Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious diseases

Dynamics of immune responses

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Group leader

Matteo Iannacone

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Armenise harvard

My laboratory’s work centers on understanding how immune responses are orchestrated within local tissue niches. Recent breakthroughs in intravital imaging and spatially resolved omics have enabled us to visualize and quantify interactions at cellular resolution in living organisms, revealing unprecedented details about how immune cells — and even non-immune cells — behave and communicate.

In our lab, we combine these powerful tools — high-resolution imaging, single-cell sequencing, and advanced computational analyses — to dissect how local processes converge to influence immune outcomes. By focusing on phenomena such as how T cells exert their immune surveillance and examining immunological crosstalk across different tissues, we aim to bridge the gap between discrete molecular events and broader physiological consequences. This holistic perspective is particularly relevant in complex conditions like infectious diseases and cancer, where local cell-to-cell interactions can be a pivotal driver of disease progression. Ultimately, our goal is to uncover novel principles of tissue immunity and leverage them for more precise immunotherapeutic strategies.

Research activity

Our lab is dedicated to unraveling the intricate dynamics of immune responses to pathogens and tumors. Our work spans four primary research areas:

  1. HBV Infection: We aim to understand the emergence of dysfunctional adaptive immune cells in chronic hepatitis B and develop strategies to transform them into effective antiviral agents. Utilizing advanced imaging, high-dimensional flow cytometry, and single-cell sequencing, we explore the dysfunctional adaptive immune cells' proteogenomic landscape. Our goal is to uncover and target the dysregulated pathways, contributing to new concepts in adaptive immunity and viral pathogenesis with the potential to guide the development of innovative treatments for chronic HBV infection.

  2. COVID-19 Research: We are creating novel animal models and platforms to dissect the factors influencing COVID-19 severity, including the pathogenesis of anosmia and long-term infection consequences. Our efforts include the development and characterization of new protease inhibitors against COVID-19, facilitated by our cutting-edge BSL-3 animal facility equipped with multiphoton intravital microscopes and other sophisticated tools for real-time lung physiology assessment.

  3. B Cell Dynamics: This research avenue focuses on the diversity of B cell responses across various viral infections. Through specialized animal models, we investigate B cell activation dynamics and interactions with other immune cells, uncovering distinct cellular and molecular mechanisms that regulate B cell behavior and humoral responses across different pathogens.

  4. Immune Cell Behavior in Liver Tumors: Our research into CD8+ T cells' role in combating liver tumors examines their migration, antigen recognition, and effector functions at an unprecedented single-cell level using advanced imaging techniques. We seek to understand the cellular and molecular mechanisms that enable CD8+ T cells to target and function within liver tumors, providing new insights into overcoming tumor-induced immune evasion.

Through these diverse yet interconnected projects, our lab aims to generate foundational knowledge and innovative therapies to combat infectious diseases and cancer, highlighting the adaptive immune system's role in health and disease.

Click here to view our publications