In our group we study the failure of immunological tolerance in various rheumatic diseases, focusing on the interaction between stromal cells and immune cells.
Specifically, we use a unique combination of peripheral blood samples and lymph node biopsies from individuals at risk for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and patients with the established disease to study which processes lead to the development of arthritis. Furthermore, we have recently started investigating failure of immunological tolerance in pregnant women with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) to understand their high risk (up to 50%) of pregnant complications. For this, we are currently building a microbead-based organoid to model the maternal-fetal interface.
Team leader
Lisa van Baarsen
Assistant Professor
Over the past years, I gained extensive experience in translational research in the fields of rheumatology and immunobiology. I received prestigious personal grants including a ZonMw VENI, VIDI, TOP and the AMC fellowship award. It is my ambition to unravel the molecular and biological processes leading to systemic autoimmune diseases by studying unique human lymphoid and synovial tissue biopsies obtained during the pre-clinical and earliest phases of rheumatoid arthritis.
My research group is focused on the interaction between tissue resident mesenchymal stromal cells and the immune system and how they regulate each other during health and disease. Findings have led us into the field of cellular aging, senescence and metabolism and their inter-connection. Ultimately, these studies will lay the foundation for the development of novel therapies to prevent and treat this chronic disabling immune-mediated autoimmune disease.
Wendy Dankers
Postdoctoral researcher
I am a postdoctoral researcher studying the role of (failing) maternal-fetal tolerance in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). In 2016, I finished my PhD at Erasmus University about the effect of vitamin D on T cells in rheumatoid arthritis. Afterwards, I did a postdoc at Monash University where I worked on an alternative for glucocorticoid therapy in SLE. In these projects I developed expertise in molecular immunology and used state-of-the-art techniques such as whole genome CRISPR screens. In 2022, I brought this knowledge to Amsterdam UMC to start a new research line about pregnancy complications in SLE.
Team members
Hannelie Semmelink
Research Technician
Publications
- 1,25(OH)2D3 and dexamethasone additively suppress synovial fibroblast activation by CCR6+ T helper memory cells and enhance the effect of tumor necrosis factor alpha blockadeBackground Despite recent improvements in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis… »
- Human Memory Th17 Cell Populations Change Into Anti-inflammatory Cells With Regulatory Capacity Upon Exposure to Active Vitamin DBackground Chronic synovial inflammation is an important hallmark of inflammatory… »
- The heterogeneous human memory CCR6+ T helper-17 populations differ in T-bet and cytokine expression but all activate synovial fibroblasts in an IFNγ-independent mannerBackground Chronic synovial inflammation is an important hallmark of inflammatory… »
- Translational Research Studies Unraveling the Origins of Psoriatic Arthritis: Moving Beyond Skin and JointsPatients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) are suffering from a decreased… »
- Lymph node stromal cells: subsets and functions in health and diseaseLymph nodes (LNs) aid the interaction between lymphocytes and antigen-presenting… »
- Bridging Insights From Lymph Node and Synovium Studies in Early Rheumatoid ArthritisObjective: To identify molecular changes in synovium before arthritis development in… »
Funding
VENI, VIDI, ZonMW TOP, AMC Fellowship, H2020-MSCA-COFUND (Lisa van Baarsen)
Amsterdam UMC Postdoc Bridging Grant, Amsterdam Reproduction and Development Open Research Grant, FOREUM Career Research Grant (Wendy Dankers)