Research
Our current line of research focuses on the study of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), a rare inflammatory polyneuropathy of the peripheral nervous system (PNS) that usually progresses through an acute phase followed by a recovery period that can last months or years.
Although the disease was first described more than a century ago, the immune mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of GBS remain poorly understood. For this reason there is no specific cure; almost 20% of GBS patients remain severely disabled and between 3-10% die from respiratory problems or superimposed infections. Despite observations suggesting that autoreactive T cells may play a role in GBS patients, this aspect has yet to be explored in depth. In this research we aim to fill this gap. In particular, we are studying GBS as a paradigm of autoimmune disease in which both conventional autoreactive T cells directed against self-proteins as well as group 1 CD1-restricted T cells targeting self-lipids of the PNS myelin may contribute to its pathophysiology. We expect that the outcomes of these studies will significantly expand our basic knowledge on autoreactive T cell immunity in GBS and possibly in a larger spectrum of human autoimmune demyelinating disorders and will as well open a new perspective in the field of human T cell biology.
Please refer to the overview of publications.