42, 865-875.
    doi: 10.1016/j.it.2021.08.006PMID:34493455
  5. Author Correction: Commensal-driven immune zonation of the liver promotes host defence. Gola, A, Dorrington, MG, Speranza, E, Sala, C, Shih, RM, Radtke, AJ, Wong, HS, Baptista, AP, Hernandez, JM, Castellani, G et al.. 2021. Nature 597, E1.
    doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-03346-0PMID:34373651
  6. A local regulatory T cell feedback circuit maintains immune homeostasis by pruning self-activated T cells. Wong, HS, Park, K, Gola, A, Baptista, AP, Miller, CH, Deep, D, Lou, M, Boyd, LF, Rudensky, AY, Savage, PA et al.. 2021. Cell 184, 3981-3997.e22.
    doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2021.05.028PMID:34157301
  7. Gut Helicobacter presentation by multiple dendritic cell subsets enables context-specific regulatory T cell generation. Russler-Germain, EV, Yi, J, Young, S, Nutsch, K, Wong, HS, Ai, TL, Chai, JN, Durai, V, Kaplan, DH, Germain, RN et al.. 2021. Elife 10, .
    doi: 10.7554/eLife.54792PMID:33533717
  8. Commensal-driven immune zonation of the liver promotes host defence. Gola, A, Dorrington, MG, Speranza, E, Sala, C, Shih, RM, Radtke, AJ, Wong, HS, Baptista, AP, Hernandez, JM, Castellani, G et al.. 2021. Nature 589, 131-136.
    doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2977-2PMID:33239787
  9. Robust control of the adaptive immune system. Wong, HS, Germain, RN. 2018. Semin Immunol 36, 17-27.
    doi: 10.1016/j.smim.2017.12.009PMID:29290544
  10. Chemokine Signaling Enhances CD36 Responsiveness toward Oxidized Low-Density Lipoproteins and Accelerates Foam Cell Formation. Wong, HS, Jaumouillé, V, Freeman, SA, Doodnauth, SA, Schlam, D, Canton, J, Mukovozov, IM, Saric, A, Grinstein, S, Robinson, LA et al.. 2016. Cell Rep 14, 2859-71.
    doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2016.02.071PMID:26997267
More Publications
Photo credit: Suparna Sharma