Pablo Engel. Head Immunology Unit 
University of Barcelona
Faculty of Medicine and Heath Sciences. Department of Biomedical Sciences. Casanova 143, Barcelona 08036. Spain
Reseach subject
Lymphocyte cell-surface molecules and their role in viral infection and immune-mediated diseases
Summary
Our group has played a major role in identifying, cloning, and functionally characterizing several leukocyte cell-surface molecules, in particular CD84, CD150, CD229 and CD244. Not only we determined that these molecules function as homophilic adhesion receptors, but we also identified proteins that bind with their cytoplasmic tails delivering signals that regulate several lymphocyte effector functions. These seminal discoveries led to the definition of the SLAM family, a set of immunoreceptors critical for the immune system that are involved in immunodeficiencies and autoimmunity. Recently, we have demonstrated that these molecules play essential roles in the development and function of innate-like lymphocytes, including NKT cells and MZ B cells. We have been also identifying and characterizing the functional role of viral genes that encoded cells surface molecules with homology to the SLAM family receptors. The data provided by our studies will be important not only for obtaining a better understanding of the signaling pathways that regulate lymphocyte function, but also to facilitate the development of novel therapeutic strategies to modulate immune responses.
Publications
- Sintes J, Cuenca M, Romero X, Bastos R, Terhorst C, Angulo A, Engel P. Ly9 (CD229), a SLAM family receptor, negatively regulates the development of thymic innate memory-like CD8+ T and invariant NKT cells J. Immunol. Cutting edge. 2013 190:21-26
- De Salort J, Cuenca M, Terhorst C, Engel P, Romero X. Ly9 (CD229) cell surface receptor is crucial for the development of spontaneous autoantibody production to nuclear antigens. Front Immunol. 2013. 4:225
- Zarama A, Pérez-Carmona N, Farré D, Messerle M, Jonjic S, Engel P, Angulo A. Cytomegalovirus m154 Hinders CD48 Cell Surface Expression and Promotes Viral Escape from Host Natural Killer Cell Control. PLoS Pathog 2014 10:e1004000.
- Pérez-Carmona N, Farré D, Martínez-Vicente P, Terhorst C, Engel P, Angulo A. SLAM family receptor homologs in New World monkey cytomegaloviruses. J. Virol. 2015 89:11323-36.
- Cuenca M, Romero X, Sintes J, Terhorst C, Engel P. Antibody targeting of Ly9 (CD229) disrupts marginal zone and B1 B cell homeostasis and antibody responses. J. Immunol. 2016 196:726-37.