Advances in technology are rapidly transforming the field of biomedical research. Spatial biology techniques have garnered significant attention, with several being recognized as “Method of the Year” in 2020 and 2024. These methods provide high-throughput data that integrates spatial information about tissue architecture.

Our team is dedicated to unraveling the aberrant cellular organization within tissues affected by inflammatory and fibrotic diseases. We employ cutting-edge spatial biology methodologies, including highly multiplexed protein imaging such as imaging mass cytometry and cyclic in situ hybridization.

To extract meaningful biological insights from the huge amounts of data these techniques generate, we integrate state-of-the-art bioinformatics tools into our analyses. For instance, in one project, we explored the spatial distribution of fibroblasts and their cellular niches within systemic sclerosis skin tissues. This study also revealed cellular interactions associated with disease progression. Our ultimate goal is to leverage these insights to drive the development of effective therapies.

TEAM

Selected publications:

• Li, Y. ^†, Filla, T., Gyoerfi, A., Liang, M., Devakumar, V., Micu, A., Chai, H., Bergmann, C., Pecher, A., Henes, J., Moinzadeh, P., Krieg, T., Kreuter, A., Schett, G., Homey, B., Dietrich, S., Distler, J. H. ^†, & Matei, A. ^† (2024). Spatially informed phenotyping by cyclic-in-situ-hybridization identifies novel fibroblast populations and their pathogenic niches in systemic sclerosis. bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory). https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.12.28.630505
  ^† equal contribution

• Rigau, A. R., Liang, M., Devakumar, V., Neelagar, R., Matei, A., Györfi, A., Bergmann, C., Filla, T., Fedorchenko, V., Schett, G., Distler, J. H. W., & Li, Y. (2024). Imaging mass cytometry-based characterisation of fibroblast subsets and their cellular niches in systemic sclerosis. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, ard-226336. https://doi.org/10.1136/ard-2024-226336

• Rigau, A. R., Li, Y., Matei, A., Györfi, A., Bruch, P., Koziel, S., Devakumar, V., Gabrielli, A., Kreuter, A., Wang, J., Dietrich, S., Schett, G., Distler, J. H., & Liang, M. (2024). Characterization of vascular niche in systemic sclerosis by spatial proteomics. Circulation Research, 134(7), 875–891. https://doi.org/10.1161/circresaha.123.323299

• Grönberg, C., Rattik, S., Tran-Manh, C., Zhou, X., Rigau, A. R., Li, Y., Györfi, A., Dickel, N., Kunz, M., Kreuter, A., Matei, E., Zhu, H., Skoog, P., Liberg, D., Distler, J. H., & Trinh-Minh, T. (2024). Combined inhibition of IL-1, IL-33 and IL-36 signalling by targeting IL1RAP ameliorates skin and lung fibrosis in preclinical models of systemic sclerosis. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, ard-225158. https://doi.org/10.1136/ard-2023-225158