Eric S Ubil, PhD, MBA
Connect
859-562-0133eric.ubil@uky.edu
Positions
- Associate Professor
College Unit(s)
Research
Tumors suppress the anti-cancer immune response, which fosters continued disease progression. Utilizing a combination of preclinical models, biochemical assays, and bioinformatic tools, the Ubil Lab identifies how tumor cells suppress innate immune cells and targets those mechanisms pharmacologically to improve outcomes. As an example, we found that following chemotherapy, surviving tumor cells increase expression of Pros1, which binds to the macrophage Mer receptor and acts as an innate immune checkpoint. By targeting downstream signaling, we were able to reduce tumor growth by 40-90% in multiple treatment refractory preclinical models. That work has led to grant funding, two patents, and multiple collaborative drug development efforts. The Ubil Lab is also investigating ways to improve other therapies, including radiotherapy and adaptive checkpoint blockade.
Selected Publications
Prieto-Dominguez N, Goel P, Ojo OA, Moretto K, Holtzhausen A, Humphryes A, Zhou X, Kuznetsova V, Dempsey F, Pittman K, Lu R, Green TJ, Shi LZ, Welner RS, Earp HS, Ubil E. PTP inhibition improves the macrophage anti-tumor immune response and the efficacy of chemo- and radiotherapy. Cancer Immunol Res. 2025 Feb 12. doi: 10.1158/2326-6066.CIR-24-0335. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 39937118.
Silva-Sanchez A, Meza-Perez S, Liu M, Stone SL, Flores-Romo L, Ubil E, Lund FE, Rosenberg AF, Randall TD. Activation of regulatory dendritic cells by Mertk coincides with a temporal wave of apoptosis in neonatal lungs. Sci Immunol. 2023 Jun 23;8(84):eadc9081. doi: 10.1126/sciimmunol.adc9081. Epub 2023 Jun 16. PMID: 37327322; PMCID: PMC10351240.
Ricketts TD, Prieto-Dominguez N, Gowda PS, Ubil E. Mechanisms of Macrophage Plasticity in the Tumor Environment: Manipulating Activation State to Improve Outcomes. Front Immunol. 2021 May 7;12:642285. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.642285. PMID: 34025653; PMCID: PMC8139576.
Ubil E, Caskey L, Holtzhausen A, Hunter D, Story C, Earp HS. Tumor-secreted Pros1 inhibits macrophage M1 polarization to reduce antitumor immune response. J Clin Invest. 2018 Jun 1;128(6):2356-2369. doi: 10.1172/JCI97354. Epub 2018 Apr 30. PMID: 29708510; PMCID: PMC5983338.
Ubil E, Duan J, Pillai IC, Rosa-Garrido M, Wu Y, Bargiacchi F, Lu Y, Stanbouly S, Huang J, Rojas M, Vondriska TM, Stefani E, Deb A. Mesenchymal-endothelial transition contributes to cardiac neovascularization. Nature. 2014 Oct 30;514(7524):585-90. doi: 10.1038/nature13839. Epub 2014 Oct 15. PMID: 25317562; PMCID: PMC4214889.