
Espen Melum
- Group leader, Senior scientist; MD, PhD
- +47 23 07 36 19
Education
MD University of Oslo, 2006
PhD University of Oslo, 2010
Positions
2018 - present | Deputy chair and Senior scientist, Research Institute for Internal Medicine, OUH, Rikshospitalet |
2015 - present | Senior scientist, Norwegian PSC research center, OUH, Rikshospitalet |
2020 - present | Senior scientist, Hybrid Technology Hub (Norwegian center of excellence), University of Oslo |
2013 - 2019 | Resident, Section of gastroenterology, OUH, Rikshospitalet |
2012 - 2015 | Postdoc, Norwegian PSC research center, OUH, Rikshospitalet |
2010 - 2012 | Postdoc, Brigham and Women’s Hospital / Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA |
2008-2010 | PhD Research fellow, Norwegian PSC Research Center, OUS Rikshospitalet |
2007-2008 | Internship in Medicine, Surgery and General Practice, Hamar/Elverum |
2006-2007 | Research fellow, Institute of Immunology, Rikshospitalet |
Research interests
Natural Killer T-cells and immune mediated diseases, Primary sclerosing cholangitis, Experimental models of cholangitis, Complex genetics
Publications 2022
Spatial transcriptomics identifies enriched gene expression and cell types in human liver fibrosis
Hepatol Commun (in press)
DOI 10.1002/hep4.2001, PubMed 35726350
Impact of delayed type hypersensitivity arthritis on development of heart failure by aortic constriction in mice
PLoS One, 17 (1), e0262821
DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0262821, PubMed 35077491
Bile from Patients with Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis Contains Mucosal-Associated Invariant T-Cell Antigens
Am J Pathol, 192 (4), 629-641
DOI 10.1016/j.ajpath.2021.12.008, PubMed 35063408
Risk of hepato-pancreato-biliary cancer is increased by primary sclerosing cholangitis in patients with inflammatory bowel disease: A population-based cohort study
United European Gastroenterol J, 10 (2), 212-224
DOI 10.1002/ueg2.12204, PubMed 35107865
Publications 2021
Thoracic Epidural Analgesia for Postoperative Pain Management in Liver Transplantation: A 10-year Study on 685 Liver Transplant Recipients
Transplant Direct, 7 (2), e648
DOI 10.1097/TXD.0000000000001101, PubMed 33437863
A heterozygous germline CD100 mutation in a family with primary sclerosing cholangitis
Sci Transl Med, 13 (582)
DOI 10.1126/scitranslmed.abb0036, PubMed 33627483
The Role of Natural Killer Cells in Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis: An Ongoing Debate
Cell Mol Gastroenterol Hepatol, 13 (1), 348-349
DOI 10.1016/j.jcmgh.2021.10.006, PubMed 34740615
Liver Transplantation for Acute Intermittent Porphyria
Liver Transpl, 27 (4), 491-501
DOI 10.1002/lt.25959, PubMed 33259654
Cholangiocyte organoids can repair bile ducts after transplantation in the human liver
Science, 371 (6531), 839-846
DOI 10.1126/science.aaz6964, PubMed 33602855
Mucosal-associated invariant T-cell tumor infiltration predicts long-term survival in cholangiocarcinoma
Hepatology, 75 (5), 1154-1168
DOI 10.1002/hep.32222, PubMed 34719787
Publications 2020
Absence of NLRP3 Inflammasome in Hematopoietic Cells Reduces Adverse Remodeling After Experimental Myocardial Infarction
JACC Basic Transl Sci, 5 (12), 1210-1224
DOI 10.1016/j.jacbts.2020.09.013, PubMed 33426377
Lipid antigens in bile from patients with chronic liver diseases activate natural killer T cells
Clin Exp Immunol, 203 (2), 304-314
DOI 10.1111/cei.13541, PubMed 33089489
Publications 2019
Aging-Related Expression of Twinfilin-1 Regulates Cholangiocyte Biological Response to Injury
Hepatology, 70 (3), 883-898
DOI 10.1002/hep.30466, PubMed 30561764
Control of CD1d-restricted antigen presentation and inflammation by sphingomyelin
Nat Immunol, 20 (12), 1644-1655
DOI 10.1038/s41590-019-0504-0, PubMed 31636468
Isolation and propagation of primary human cholangiocyte organoids for the generation of bioengineered biliary tissue
Nat Protoc, 14 (6), 1884-1925
DOI 10.1038/s41596-019-0168-0, PubMed 31110298
Publications 2018
Natural killer T cells mediate inflammation in the bile ducts
Mucosal Immunol, 11 (6), 1582-1590
DOI 10.1038/s41385-018-0066-8, PubMed 30115993
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is an increasing indication for liver transplantation in the Nordic countries
Liver Int, 38 (11), 2082-2090
DOI 10.1111/liv.13751, PubMed 29630771
IL13Rα2 expression identifies tissue-resident IL-22-producing PLZF+ innate T cells in the human liver
Eur J Immunol, 48 (8), 1329-1335
DOI 10.1002/eji.201747334, PubMed 29677387
Genetic markers associated with long-term cardiovascular outcome in kidney transplant recipients
Am J Transplant, 19 (5), 1444-1451
DOI 10.1111/ajt.15191, PubMed 30457209
Cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy for pseudomyxoma peritonei in a liver-transplanted patient: a case report
World J Surg Oncol, 16 (1), 180
DOI 10.1186/s12957-018-1482-7, PubMed 30185175
Publications 2017
Genetic association analysis identifies variants associated with disease progression in primary sclerosing cholangitis
Gut, 67 (8), 1517-1524
DOI 10.1136/gutjnl-2016-313598, PubMed 28779025
Establishment of a surgical bile duct injection technique giving direct access to the bile ducts for studies of the murine biliary tree
Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol, 314 (3), G349-G359
DOI 10.1152/ajpgi.00124.2017, PubMed 29212771
CD8+ T Cells That Coexpress RORγt and T-bet Are Functionally Impaired and Expand in Patients with Distal Bile Duct Cancer
J Immunol, 198 (4), 1729-1739
DOI 10.4049/jimmunol.1600061, PubMed 28053236
HLA haplotypes in primary sclerosing cholangitis patients of admixed and non-European ancestry
HLA, 90 (4), 228-233
DOI 10.1111/tan.13076, PubMed 28695657
Intact CD100-CD72 Interaction Necessary for TCR-Induced T Cell Proliferation
Front Immunol, 8, 765
DOI 10.3389/fimmu.2017.00765, PubMed 28713384
C77G in PTPRC (CD45) is no risk allele for ovarian cancer, but associated with less aggressive disease
PLoS One, 12 (7), e0182030
DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0182030, PubMed 28759630
Modelling the burden of hepatitis C infection among people who inject drugs in Norway, 1973-2030
BMC Infect Dis, 17 (1), 541
DOI 10.1186/s12879-017-2631-2, PubMed 28774261
Reconstruction of the mouse extrahepatic biliary tree using primary human extrahepatic cholangiocyte organoids
Nat Med, 23 (8), 954-963
DOI 10.1038/nm.4360, PubMed 28671689
The role of natural killer T cells in a mouse model with spontaneous bile duct inflammation
Physiol Rep, 5 (4)
DOI 10.14814/phy2.13117, PubMed 28219981
Novel serum and bile protein markers predict primary sclerosing cholangitis disease severity and prognosis
J Hepatol, 66 (6), 1214-1222
DOI 10.1016/j.jhep.2017.01.019, PubMed 28161472
Publications 2016
Gut and liver T-cells of common clonal origin in primary sclerosing cholangitis-inflammatory bowel disease
J Hepatol, 66 (1), 116-122
DOI 10.1016/j.jhep.2016.09.002, PubMed 27647428
Corrigendum: CEACAM1 regulates TIM-3-mediated tolerance and exhaustion
Nature, 536 (7616), 359
DOI 10.1038/nature17421, PubMed 26982724
Genome-wide association study of primary sclerosing cholangitis identifies new risk loci and quantifies the genetic relationship with inflammatory bowel disease
Nat Genet, 49 (2), 269-273
DOI 10.1038/ng.3745, PubMed 27992413
Nlrp3 Activation Induces Il-18 Synthesis and Affects the Epithelial Barrier Function in Reactive Cholangiocytes
Am J Pathol, 187 (2), 366-376
DOI 10.1016/j.ajpath.2016.10.010, PubMed 27912077
Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms and Long-Term Clinical Outcome in Renal Transplant Patients: A Validation Study
Am J Transplant, 17 (2), 528-533
DOI 10.1111/ajt.13995, PubMed 27483393
The gut microbiota contributes to a mouse model of spontaneous bile duct inflammation
J Hepatol, 66 (2), 382-389
DOI 10.1016/j.jhep.2016.09.020, PubMed 27720803
Prognostic biomarkers and surrogate end points in PSC
Liver Int, 36 (12), 1748-1751
DOI 10.1111/liv.13216, PubMed 27864874
Publications 2015
Indications and Outcomes in Liver Transplantation in Patients With Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis in Norway
Transplant Direct, 1 (9), e39
DOI 10.1097/TXD.0000000000000548, PubMed 27500239
Liver transplantation in the Nordic countries - An intention to treat and post-transplant analysis from The Nordic Liver Transplant Registry 1982-2013
Scand J Gastroenterol, 50 (6), 797-808
DOI 10.3109/00365521.2015.1036359, PubMed 25959101
High-throughput T-cell receptor sequencing across chronic liver diseases reveals distinct disease-associated repertoires
Hepatology, 63 (5), 1608-19
DOI 10.1002/hep.28116, PubMed 26257205
Continuous molecular adsorbent recirculating system treatment in 69 patients listed for liver transplantation
Scand J Gastroenterol, 50 (9), 1127-34
DOI 10.3109/00365521.2015.1027262, PubMed 25865318
Cholangiocytes derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells for disease modeling and drug validation
Nat Biotechnol, 33 (8), 845-852
DOI 10.1038/nbt.3275, PubMed 26167629
The biliary epithelium presents antigens to and activates natural killer T cells
Hepatology, 62 (4), 1249-59
DOI 10.1002/hep.27840, PubMed 25855031
Publications 2014
Low use of surveillance and early diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma in Norway--a population-based cohort study
Cancer Epidemiol, 38 (6), 741-7
DOI 10.1016/j.canep.2014.10.005, PubMed 25454262
Characterization of animal models for primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC)
J Hepatol, 60 (6), 1290-303
DOI 10.1016/j.jhep.2014.02.006, PubMed 24560657
HLA variants related to primary sclerosing cholangitis influence rejection after liver transplantation
World J Gastroenterol, 20 (14), 3986-4000
DOI 10.3748/wjg.v20.i14.3986, PubMed 24744588
Update on primary sclerosing cholangitis genetics
Curr Opin Gastroenterol, 30 (3), 310-9
DOI 10.1097/MOG.0000000000000052, PubMed 24565892
CEACAM1 regulates TIM-3-mediated tolerance and exhaustion
Nature, 517 (7534), 386-90
DOI 10.1038/nature13848, PubMed 25363763
Small duct primary sclerosing cholangitis without inflammatory bowel disease is genetically different from large duct disease
Liver Int, 34 (10), 1488-95
DOI 10.1111/liv.12492, PubMed 24517468
Refinement of the MHC risk map in a scandinavian primary sclerosing cholangitis population
PLoS One, 9 (12), e114486
DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0114486, PubMed 25521205
Early-onset Crohn's disease and autoimmunity associated with a variant in CTLA-4
Gut, 64 (12), 1889-97
DOI 10.1136/gutjnl-2014-308541, PubMed 25367873
Publications 2013
Genome-wide association analysis in primary sclerosing cholangitis and ulcerative colitis identifies risk loci at GPR35 and TCF4
Hepatology, 58 (3), 1074-83
DOI 10.1002/hep.25977, PubMed 22821403
Dense genotyping of immune-related disease regions identifies nine new risk loci for primary sclerosing cholangitis
Nat Genet, 45 (6), 670-5
DOI 10.1038/ng.2616, PubMed 23603763
Analyzing antigen recognition by Natural Killer T cells
Methods Mol Biol, 960, 557-572
DOI 10.1007/978-1-62703-218-6_41, PubMed 23329514
Publications 2012
Genetic variants at the ITPA locus protect against ribavirin-induced hemolytic anemia and dose reduction in an HCV G2/G3 cohort
Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol, 24 (8), 890-6
DOI 10.1097/MEG.0b013e3283546efd, PubMed 22584257
Extended analysis of a genome-wide association study in primary sclerosing cholangitis detects multiple novel risk loci
J Hepatol, 57 (2), 366-75
DOI 10.1016/j.jhep.2012.03.031, PubMed 22521342
From next-generation sequencing alignments to accurate comparison and validation of single-nucleotide variants: the pibase software
Nucleic Acids Res, 41 (1), e16
DOI 10.1093/nar/gks836, PubMed 22965131
Recurrence and rejection in liver transplantation for primary sclerosing cholangitis
World J Gastroenterol, 18 (1), 1-15
DOI 10.3748/wjg.v18.i1.1, PubMed 22228965
Fine mapping and replication of genetic risk loci in primary sclerosing cholangitis
Scand J Gastroenterol, 47 (7), 820-6
DOI 10.3109/00365521.2012.682090, PubMed 22554193
Publications 2011
Genetics in primary sclerosing cholangitis
Best Pract Res Clin Gastroenterol, 25 (6), 713-26
DOI 10.1016/j.bpg.2011.09.010, PubMed 22117637
Three ulcerative colitis susceptibility loci are associated with primary sclerosing cholangitis and indicate a role for IL2, REL, and CARD9
Hepatology, 53 (6), 1977-85
DOI 10.1002/hep.24307, PubMed 21425313
IL28B genetic variation and treatment response in patients with hepatitis C virus genotype 3 infection
Hepatology, 53 (3), 746-54
DOI 10.1002/hep.24154, PubMed 21374656
Publications 2010
HDAC2 expression and variable number of repeats in exon 1 of the HDAC2 gene in corticotroph adenomas
Clin Endocrinol (Oxf), 73 (2), 229-35
DOI 10.1111/j.1365-2265.2010.03805.x, PubMed 20346000
SNPexp - A web tool for calculating and visualizing correlation between HapMap genotypes and gene expression levels
BMC Bioinformatics, 11, 600
DOI 10.1186/1471-2105-11-600, PubMed 21167019
Mutational characterization of the bile acid receptor TGR5 in primary sclerosing cholangitis
PLoS One, 5 (8), e12403
DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0012403, PubMed 20811628
The utility of genome-wide association studies in hepatology
Hepatology, 51 (5), 1833-42
DOI 10.1002/hep.23564, PubMed 20232293
Association to the Glypican-5 gene in multiple sclerosis
J Neuroimmunol, 226 (1-2), 194-7
DOI 10.1016/j.jneuroim.2010.07.003, PubMed 20692050
From single markers to genome-wide association: a study of primary sclerosing cholangitis genetics
In Series of dissertations submitted to the Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Unipub, Oslo, no. 946, 1 b. (flere pag.)
BIBSYS 10118672x, ISBN 978-82-8072-614-8
Genome-wide association analysis in primary sclerosing cholangitis identifies two non-HLA susceptibility loci
Nat Genet, 43 (1), 17-9
DOI 10.1038/ng.728, PubMed 21151127
SNP discovery performance of two second-generation sequencing platforms in the NOD2 gene region
Hum Mutat, 31 (7), 875-85
DOI 10.1002/humu.21276, PubMed 20506538
Publications 2009
Genome-wide association analysis in primary sclerosing cholangitis
Gastroenterology, 138 (3), 1102-11
DOI 10.1053/j.gastro.2009.11.046, PubMed 19944697
Genome-wide association studies--a summary for the clinical gastroenterologist
World J Gastroenterol, 15 (43), 5377-96
DOI 10.3748/wjg.15.5377, PubMed 19916168
Publications 2008
Investigation of cholangiocarcinoma associated NKG2D polymorphisms in colorectal carcinoma
Int J Cancer, 123 (1), 241-2
DOI 10.1002/ijc.23517, PubMed 18398827
An interleukin-6 (IL-6) receptor polymorphism affecting serum levels of IL-6 does not increase the risk of cholangiocarcinoma in primary sclerosing cholangitis
Am J Gastroenterol, 103 (4), 1045; author reply 1045-6
DOI 10.1111/j.1572-0241.2007.01772_5.x, PubMed 18397431
Cholangiocarcinoma in primary sclerosing cholangitis is associated with NKG2D polymorphisms
Hepatology, 47 (1), 90-6
DOI 10.1002/hep.21964, PubMed 18023027
Publications 2007
Lack of association between the chemokine receptor 5 polymorphism CCR5delta32 in rheumatoid arthritis and juvenile idiopathic arthritis
BMC Med Genet, 8, 33
DOI 10.1186/1471-2350-8-33, PubMed 17565662
Hepatitis C impairs survival following liver transplantation irrespective of concomitant hepatocellular carcinoma
J Hepatol, 47 (6), 777-83
DOI 10.1016/j.jhep.2007.06.013, PubMed 17714825
Publications 2006
The 32-base pair deletion of the chemokine receptor 5 gene (CCR5-Delta32) is not associated with primary sclerosing cholangitis in 363 Scandinavian patients
Tissue Antigens, 68 (1), 78-81
DOI 10.1111/j.1399-0039.2006.00604.x, PubMed 16774544
Liver TX for hepatitis C cirrhosis in a low prevalence population: risk factors and status at evaluation
Scand J Gastroenterol, 41 (5), 592-6
DOI 10.1080/00365520500347113, PubMed 16638703