Immuno-pharmacology and interactomics
The Immuno-Pharmacology and Interactomics group focuses on the mechanisms that lead to cellular signaling disregulation and their impact in health and disease.
Activities
Altered cellular signalling and immune dysregulation are hallmarks of most auto-immune, inflammatory and chronic viral diseases. The expression, signalling and activity of chemokines and IFN are often altered in these pathologies but the molecular mechanisms and fine regulation at play are not completely understood. Most viruses have evolved strategies to hijack, bypass or lure these signal transducers and cellular effectors to favour their replication and/or to corrupt or evade immunity.
Our research interests revolve around two axes:
- Fundamental research aiming at gaining new insights into the complex structural and cellular mechanisms that lead to altered cellular signalling and cell transformation.
- Translational research aiming at developing novel tools and therapeutic approaches to interfere or modulate these processes and viral replication.
Projects & clinical trials
Some of the group’s research projects include:
- Studying the structure and function of human chemokine receptors CXCR4, CXCR7 and CXCR3 and viral receptors and deciphering homeostatic and pathogenic molecular interactions, signalling and intracellular trafficking induced by their endogenous and viral ligands.
- Designing novel chemokine-receptor inhibitors interfering with chemokine receptor signalling as well as with HIV entry and developing viral tools for applied research and for determining viral tropism as well as resistance to entry inhibitors.
- Studying the molecular mechanisms of HIV assembly and viral protein trafficking, paying particular care to the impact of subtype-related variability.
- Investigating the molecular mechanisms leading from chronic inflammation to cancer development in chronic viral infections, focusing on the role of the Interferon-induced proteins APOBEC3 and SAMHD1 in cellular DNA damage, viral integration of DNA viruses and cellular homeostasis.
Featured team members
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Ana
Alonso Bartolomé PhD -
Nadia
Beaupain Laboratory Technician -
Hugo
Bonnemain-Pascual PhD -
Ester
Cassano PhD -
Andy
Chevigne Group Leader -
Manuel
Counson Laboratory Technician -
Giulia
D’Uonnolo PhD -
Rafael
Luis PhD
Scientific publications
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Reduced G protein signaling despite impaired internalization and β-arrestin recruitment in patients carrying a CXCR4Leu317fsX3 mutation causing WHIM syndrome – 08/03/2023
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Chemokine CXCL4 interactions with extracellular matrix proteoglycans mediate widespread immune cell recruitment independent of chemokine receptors – 05/01/2023
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Multi-omics analysis identifies LBX1 and NHLH1 as central regulators of human midbrain dopaminergic neuron differentiation – 27/01/2023
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Nanoluciferase-based complementation assays to monitor activation, modulation and signaling of receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) – 24/12/2022
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Discovery of small-molecules targeting the CCL20/CCR6 axis as first-in-class inhibitors for inflammatory bowel diseases – 05/12/2022
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The ADORA1 mutation linked to early-onset Parkinson’s disease alters adenosine A1-A2A receptor heteromer formation and function – 21/10/2022
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How Carvedilol activates β2-adrenoceptors – 19/11/2022
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Editorial – 16/11/2022
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Computationally designed GPCR quaternary structures bias signaling pathway activation – 11/11/2022
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Discovery and Development of First-in-Class ACKR3/CXCR7 Superagonists for Platelet Degranulation Modulation – 01/01/2022
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