Tim Willinger group - Studying Mucosal Immunity and Inflammation In Vivo

About our research

We study immune responses in mucosal tissues with a focus on the lung. We want to understand how the immune system helps maintain healthy organ function and how disturbed immune function causes chronic tissue inflammation. Inflammatory diseases of the lung are very common, such as coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, today no cure is available for these important human diseases.

Our studies focus on two types of tissue-resident immune cells that carry out specialized functions to maintain organ homeostasis: Macrophages and innate lymphoid cells (ILCs). These cells sense and respond to signals from their environment and are part of the first-line defense against infection. To make the group's studies relevant to humans, Tim Willinger has developed innovative models that allow us to study the cells and function of the human immune system in vivo.

Group leader

Tim Willinger joined CIM in July 2015 to establish his research group at Karolinska Institutet.

Tim did his scientific training in immunology at Oxford and Yale University with Andrew McMichael and Richard Flavell. During his postdoc, he developed novel experimental models to study the human immune system in vivo (Cell Host Microbe 2010, PNAS 2011, Trends Immunol 2011, Nat Biotechnol 2014). He also identified molecular mechanisms that regulate T lymphocyte homeostasis and migration (PNAS 2012, JEM 2014, PNAS 2015).

Tim was awarded a faculty-funded career position as Senior Researcher in 2018 and became a Docent in Immunology in 2020.

He enjoys all intellectual things, as well as gardening and traveling.

Group members

Natalie Sleiers has been working at Karolinska Institutet and the Karolinska University Hospital for several years. She likes to spend her spare time either in the stable or the gym. Another hobby that she loves, is watching movies.

Elza Evren received her Master’s Degree in Immunology from University Pierre and Marie Curie, France, in 2016. She did her master’s thesis in Harvard Medical School where she studied poly-N-acetyl-glucosamine, a bacterial capsule polysaccharide that provides a potentially broad-spectrum target for vaccination.

Natalie received her PhD from KI in 2022 for her work on the ontogeny of human lung macrophages in the Willinger group.

She is fond of travelling, exploring new cultures and learning from past stories.

Arlisa Alisjahbana received her Master’s Degree in in Biomedicine at Karolinska Institutet and is currently studying human lung ILCs. Before coming to KI, she worked with tuberculosis diagnostic methods in the TB-HIV Research Center at Universitas Padjajaran (UNPAD) Bandung, Indonesia.

She is an avid reader of novels, history and popular science books and enjoys visiting museums.

Laura Bub received her Master's Degree in Biology with a specialization in biomedicine at the Justus-Liebig University in Germany. She completed her master's thesis at Uppsala University through Erasmus+ working on the effect of mast cell proteases on breast cancer.

In her free time, she enjoys reading, baking and hanging out at the stables.

Previous group members

• Helen Jongsma Wallin, Lab technician
• Hana Kammoun, Postdoc (Marie Curie Fellow)
• Emma Ringqvist, Postdoc
• Imran Mohammad, Postdoc
• Yu Gao, Postdoc
• Johanna Emgård, PhD student
• Linda Moet, Master student
• Yiqi Huang, Master student
• Inés Có Rives, Bachelor student (ERASMUS)

Collaborations

International

• Richard Flavell (Yale University, USA)
• James Di Santo (Pasteur Institutet, France)

Karolinska Institutet

• Niklas Björkström Center for Infectious Medicine, Department of Medicine, Huddinge
• Apostolos Bossios Department of Respiratory Medicine, Huddinge
• Joakim Dahlin Department of Medicine, Solna
• Mikael Karlsson Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology
• Jakob Michaëlsson Center for Infectious Medicine, Department of Medicine, Huddinge
• Anna Smed Sörensen Department of Medicine, Solna

Projects

Development and function of human macrophages

Macrophages are the most abundant immune cells in the lung. Due to their strategic location, they protect us from airborne pathogens, while performing tissue repair after injury or infection. However, not much is known about the development and function of lung macrophages in humans. To overcome this limitation, we have created a unique model to study human macrophages in vivo. Using this model, we have recently discovered how human blood monocytes migrate and become distinct types of lung macrophages. Blood monocyte-derived macrophages are relevant in many lung diseases, including COVID-19. In addition, we have identified the fetal precursor of human lung macrophages and how cell origin impacts the function of human lung macrophages

KI News — 30 December 2020: New research may explain severe virus attacks on the lungs

KI News —  12 January 2022: New study reveals how the lung's immune cells develop after birth

Innate lymphoid cell migration

ILCs are a recently described family of immune cells that are enriched in tissues interacting with the outside world. We are particularly interested in how ILCs migrate within the body and to sites of inflammation. We have discovered that cholesterol metabolites (so-called oxysterols) guide the movement of ILCs and promote the formation of lymphoid tissue in the large intestine. Our study suggests a new possible treatment for inflammatory bowel disease.

KI News — 16 January 2018: Oxysterols guide gut immune cells and are involved in inflammatory bowel disease

Selected publications

1. A single-cell map of vascular and tissue lymphocytes identifies proliferative TCF-1+ human innate lymphoid cells.
   Gao Y, Alisjahbana A, Boey DZH, Mohammad I, Sleiers N, Dahlin JS, Willinger T
   Front Immunol 2022 ;13():902881
    
2. CD116+ fetal precursors migrate to the perinatal lung and give rise to human alveolar macrophages.
   Evren E, Ringqvist E, Doisne JM, Thaller A, Sleiers N, Flavell RA, Di Santo JP, Willinger T
   J Exp Med 2022 02;219(2):
    
3. CD5 Surface Expression Marks Intravascular Human Innate Lymphoid Cells That Have a Distinct Ontogeny and Migrate to the Lung.
   Alisjahbana A, Gao Y, Sleiers N, Evren E, Brownlie D, von Kries A, Jorns C, Marquardt N, Michaëlsson J, Willinger T. Front Immunol 2021 ;12():752104
    
4. Continuous human uterine NK cell differentiation in response to endometrial regeneration and pregnancy.
   Strunz B, Bister J, Jönsson H, Filipovic I, Crona-Guterstam Y, Kvedaraite E, Sleiers N, Dumitrescu B, Brännström M, Lentini A, Reinius B, Cornillet M, Willinger T, Gidlöf S, Hamilton RS, Ivarsson MA, Björkström NK. Sci Immunol 2021 02;6(56):
    
5. Distinct developmental pathways from blood monocytes generate human lung macrophage diversity.
   Evren E, Ringqvist E, Tripathi KP, Sleiers N, Rives IC, Alisjahbana A, Gao Y, Sarhan D, Halle T, Sorini C, Lepzien R, Marquardt N, Michaëlsson J, Smed-Sörensen A, Botling J, Karlsson MCI, Villablanca EJ, Willinger T. Immunity 2021 02;54(2):259-275.e7
    
6. Origin and ontogeny of lung macrophages: from mice to humans.
   Evren E, Ringqvist E, Willinger T Immunology 2020 06;160(2):126-138
    
7. Metabolite Sensing by Colonic ILC3s: How Far Is Too Ffar2 Go?
   Alisjahbana A, Willinger T. Immunity 2019 11;51(5):786-788
    
8. Antigen-presenting ILC3 regulate T cell-dependent IgA responses to colonic mucosal bacteria.
   Melo-Gonzalez F, Kammoun H, Evren E, Dutton EE, Papadopoulou M, Bradford BM, Tanes C, Fardus-Reid F, Swann JR, Bittinger K, Mabbott NA, Vallance BA, Willinger T, Withers DR, Hepworth MR. J Exp Med 2019 04;216(4):728-742
    
9. Oxysterol Sensing through the Receptor GPR183 Promotes the Lymphoid-Tissue-Inducing Function of Innate Lymphoid Cells and Colonic Inflammation.
   Emgård J, Kammoun H, García-Cassani B, Chesné J, Parigi SM, Jacob JM, Cheng HW, Evren E, Das S, Czarnewski P, Sleiers N, Melo-Gonzalez F, Kvedaraite E, Svensson M, Scandella E, Hepworth MR, Huber S, Ludewig B, Peduto L, Villablanca EJ, Veiga-Fernandes H, Pereira JP, Flavell RA, Willinger T. Immunity 2018 01;48(1):120-132.e8
    
10. Development and function of human innate immune cells in a humanized mouse model.
    Rongvaux A, Willinger T, Martinek J, Strowig T, Gearty SV, Teichmann LL, Saito Y, Marches F, Halene S, Palucka AK, Manz MG, Flavell RA
    Nat Biotechnol 2014 Apr;32(4):364-72