Analysis of molecular biomarkers for better diagnostics and treatment of autoimmune diseases

Research concept

In systemic autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA), the body launches a continuous immune response against self tissues, thus fights against itself. Immune cells mistakenly react against the body, causing chronic inflammation. RA is one of the most frequent autoimmune disorders affecting 0.5-1% of adults; women are affected 2.5 times as frequently as men. There are app. 130-150 thousand people affected by RA in Hungary. One of our objectives is to functionally analyze different B cell populations from healthy donors and RA patients. Beside antibody production, various subsets of B cells produce multiple cytokines with either inflammatory or anti-inflammatory functions that contribute to the development of autoimmune diseases. We will compare cytokine profiles of B cells in health and disease. We will also sequence the functional antibody repertoire from such patients using high-throughput DNA sequencing technologies. One of our main focuses is to examine the effects of novel therapeutic approaches, such as monoclonal antibodies, on the B cell populations and functional antibody repertoire.

Research services

• For research purposes, we can analyze the B-cell repertoire of healthy donors and patients using new generation sequencing of the B cell receptors.
• We can characterize B cell subsets from healthy donors and patients with RA and RA “at risk” based on their surface markers and intracellular cytokine production, by multicolour flow cytometry analysis.

Human resources 

• Prof. Dr. Imre Kacskovics, Eötvös Loránd University, Faculty of Science, Department of Immunology, Head of Department, Professor
• Bence Szikora, Eötvös Loránd University, Faculty of Science, Department of Immunology, PhD-Student
• Kristóf György Kovács, Eötvös Loránd University, Faculty of Science, Department of Immunology, PhD-Student
• Anita Marx, Eötvös Loránd University, Faculty of Science, Department of Immunology, MSc-Student
• Prof Dr. Gabriella Sármay, Eötvös Loránd University, Faculty of Science, Department of Immunology
• Kornélia Kelemen, research assistant, Eötvös Loránd University, Faculty of Science, Department of Immunology
• Lili Edit Végh, PhD-Student, Eötvös Loránd University, Faculty of Science, Department of Immunology

Laboratories, rooms

• Laboratories at Eötvös Loránd University, Faculty of Science, Department of Immunology (5th Floor)
• Group of Common Laboratories at Eötvös Loránd University, Faculty of Science (5^th Floor)

Equipments 

• Beckman Coulter's FACSAria III cell sorter
• Beckman Coulter's CytoFLEX flow cytometry platform
• NanoDrop ND-1000 Spectrophotometer
• PCR Thermal Cycler (Applied Biosystems, 2720)
• UV Transilluminator (Macrovue, 2011)
• lamináris boxok, CO2 inkubátorok
• ELISA reader, gél-elektroforetikus készülék
• konfokális mikroszkóp, standard mikroszkóp

Recent publications of the research group