We are interested in understanding the role of B cells in human immune-mediated diseases, including systemic and organ-specific conditions such as systemic sclerosis and inflammatory bowel disease, respectively. Increasing evidence suggests that interactions between B cells and T cells are key to development of autoimmunity. Our goal is to describe the molecular mechanisms controlling activation of B cells and their interactions with T cells by using a combination of biochemical approaches and high-dimensional transcriptional analyses to study disease-relevant immune cells. Ultimately, mechanistic insight into these processes may be harnessed for development of new therapies.

• Identify antigen-specific B cells in autoimmune disease
• B-cell receptor sequencing of single antigen-specific B cells
• Transcriptome analysis of disease-relevant B cells by single-cell RNA sequencing
• Describe the mechanisms of antigen-driven T cell-B cell collaboration
• Functional implications of antibody binding to self-antigen
• Structural characterization of antibody-antigen complexes

Group leader: Rasmus Iversen