Name Responsible Activity "Clinical and Diagnostic Immunology" "Xavier Bossuyt" "This laboratory studies the regulation of the immune response to Streptococcus pneumoniae, immunodeficiencies (with particular interest on innate immunity), and autoimmunity (with particular interest on serological markers)." "Allergy and Clinical Immunology Research Group" "Dominique Bullens" "1. Allergy Clinical research, cohort based, on drug hypersensitivity Food allergy: clinical driven research into hidden allergens, co-factor enhanced food allergy, rare allergens (allergy to carmine, eatable insect allergens, WDEIA quality of life study etc…) Mastocytosis and hymenoptera venom allergy and treatment: clinical prospective follow-up over 30 years of a large database of patients with hymentoptera venom allergy – coincidence of mastocytosis – role of c-kit determination in peripheral blood in adults Children: (cutaneous vs systemic) mastocytosis: role of c-kit determination in peripheral blood; longitudinal study Role of innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) in chronic intestinal inflammation and intestinal fibrosis (ongoing): intended to broaden ILC research to allergic diseases (food allergy, eosinophilic oesophagitis)2. Tolerance induction Tolerance induction towards allergens: development of both natural (longitudinal studies) and immunotherapy-induced tolerance: study of the role of regulatory T cells and adaptive immunity in environmental and food allergy3. Upper and lower airway hyper-reactivity Study of the impact on epithelial barrier dysfunction on chronic airway inflammation, including interaction with environment, microbiome and therapeutic targets) Study of neuro-immune mechanisms underlying chronic airway inflammation Lower airway inflammation (in close collaboration with lab of pneumology):- in house murine models of allergic asthma- development of new mouse models for non-allergic asthma- role of innate immunity (and ILCs) vs adaptive immunity in those models Translational research in patients with upper and/or lower airway inflammation: immune cells and cytokines recruited/expressed in upper and lower airway tissue: cross-sectional studies and studies after experimental provocation (allergen, exercise, cold air,...) " Trypanosoma "IntroductionThe Trypanosoma Unit, led by Prof Jan Van Den Abbeele, focuses its activities on African trypanosomes, protozoan parasites that causes devastating diseases in humans (Human African trypanosomiasis or sleeping sickness) and livestock (Animal trypanosomiasis). Activities reach from   basic research to translational, field-oriented work. The major aims of our work are to extend our understanding of i) the parasite adaptive changes during key life cycle stages and its interplay with the host micro-environments and ii) the mechanisms of parasite drug resistance acquisition. Besides, we develop and/or optimize methods for improved parasite diagnosis and molecular surveillance. The outcome of our activities will lead to the development of novel approaches contributing to an improved control of the diseases in humans and/or livestock and its surveillance in the field.Main activitiesOur major research lines include fundamental biology of the trypanosome parasite (Trypanosoma brucei sp. and T. congolense) with focus on key stages in the parasite life cycle such as the final metacyclic stage in the tsetse fly salivary glands or mouthparts, and the early development in the host skin, after transmission through tsetse bite. Here, we study the host innate immune response and the role of parasite and tsetse saliva components in modulating this skin immune environment. In addition, the role of specific parasite surface proteins at this developmental stage are being studied including their potential to be targeted by vaccination to hamper the infection at this early stage in the mammalian host. Other basic research of our unit focuses on the mechanism of drug transport and the acquisition of drug resistance in the livestock trypanosomes.Our major translational research line focuses on the refinement and validation of (q)PCR-based tools to identify the human T. brucei gambiense parasite in various host tissue samples (of humans as well as animals) and to be used as a sensitive and specific diagnostic instrument. This activity is closely linked with the various sleeping sickness elimination programs that are coordinated by ITM (Dept. Public health).As WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training on Human African Trypanosomiasis, we perform reference testing and external quality control for gambiense-HAT diagnosis and provide training and support to national HAT-reference labs in endemic countries.The Unit has one of the largest and most diverse collections of well documented T. brucei gambiense and T. congolense field-isolated strains worldwide.Besides supervising students at various levels (bachelor, master, and PhD), we lecture on vector-borne diseases including sleeping sickness, on laboratory diagnostics and on basic molecular biology at ITM.ContactPlease do not hesitate to email us for more information." "Damya Laoui Lab" "Damya Laoui" DALAO "Peripheral Neuropathies Group" "Vincent Timmerman" "State of the art Inherited peripheral neuropathies belong to the most common neuromuscular disorders and occur worldwide (1/2500). The best known is Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT), an inherited disorder first described in 1886. Most patients have a progressive weakness and wasting of foot and hand muscles. Sometimes patients need walking aids or become wheelchair dependent even at a young age. The clinical variability and genetic heterogeneity often poses difficult diagnostic problems. Treatment is currently supportive (braces and foot surgery) and a therapy that fundamentally alters the course of these diseases is still lacking. A better understanding of the molecular architecture of the peripheral nerve, the functional pathways, the myelination process and the complex interaction between the axon, the myelinating Schwann cells and muscle is crucial to identify targets for therapeutic interventions. The identification of loci, genes and disease-causing mutations involved in the inherited peripheral neuropathies is the first step in this understanding and opens new perspectives for molecular genetic diagnosis. Genotype/phenotype correlations guide the selection of specific mutations suitable for functional analysis in cellular and animal models. These models are instrumental in the search for therapies. The knowledge gained from the molecular genetic and biological research of inherited peripheral neuropathies will also help to make progress in the study of acquired peripheral neuropathies. Some of these neuropathies are often therapy-resistant, have a profound influence on the quality of life of the patients, and constitute a financial burden for both the individual and the community. Strategy The peripheral nervous system (PNS) exchanges motor, sensory and autonomic information between the central nervous system (CNS) and the limbs, organs and tissues. A series of biological and environmental conditions, such as genetic mutations, chemical stress, infections or metabolic insults, can lead to axonal loss and demyelination, the pathological hallmarks of peripheral nerve degeneration. Moreover, degeneration of peripheral nerves is accompanied by a local activation of the immune system. The Peripheral Neuropathy Group aims at understanding the delicate balance between peripheral nerve homeostasis and degeneration by using two paradigms: (1) how do genetic mutations lead to peripheral nerve degeneration and (2) what is the role of the innate immune system in nerve protection. Science Over the years, our lab has become one of the main CMT research centers in the world; overall, 1/3 of the 40 IPN disease causing genes were found within our team or via international collaborations. Not surprisingly, many of these genes encode proteins that are involved in myelination and maintenance of the peripheral nerve. However, also ubiquitously expressed genes with basic tasks in every cell were found to specifically cause peripheral nerve degeneration. Since the identification of a disease-associated gene is only a first step in unraveling the disease pathomechanism, we aim to go further and understand the functional consequences of the pathogenic mutations. We chose to focus on genes that our lab identified to be causative for CMT. We aim to unravel the unique properties of these proteins in peripheral nerve biology as well as explore how these properties are affected upon mutation. To this end, we develop cellular and animal model systems. We are not only investigating the impact of disease-causing mutations on the well established functions of these proteins, but additionally try to identify novel pathways in which these proteins might be involved by undertaking large scale approaches. Our 'gene-driven' approach is further complemented by a second research line, which aims to identify the role of the innate immune system in neuroprotection and -degeneration. Understanding how this balance is controlled might allow us to fine-tune or even stimulate an inherent neuroprotective response. We strongly believe that our research strategy can contribute to the development of novel treatment strategies for CMT patients. The interaction between neurologists, molecular geneticists and cell biologists places our lab in a privileged position: it ensures access to patient material, and also allows us to couple back our findings in the lab with clinical data. We also maintain contacts with the International CMT Consortium by co-organising meetings and workshops." "VIB Center for Inflammation Research" "Lambrecht Bart Norbert" "The scientific investigation of the various research groups in the VIB-UGent Center for Inflammation research (IRC) is focused on molecular mechanisms of inflammation in pathologies such as allergy, autoimmune diseases, cancer, infectious diseases and senescence. At the heart of this research is the investigation of inter- and intracellular signaling pathways in innate and adaptive immune cells and barrier cells of the skin, lung and gut." "Immunobiology (Rega Institute)" "Patrick Matthys" "This unit operates in close association with the Division of Molecular Immunology (J. Van Damme). Together these teams investigate the immunobiology of inflammation, auto-immunity and cancer, with emphasis on the role of cytokines (interferons, interleukins, cytotoxins and chemokines) and cellular proteases (plasminogen activators, collagenases, etc.) Projects and milestones in this framework comprise: - Identification in molecular and biological terms of novel cytokines and extracellular proteases from natural sources, in particular leukocytes and tumor cells. - Elaboration of strategies for production of these molecules in pure form and for cloning and expression of their genes. - Clarification of the role of glycosylation in the biological function of the molecules under study. - Development of relevant biological and immunochemical assay systems. - Establishment and refinement of in vitro and in vivo model systems for studying the role of cytokines and proteases in diseases involving the immune system: infectious disease, allergy, auto-immune disease (multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis), cancer and organ transplantation. - Development genetically engineered anti-cytokine antibodies as an approach to develop anti-cytokine-based forms of therapy. - Advanced technology systems available in the unit include gas phase amino acid sequencing and automated nucleic acid sequencing and automated peptide systhesis." "Laboratory of Cell Death Research & Therapy (VIB-KU Leuven)" "Patrizia Agostinis" "The Laboratory of Cell Death Research & Therapy researches Defective regulation of cell death, especially in the form of apoptosis, contributes to the development of crucial pathologies including cancer and plays a major role in chemoresistance. Mechanisms regulating cancer cell death also affect the emission of ‘danger signals’ from the stressed/dying cells, which critically define their ‘immunogenic character’ and impact the initiation of immune responses. Our major goal is to understand the molecular mechanisms that control cancer cell death and how different cell death subroutines (e.g. oxidative stress induced apoptosis, ER stress, autophagy-associated cell death) impact immunity and therapeutic outcome. We mainly focus on endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and autophagy, two key cellular stress pathways with emerging roles in the modulation of cancer metabolism, inflammation and anti-tumor immunity. To generate fundamental knowledge we use several molecular/biochemical approaches that we finally validate by using suitable cancer models.  Our final goal is to contribute to combating cancer by translating the acquired fundamental knowledge into the development of new therapeutic strategies.  CDRT’s specific research topics include:ER-mitochondria cross-talk during ER stress and apoptosisRole of autophagy in carcinogenesis and therapy responseCross-talk between cancer cell death and innate immunityDevelopment of anticancer treatments harnessing immunogenic cancer cell death." "Janssens Lab" "Sophie Janssens" "Research on the role of the unfolded protein response in immune cell biology." "Kleinewietfeld Lab" "Kleinewietfeld M" "Research on mechanisms of how immune system imbalance leads to human disease, understanding of the processes that lead to autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis (MS) or are related to metabolic- and cardiovascular diseases and cancer, translational immunomodulation."