Asst Prof Alan Hsu
Assistant Professor
Department of Microbiology and Immunology
Tel: 6516 3027
Email: alan_hsu@nus.edu.sg
Website: https://www.neutrophillab.com/

Research Theme

Neutrophil biology.

Research Interest

Neutrophils are essential first responders that protect the host from infection, yet when their inflammatory activity is prolonged or poorly controlled, they can become powerful drivers of tissue damage. Our laboratory investigates how neutrophil functions changes over time, how acute and chronic inflammation disrupt the transition from inflammation to immune resolution, and underlying mechanisms the dysfunction of neutrophils during inflammaging.

A major focus of our research is Large Aging Neutrophil-Derived Vesicles (LAND-Vs), a newly identified class of neutrophil derived extracellular vesicles that promotes immune resolution by regulating inflammation. By integrating cellular immunology, extracellular vesicle biology, high-dimensional profiling, and models of infection, inflammation, and aging, we aim to uncover the mechanisms and biomarkers that distinguish successful immune resolution from persistent disease. Our long-term goal is to develop immune-reprogramming strategies that restore resolution without broadly suppressing host defense, ultimately improving human healthspan.

Recent Publications

1. Stephanie F. Rutter, Jascinta P. Santavanond, Alan Y. Hsu, Taylon F. Silva, Dolores Di Vizio, Ivan K. H. Poon. (2026) Mechanisms and functions of large extracellular vesicle biogenesis. Nature cell biology. doi.org/10.1038/s41556-026-01940-w
2. Alan Y. Hsu*, Qingxiang Huang*, Xiong Pi, Jianing Fu, Krishnan Raghunathan, Laxman Ghimire, Arumugam Balasubramanian, Xuemei Xie, Hongbo Yu, Fabien Loison, Viraga Haridas, Jiali Zha, Fei Liu, Shin-young Park, Kamal Bagale, Qian Ren, Yuping Fan, Yi Zheng, Jose A. Cancelas, Li Chai, Sean R. Stowell, Kanchao Chen, Rong Xu, Xiaoxue Wang, Yuanfu Xu, Lianghui Zhang, Tao Cheng, Fengxia Ma, Jay R. Thiagarajah, Hao Wu, Sizhou Feng, and Hongbo R. Luo. (2025) Neutrophil-derived vesicles control complement activation to facilitate inflammation resolution. Cell, doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2025.01.021. * co-first authors
3. Alan Y. Hsu*, Qingxiang Huang*, Fei Liu, Arumugam Balasubramanian, Hongbo R. Luo. (2025) Neutrophil Death-More Than Meets The Eye. Experimental Hematology, DOI: 10.1016/j.exphem.2025.104857. * co-first authors
4. Arumugam Balasubramanian, Alan Y. Hsu, Laxman Ghimire, Muhammad Tahir, Pascal Devant, Pietro Fontana, Gang Du, Xing Liu, Dang Fabin, Hiroto Kambara, Xuemei Xie, Fei Liu, Tomoya Hasegawa, Rong Xu, Hongbo Yu, Mei Chen, Steven Kolakowski, Sunia Trauger, Martin Røssel Larsen, Wenyi Wei, Hao Wu, Jonathan C. Kagan, Judy Lieberman, Hongbo R. Luo. (2024) The palmitoylation of gasdermin D directs its membrane translocation and pore formation during pyroptosis. Science immunology, DOI: 10.1126/sciimmunol.adn1452.
5. Fengxia Ma, Laxman Ghimire, Qian Ren, Yuping Fan, Tong Chen, Arumugam Balasubramanian, Alan Hsu, Fei Liu, Hongbo Yu, Xuemei Xie, Rong Xu & Hongbo R. Luo. (2024) Gasdermin E dictates inflammatory responses by controlling the mode of neutrophil death. Nature Communications, doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-44669-y
6. Peng W*, Alan Y. Hsu*, Ting Peng, Wenxue Zhao, Fei Liu, Zhaoran Zhang, Laxman Ghimire, Arumugam Balasubramanian, Xuemei Xie, Jiajia Li, Shin-Young Park, Fengxia Ma, Cheng Li, and Hongbo R. Luo. (2024) The effect of transient, constricted migration on neutrophil intracellular bacteria-killing capability. Immunity, doi.org/10.1016/j.immuni.2024.07.008 * co-first authors
7. Stijn Van Bruggen, Pierre-André Jarrot, Eline Thomas, Casey E. Sheehy, Camila M. S. Silva, Alan Y. Hsu, Pierre Cunin, Peter A. Nigrovic, Edgar R. Gomes, Hongbo R. Luo, Clare M. Waterman, and Denisa D. Wagner. (2023) NLRP3 is essential for neutrophil polarization and chemotaxis in response to leukotriene B4 gradient. PNAS, doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2303814120
8. Fei Liu, Laxman Ghimire, Arumugam Balasubramanian, Alan Hsu, Zhaoran Zhang, Hongbo Yu, Fenxia Ma, Hongbo R Luo. (2022) Neutrophil-specific depletion of gasdermin D does not protect against sepsis. Blood, doi.org/10.1182/blood.2022016931
9. Song Chen, Qingyu Zhang, Lisha Lu, Chunhui Xu, Jiajia Li, Jiali Zha, Fengxia Ma, Hongbo R. Luo#, Alan Y. Hsu#. (2022) Heterogeneity of neutrophils in cancer: one size does not fit all. Cancer Biol Med . doi: 10.20892/j.issn.2095-3941.2022.0426. # co-corresponding authors
10. Ramizah Syahirah*, Alan Y. Hsu*, Qing Deng. (2022) A curious case of cyclin-dependent kinases in neutrophils. JLB, doi.org/10.1002/JLB.2RU1021-573R * co-first authors
11. Wenqing Zhou*, Alan Y. Hsu*, Yueyang Wang*, Ramizah Syahirah, Tianqi Wang, Jacob Jefferies, Haroon Mohammad, Xu Wang, Mohamed N. Seleem, David Umulis, Qing Deng. (2020) Mitofusin 2 regulates neutrophil adhesive migration and the actin cytoskeleton. Journal of Cell Science, 118, 3153-3161 doi: 10.1242/jcs.248880 * co-first authors
12. Alan Y. Hsu, Decheng Wang, Sheng Liu, Justice Lu, Ramizah Syahirah, David A. Bennin, Anna Huttenlocher, Jun Wan, Qing Deng. (2019) Phenotypical microRNA screen reveals a noncanonical role of CDK2 in regulating neutrophil migration. PNAS, 116(37), 18561-18570. doi:10.1073/pnas.1905221116
Full list: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/alan.hsu.1/bibliography/public/