Immunoregulation Section
Arya Biragyn, Ph.D., Chief
The focus of Dr. Biragyn’s research is to understand the “immunological paradox of aging”; that is, why cancer incidence is enhanced but cancers often grow more slowly in older people, and why autoimmunity is more prevalent in the elderly but older people have poor vaccine responses. He hypothesizes that this may be a reflection of disbalance between the regulatory immune system and the accumulation of potentially pathogenic immune cells in aging. His goal is to gain insights in aging immune dysregulation and cancer immunoregulation to develop a simple but potent immunotherapeutics tailored for elderly.
Portfolio/Research Areas
- Regulatory Immune cells in cancer escape
- Aging immune dysregulation
- Development of immunotherapeutic strategies
Findings and Publications
Illouz T, Nicola R, Ben-Shuhan L, Madar R, Biragyn A, Okun E. Maternal antibodies facilitate Amyloid-β clearance by activating Fc-receptor-Syk-mediated phagocytosis. Communications Biol., 2021, 4(1):329. PMID: 33712740
Illouz T, Madar R, Biragyn A, Okun E. Restoring microglial and astroglial homeostasis using DNA immunization in a Down Syndrome mouse model. Brain Behav Immun. 2019, 75:163-180. PMID: 30389461, PMCID: PMC6358279
Ragonnaud E, Moritoh K, Bodogai M, Gusev F, Garaud S, Chen C, Wang X, Baljinnyam T, Becker KG, Maul RW, Willard-Gallo K, Rogaev E, Biragyn A. Tumor-Derived Thymic Stromal Lymphopoietin Expands Bone Marrow B-cell Precursors in Circulation to Support Metastasis. Cancer Res. 2019; 79(22):5826-5838. PMID: 31575547. PMCID: PMC6881554
Biragyn, A and Ferrucci, L. Gut dysbiosis: a potential link between increased cancer risk in aging and inflammaging. Lancet Oncol. 19(6):e295-e304. 2018, PMID: 29893261. PMCID: PMC6047065
Bodogai M, O'Connell J, Kim K, Kim Y, Moritoh K, Chen C, Gusev F, Vaughan K, Shulzhenko N, Mattison JA, Lee-Chang C, Chen W, Carlson O, Becker KG, Gurung M, Morgun A, White J, Meade T, Perdue K, Mack M, Ferrucci L, Trinchieri G, de Cabo R, Rogaev E, Egan J, Wu J, Biragyn A. Commensal bacteria contribute to insulin resistance in aging by activating innate B1a cells. Sci Transl Med. 2018 Nov 14;10(467). pii: eaat4271. Doi 10.1126/scitranslmed.aat4271. PMID:30429354. PMC6445267
Lee-Chang C, Bodogai M, Moritoh K, Chen X, Wersto R, Sen R, Young HA, Croft M,Ferrucci L, Biragyn A. Aging converts innate B1a cells into potent CD8+ T Cell inducers. J Immunol. 2016 Apr 15;196(8):3385-97. PubMed PMID: 26983789; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4821757.
Bodogai M, Moritoh K, Lee-Chang C, Hollander CM, Sherman-Baust CA, Wersto RP, Araki Y, Miyoshi I, Yang L, Trinchieri G, Biragyn A. Immunosuppressive and prometastatic functions of myeloid-derived suppressive cells rely upon education from tumor-associated B cells. Cancer Res. 2015 Sep 1;75(17):3456-65. PubMed PMID: 26183924. PMC4558269.