Cecilia Lindestam Arlehamn, Ph.D.
Research Assistant Professor
"I’m driven by the novel challenges posed by the ever-changing nature of the immune system to be creative, push boundaries and discover new factors that can aid in fighting diseases."
Overview
My laboratory is focused on understanding T cell immune responses to Mycobacterium tuberculosis and other infections, as well as self-antigens in the context of neurodegenerative diseases.
Specifically, the identification of T cell epitopes and characterization of T cell subsets resulting from the immune response to tuberculosis. Our work has illustrated that the T cell immune response is broader than previously understood. This led to the development of a peptide megapool (MTB300) that can be used to characterize TB-specific T cell immune responses, which has been used by multiple collaborators to characterize TB-specific or vaccine-induced responses.
We are also interested in defining the role of non-tuberculous mycobacteria in the immune response against TB and vaccinations.
Finally, we study T cell responses directed against self-proteins with implications for neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and ALS. This work has identified α-synuclein as a target for T cell immune responses in Parkinson’s disease (PD) which provided evidence that autoimmunity plays a role in PD.
Our goal is to understand these immune responses better to help develop better diagnostics and more effective therapies.
Featured publications
Classical CD4 T cells as the cornerstone of antimycobacterial immunity.
CD4+CCR6+ T cells dominate the BCG-induced transcriptional signature.
Lab Members
Research Projects
Neurodegenerative Diseases
The aim of this work funded by Aligning Science Across Parkinson’s (ASAP), in collaboration with Dr. Alessandro Sette, is to
Tuberculosis
The aim of this work, in collaboration with Dr. Bjoern Peters, is to identify and characterize T cell epitopes from
Cecilia Lindestam Arlehamn
arlehamn Jan 16
Super! 🥳 Safe travels!
Cecilia Lindestam Arlehamn
arlehamn Dec 14
RT @richardwhite321: Is the full value of new Tuberculosis vaccines being underestimated? You decide! Highlights from our new work wit…
Cecilia Lindestam Arlehamn
arlehamn Dec 08
However, it is entirely possible that PD is associated with heightened T cell responses against other neuro-derived self-antigens... TBC
Cecilia Lindestam Arlehamn
arlehamn Dec 08
~1/3 of individuals with PD have T cell response against alpha-synuclein. In this study, we did not find evidence for increased T cell responses in PD patients against commonly encountered viral or vaccine antigens.
Cecilia Lindestam Arlehamn
arlehamn Dec 08
A new paper just out from our lab 👇 jns-journal.com/article/S0022-… @SetteLab @ljiresearch @DavidStandaert @ASAP_Research and others
Cecilia Lindestam Arlehamn
arlehamn Dec 03
It is a privilege working with these talented postdocs! Happy holidays 🥳 @shib14057 @ljiresearch @ASAP_Research
Cecilia Lindestam Arlehamn
arlehamn Dec 01
Special issue out in @journal_PD A collection of reviews exploring the immune system in PD. It was great working with the other guest editors on this issue. @ljiresearch twitter.com/journal_PD/sta…
Cecilia Lindestam Arlehamn
arlehamn Nov 16
Expression of these alleles (particularly DQA1*03:01 which had the strongest association) can help identify individuals who are at risk of active TB.
Cecilia Lindestam Arlehamn
arlehamn Nov 16
Expression of the 3 alleles is associated with a lower magnitude of Mtb-specific responses and a specific gene signature
Cecilia Lindestam Arlehamn
arlehamn Nov 16
I'm excited to share our newly accepted study 👇 where we identified 3 HLA class II alleles associated with active TB onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/author/S… @TomScriba @ljiresearch @SetteLab @bpeters @LYChihab
Cecilia Lindestam Arlehamn
arlehamn Oct 28
RT @Sutherland_TB: Tuberculosis: 10.6 million cases and 1.6 million deaths in 2021. Global TB report released by @WHO yesterday. Terrible s…
Cecilia Lindestam Arlehamn
arlehamn Oct 27
RT @ljiresearch: Exciting news! LJI's Dr. Cecilia Lindestam Arlehamn (@arlehamn) wins @WHAMnow Edge Award funding to study sex-based differ…
From the lab
Cecilia Lindestam Arlehamn wins WHAM Edge Award funding to study sex-based differences in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases
Some neurological diseases show up more in men versus women. Researchers need to know why.
Immunologic defect may leave some vulnerable to rare bacterial infection
LA JOLLA, CA—Everyone breathes in Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) bacteria from time to time, but most people don’t get sick.
Scientists uncover new targets for treating Parkinson’s disease
LA JOLLA, CA—Scientists at La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) have found that people with Parkinson’s disease have a clear
Awards & Honors
- 2020 Tullie and Rickey Families SPARK Awards Winner
- Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Collaboration for TB Vaccine Discovery – Early Career Scientist Award Fall 2016
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