Johan Sandberg group - Role of T cells in human host defense

Johan Sandberg is Professor of Viral Immunology at the Department of Medicine, Huddinge since 2013.

Group members

Johanna Emgård received her Master’s degree in Biomedical Sciences from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, in 2016. Her thesis work described a mechanism by which the oral pathogen Fusobacterium nucleatum colonizes colorectal tumors.
In her spare time she illustrates plants and birds and has previously published the book Humlesjös Flora (2009). She also enjoys hiking and cross country skiing.

As postdoctoral researcher in Johan Sandberg group, Marion Humbert is studying the role of MAIT cells in post-acute sequelae of COVID-19.

Marion obtained her MSc (Immunology, Microbiology, Infectious diseases) from Grenoble Alpes University, France, and her PhD (Immunology) from the University of Geneva, Switzerland. Before joining Johan Sandberg’s group, Marion completed a first postdoctoral training at the Department of Laboratory Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, where she investigated T cell responses to viral infections.

Tobias Kammann has previously trained as a Biochemist in Jena, Germany, where he studied aspects of immunometabolism and sepsis.

Elli Mouchtaridi has a BSc in Biology from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece (2018) and obtained her MSc in Immunology and Microbiology from Uppsala University, Sweden (2021).

Elisa Raineri has a BSc and MSc in Biotechnology from University of Milano, Italy (2013 and 2016). She completed her PhD at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands (2022), where she studied Staphylococcus aureus mechanisms to reach different human host niches.

In the Johan Sandberg group, Elisa is studying human mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cell antimicrobial response to S. aureus, as well as bacterial and host mechanisms interfering with, or modifying this response.

Collaboration at CIM

The group also collaborates with Caroline Boulouis, postdoctoral researcher in Jakob Michaelsson's group at the Center for Infectious Medicine (CIM).

Projects and collaborations

The group is involved in a multitude of projects together with many collaborators, as exemplified by the list of selected publications. Project objectives include investigations of:

• The role of MAIT cells in human immune control of bacterial infections including antibiotic resistant bacteria.
• Adaptive and innate T cell-mediated immunity in response to acute viral infection, including SARS-CoV-2 and HIV-1 infections.
• Adaptive and innate T cell-mediated immunity in response to viral and bacterial vaccines.
• Role of tissue-resident T cell populations in immunity and tissue homeostasis.
• Viral (HIV-1, HSV) and bacterial (S. aureus) immune evasion mechanisms.
• Mechanisms of viral immunopathogenesis.
• Application of unconventional T cells in immunotherapy.

Selected publications

2021-2022

• Mucosa-Associated Invariant T Cell Hypersensitivity to Staphylococcus aureus Leukocidin ED and Its Modulation by Activation.
  Boulouis C, Leeansyah E, Mairpady Shambat S, Norrby-Teglund A, Sandberg JK, Journal of Immunology 2022 Mar;208(5):1170-1179.
   
• Ancestral SARS-CoV-2-specific T cells cross-recognize the Omicron variant.
  Gao Y, Cai C, Grifoni A, Müller TR, Niessl J, Olofsson A, Humbert M, Hansson L, Österborg A, Bergman P, Chen P, Olsson A, Sandberg JK, Weiskopf D, Price DA, Ljunggren HG, Karlsson AC, Sette A, Aleman S, Buggert M, Nature Medicine 2022 Mar;28(3):472-476
   
• Preferential and persistent impact of acute HIV-1 infection on CD4+ iNKT cells in colonic mucosa.
  Paquin-Proulx D, Lal KG, Phuang-Ngern Y, Creegan M, Tokarev A, Suhkumvittaya S, Alrubayyi A, Kroon E, Pinyakorn S, Slike BM, Bolton DL, Krebs SJ, Eller LA, Sajjaweerawan C, Pagliuzza A, Chomont N, Rerknimitr R, Chomchey N, Phanuphak N, de Souza MS, Michael NL, Robb ML, Ananworanich J, Sandberg JK, Eller MA, Schuetz A, , , ,
  Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2021 Nov;118(46):
   
• MAIT cell activation is associated with disease severity markers in acute hantavirus infection.
  Maleki KT, Tauriainen J, García M, Kerkman PF, Christ W, Dias J, Wigren Byström J, Leeansyah E, Forsell MN, Ljunggren HG, Ahlm C, Björkström NK, Sandberg JK, Klingström J
  Cell Reports Medicine 2021 Mar;2(3):100220
   
• Expansion of donor-unrestricted MAIT cells with enhanced cytolytic function suitable for TCR-redirection.
  Parrot, T., Healy, K., Boulouis, C., Sobkowiak, M., Leeansyah, E., Aleman, S., Bertoletti, A., Sällberg Chen, M. and Sandberg, J. K. (2021) JCI Insight. 6: e140074.

2019-2020

• MAIT cell activation and dynamics associated with COVID-19 disease severity
  Parrot, T., Gorin, J. B., Ponzetta, A., Maleki, K. T., Kammann, T., Emgård, J., Perez-Potti, A., Sekine, T., Rivera-Ballesteros, O., the Karolinska COVID-19 Study Group, Gredmark-Russ, S., Rooyackers, O., Folkesson, E., Eriksson, L. I., Norrby-Teglund, A., Ljunggren, H. G., Björkström, N. K., Aleman, S., Buggert, M., Klingström, J., Strålin, K., and Sandberg, J. K. (2020) . Science Immunology. 5: eabe1670.

• Robust T cell immunity in convalescent individuals with asymptomatic or mild COVID-19
  Sekine, T., Perez-Potti, A., Rivera-Ballesteros, O., Strålin, K., Gorin, J. B., Olsson, A., Llewellyn-Lacey, S., Kamal, H., Bogdanovic, G., Muschiol, S., Wulliman, D. J., Kammann, T., Emgård, J., Parrot, T., Folkesson, E.,Karolinska COVID-19 Study Group, Rooyackers, O., Eriksson, L. I., Henter, J. I., Sönnerborg, A., Allander, T., Albert, J., Nielsen, M., Klingström, J., Gredmark-Russ, S., Björkström, N. K., Sandberg, J. K., Price, D. A., Ljunggren, H. G., Aleman, S. and Buggert M. (2020). Cell. 183: 158-168

• Human MAIT cell cytolytic effector proteins synergize to overcome carbapenem resistance in Escherichia coli.
  Boulouis, C., Sia, W. R., Gulam, M. Y., Teo, J. Q. M., Png, Y. T., Phan, T. K., Mak, J. Y. W., Fairlie, D. P., Poon I. K. H., Koh, T. H., Bergman, P., Lim, C. M., Wang, L. F., Kwa, A. L. H., Sandberg, J. K. and Leeansyah, E. (2020) PLOS Biology. 18: e3000644.

• Dynamic MAIT cell response with progressively enhanced innate-like features during acute HIV-1 infection.
  Lal, K. G., Kim, D., Costanzo, M. C., Creegan, M., Leeansyah, E., Dias, J., Paquin-Proulx, D., Eller, L. A., Schuetz, A., Phuang-ngern, Y., Krebs, S. J., Slike, B. M., Kibuuka, H., Maganga, L., Nitayaphan, S., Kosgei, J., Sacdalan, C., Ananworanich, J., Bolton, D. L., Michael, N. L., Shacklett, B. L., Robb, M. L., Eller, M. A. and Sandberg, J. K. (2020) Nature Communications. 11: 272.

• MAIT cells are major contributors to the cytokine response in group A streptococcal toxic shock syndrome.
  Emgård, J., Bergsten, H., McCormick, J. K., Barrantes, I., Skrede, S., Sandberg, J. K.* and Norrby-Teglund, A.* (2019) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 116: 25923-25931. *Shared senior authors.