JENNY MJÖSBERG
Single-cell analysis of intestinal lymphocytes reveals targets for treatment of inflammatory bowel disease.
Erling-Perssons stiftelse
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) constitutes an increasing global health burden, yet effective treatments are lacking. Hampering rationale treatment strategies, the human intestinal immune system remains largely unexplored.
I have made seminal contributions to the discovery and characterization of innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) revealing that in addition to antigen-specific adaptive T cells, innate equivalents play important roles in mucosal immunity. Determining the complementarity and redundancy of these two lymphocyte systems, acting in concert, is important for our understanding of inflammatory diseases and the development of novel therapies.
I have access to unique patient samples as well as established methods for single-cell RNA-sequencing to perform a comprehensive molecular dissection of the human intestinal lymphocyte compartments in IBD. I will determine parallels between known, and identify novel, subsets of tissue-resident, inflammation-associated, innate and adaptive lymphocytes. Building on this unprecedented molecular characterization, we will take on some of the most pressing clinical problems in IBD by performing longitudinal assessments of intestinal lymphocytes from IBD patients on conventional and biological treatments. As only a fraction of patients respond to treatment, this approach provides an opportunity to unveil immunological signatures of treatment response and “drug-induced transformation” of inflammation in non-responders. Furthermore, we will unfold critical disease mechanisms and reveal novel therapy targets and how they can be used to personalize treatment.
Awarded an ERC Consolidator Grant in 2019.
