Team Per-Johan Jakobsson
We aim to explore targets and pathways in rheumatic and related diseases driven by inflammation using a pharmacological approach.
Translational inflammation research
We focus on the arachidonic acid cascade and the development of mPGES-1 inhibitors. We also investigate biomarkers in rheumatoid arthritis and systemic autoimmune inflammatory diseases and investigate e.g. the pathophysiological role of associated antigens and autoantibodies. Analytically, we e.g. perform proteomics, lipid metabolomics and cytokine profiling.
Ongoing collaboration with Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine
There is growing interest in society and in the scientific community to decipher the mechanisms of action of plant-based traditional Chinese medicine using evidence-
based research methods. For this, we have established a research project called Joint Research Base for Chinese Medicine (JRBCM) at KI. The overall aim of JRBCM is to explore Chinese traditional herbal-based medicine as a source for evidence based drug discovery and development. The JRBCM will assess the large amount of existing clinical data and explore the vast and unique resource of Chinese traditional medicine, with the ultimate aim of drug discovery and drug development for clinical use. The research is focused on isolation of bioactive compounds, exploration of their modes of action alone or in combinations, and ultimately development of novel medication for the treatment of and possibly prevention of rheumatoid arthritis.
Team

Per-Johan Jakobsson
Professor/ Research group leader.- Erdem Aybay, PhD student
- Louise Berg, Senior lab manager
- Emma Birgersson Wettersand, PhD student
- Sanjaykumar Boddul, Laboratory manager
- Louisa Brieskorn, Laboratory technician
- Iro Chaitoglou, Affiliated to research
- Aikaterini Chatzidionysiou, Affiliated to research
- Charlotte Edenius, Affiliated to research
- Helena Idborg, Laboratory coordinator
- Marina Korotkova, Researcher
- Karin Larsson, Senior research specialist
- Matina Liapi, PhD student
- Jianyang Liu, PhD student
- Malena Loberg-Haarhaus, affiliated to research
- Julia Norkko, Biomedical scientist
- Lucymary Okechukwu, Biomedical scientist
- Hamed Rezaei, Affiliated to research
- Sabreen S.H. Alabbasi, Laboratory technician
- Ronald van Vollenhoven, Affiliated to research
- Mirjam de Vries, Affiliated to research
- Janika Welzel, PhD student
- Ahlem Zaghmi, Postdoc
PhD theses from the group
- Jianyang Liu 2025, Prostaglandins and other lipids as therapeutic targets and prognostic biomarkers in rheumatoid arthritis
- Julia Steinmetz-Späh, 2023 Studies on anti-inflammatory and vasoactive effects of mPGES-1 inhibition
- Charlotta Preger, 2022 Aminoacyl tRNA synthetases and their connection to autoimmune rheumatic disease
- Filip Bergqvist, 2019 Inhibition of mPGES-1 as therapeutic strategy in inflammation and cancer
- Joan Raouf, 2017 PGE2 and other lipids in rheumatic diseases
- Cátia Cerqueira, 2016 Studies on the role of autoantibodies and autoantigens in rheumatoid arthritis and myositis
- Patrick Leclerc, 2012 Characterization of the PGE2 pathway in arthritis and inflammation : mPGES-1 as a therapeutic target
- Hanna Eriksson, 2011 Membrane proteins and proteomics : un amour possible?
- Karina Gheorghe, 2010 Persistent inflammatory pathways in rheumatoid arthritis despite anti-rheumatic treatment
- Sven-Christian Pawelzik, 2010 Structure and function of microsomal prostaglandin E synthase-1
- Sipra Saha, 2006 mPGES-1 : a key regulator of fever and neonatal respiratory depression
- Marie Westman, 2005 mPGES-1 and the PGE2 pathway in arthritis
- Staffan Thorén, 2003 Characterization of human glutathione-dependent microsomal prostaglandin E synthase-1