Lab Calderon
Molecular Immunology
Our group research focuses on understanding the molecular mechanisms that regulate the processes of B cell activation and differentiation into antibody-secreting cells.
About our Research
Our research focuses on understanding the molecular mechanisms that regulate B-cell activation and differentiation into antibody-secreting cells.
Antibody-secreting cells are essential for humoral immunity against pathogens, because they produce large amounts of antigen-specific antibodies. Once generated, antibody-secreting cells have the potential to become quiescent and long-lived, a process that is fundamental for immunological memory against pathogens. Despite the essential functions of these cells, the pathways and genes that regulate their fascinating and unique properties have not been fully characterized.
We established an in vivo model system for pooled sgRNA CRISPR/Cas9 screening to identify new regulators of B cell activation, plasma cell development, and maintenance within the microenvironment of secondary lymphoid organs. Some of the projects in our group aim to functionally characterize these novel regulators and dissect their roles in the development of B-cell responses.
In allergies, B-cell responses are characterized by the induction of immunoglobulin E (IgE)-expressing B cells. Our group is also interested in understanding the molecular mechanisms that lead to the development of IgE-secreting plasma cells. We aimed to identify new regulators of this developmental pathway, which is a major driver of allergic diseases.
Our studies may help to elucidate potential mechanisms regulating antibody-mediated immune responses and plasma cell development and homeostasis during natural infection or vaccination, or in pathological conditions such as allergy, antibody-mediated autoimmunity, or plasma cell malignancies.
Publications
Calderón L , Schäfer M, Rončević M, Rauschmeier R, Jaritz M , Schwickert TA , Sun Q , Pauli A, Zuber J, Busslinger M
In vivo CRISPR/Cas9 screens identify new regulators of B cell activation and plasma cell differentiation.Hill L, Wutz G, Jaritz M, Tagoh H, Calderon L, Peters JM, Goloborodko A, Busslinger M
Igh and Igk loci use different folding principles for V gene recombination due to distinct chromosomal architectures of pro-B and pre-B cells.Nusser A, Sagar, Swann JB, Krauth B, Diekhoff D, Calderon L, Happe C, Grün D, Boehm T
Developmental dynamics of two bipotent thymic epithelial progenitor types.Calderon L, Weiss FD, Beagan JA, Oliveira MS, Wang YF, Carroll T, Dharmalingam G, Tossell K, de Paola V, Whilding C, Ungless MA, Fisher AG, Phillips-Cremins JE, Merkenschlager M
Cohesin-dependence of neuronal gene expression relates to chromatin loop length.Calderon L, Schindler K, Malin S, Schebesta A, Sun Q, Schwickert T, Alberti C, Fischer M, Jaritz M, Tagoh H, Ebert A, Minnich M, Cochela L and Busslinger M
Pax5 regulates B cell immunity by promoting PI3K signaling via PTEN down-regulation.Weiss FD, Calderon L, Wang YF, Georgieva G, Guo Y, Cvetesic N, Kaur M, Dharmalingam G, Ian D. Krantz ID, Lenhard B, Fisher AG, Merkenschlager M
Neuronal genes deregulated in Cornelia de Lange Syndrome respond to removal and re-expression of cohesin.Calderon L and Boehm T
Synergistic, context-dependent and hierarchical functions of epithelial components in thymic microenvironments.Calderon L and Boehm T
Three chemokine receptors cooperatively regulate homing of haematopoietic progenitors to the embryonic mouse thymus.Calderon L, Facenda E, Machado L, Uyema K, Rodríguez D, Gomez E, Martínez Y, González B, Bourg V, Alvarez C, Otero A, Russo M, Labrada A, Lanio ME
Modulation of the Specific Allergic Response by Mite Allergens Encapsulated into Liposomes.Contact
