Mechanistic answer to how CAG expansion arise in Huntington’s disease
Published in Nature Communications, the work from the Cejka laboratory reveals how MutSβ-MutLγ-driven trinucleotide expansion arise in neural cells and how FAN1 safeguards the genome. This mechanism clarifies Huntington’s disease biology and points to therapeutic targets. Huntington’s disease is driven by the gradual expansion of CAG repeats in the HTT gene in brain cells. How […]
A new study published by the Monticelli lab characterizes an immunoregulatory receptor
Image Caption: FCRL3 expression is sufficient to modulate T cell responses through the engagement with negative regulators of signaling (image by Elena Foli). A new study is published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine by the Molecular Immunology lab. This study characterizes the FCRL3 receptor as an immunoregulatory molecule that modulates human T cell responses. […]
Castelgrande Lecture 2025 press-release
The sixth edition of the Calstelgrande Lecture, a scientific outreach event that brings distinguished figures in the field closer to the general public, was a great success. This year’s theme was “How microbes can help tackle climate change”, Prof. Rino Rappuoli. Bellinzona, 30 September 2025. As is now tradition, the sixth edition of the Castelgrande […]
Artificial Intelligence designs miniproteins to control brain inflammation
Researcher from the Computational Structural Biology group at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB, Università della Svizzera italiana), have shown that artificial intelligence (AI) can design a potent novel miniprotein for lipocalin-2 (LCN2), a protein linked to neuroinflammation. Their study, published in Frontiers in Immunology and titled “AI-assisted design of ligands for lipocalin-2” by […]
Greta Guarda nominated President of the Swiss Society for Allergology and Immunology
Professor Greta Guarda, Director of the Laboratory of Immune System Mechanisms at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine affiliated with USI, and Full Professor at the Faculty of Biomedical Sciences, has been elected President of the Swiss Society for Allergology and Immunology (SSAI) until 2027. The handover of the presidency took place in Lausanne on […]
Prof. Federica Sallusto elected member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences
On May 3, 2022, Federica Sallusto has been elected, member of the U. S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS), one of the most significant and highest honors given to academic researchers. The NAS announced on May 3, 2022 the election of its members in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research. The […]
Liver disease associated to alpha1-antitrypsin deficiency: a paper by Molinari’s lab published in the EMBO Journal uncovers the signals encoding clearance of ATZ polymers
About 10% of the children with alpha1-antitrypsin deficiency must undergo liver transplantation. Their hepatocytes fail to properly degrade polymers of mutant alpha1-antitrypsin (ATZ), whose accumulation is highly toxic to cells. In these patients, elusive genetic and/or environmental modifiers contribute to the harmful progression of the disease caused by the Z mutation, thus resulting in dramatic […]
LICTOR, a new powerful tool to prevent systemic light-chain amyloidosis
Systemic light-chain amyloidosis (AL) is the most common form of a group of diseases associated with protein misfolding, leading to deposition of insoluble structures in different organs. Due to the AL non-specific symptoms, an early diagnosis is often not possible. Nevertheless, a prompt detection is essential to prevent organ failure and death. A study published […]
Prof. Petr Cejka appointed member of EMBO
Bellinzona, June 8, 2021 – The European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) has appointed Prof. Petr Cejka, group leader at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB, affiliated to USI), as one of its new members. This is the third time that a researcher active in the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland has been appointed by the […]
Immunologists decipher the recognition of SARS-CoV-2 by CD4+ T lymphocytes in COVID-19 recovered patients
Bellinzona, May 18th 2021 – An international team of researchers from the Institute for Research in Biomedicine, affiliated to the Università della Svizzera italiana, has deciphered, at single cell resolution, the T cell responses occurring during COVID-19 infection. This study, which was performed at the Center of Medical Immunology under the leadership of Prof. Federica […]
