Adaptive immunity and infectious diseases
Infectious diseases kill more than twice as many people as cancer, and the tendency is increasing due to the extensive use of immune-modulating medicines during transplantation and treatment of diseases. Whereas most of the development of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies has focused on oncological and immunological diseases, the antibody industry for infectious diseases is currently limited, but interest is increasing due to the decline in clinical effectiveness of antibiotics and the large number of immunocompromised people who will benefit greatly from antibody therapy. Although a range of antiviral drugs are on the marked, they are general, and not tailored for one type of infection. Thus, treatment using antibody immunotherapy directed towards a pathogen of interest will be a much more safe and efficient way to combat infectious diseases, as specific targeting and neutralization of the pathogen will provide a potent product with better activity.
The Laboratory aims for a deeper understanding on the mechanisms of infections at different body sites and how humoral immunity fights and restricts infection and replication. In particular, we are studying how antibodies contribute to protection against infectious diseases, and how the IgG binding receptors FcRn, Fcγ receptors and tripartite motif containing 21 (TRIM21) take part of cellular protection. Such knowledge can be utilized to develop new technologies that are tailored to efficiently combat infectious diseases outside and inside cells.
The Laboratory aims for a deeper understanding on the mechanisms of infections at different body sites and how humoral immunity fights and restricts infection and replication. In particular, we are studying how antibodies contribute to protection against infectious diseases, and how the IgG binding receptors FcRn, Fcγ receptors and tripartite motif containing 21 (TRIM21) take part of cellular protection. Such knowledge can be utilized to develop new technologies that are tailored to efficiently combat infectious diseases outside and inside cells.