Team Bence Réthi
Our aim is to understand very early pathogenic mechanisms that lead to rheumatoid arthritis. Autoimmunity against post-translationally modified proteins precede disease onset, often by several years, in most of the patients. Our team is specialized in studying immune mechanisms in individuals with such autoimmunity, who are at high risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis. We focus specifically on the role of autoantibodies in the modulation of the immune system and bone homeostasis.
Team Bence Réthi is one of the teams within the research group: Translational inflammation research.
Translational Arthritis Research
English: A well-detectable autoantibody response precedes seropositive rheumatoid arthritis by several years. Still, our capacity to recognize the disease early, before the onset of joint inflammation, and intervene with further disease progression is surprisingly limited. We believe that the important reasons for this are the i) lack of predictive markers that could identify autoantibody-positive individuals with imminent risk of RA, ii) a limited understanding of key early and targetable pathogenic mechanisms and iii) the lack of animal models that mimic well enough the complex and slowly evolving nature of RA.
Our goal is to address the abovementioned need for better understanding of the triggers that lead to RA, by using novel experimental models that mimic very early disease stages and by studying individuals at risk of RA. With our results we aim at contributing to a change in treatment paradigm, moving towards earlier diagnosis and prevention instead of the current strategy based on life-long therapies that do not cure the disease.
Group members
Bence Rethi
Senior research specialist/ Team leader.Selected publications
Combination of Two Monoclonal Anti-Citrullinated Protein Antibodies Induced Tenosynovitis, Pain, and Bone Loss in Mice in a Peptidyl Arginine Deiminase-4-Dependent Manner.
Krishnamurthy A, Circiumaru A, Sun J, Kisten Y, Damberg P, Sakuraba K, Sandor K, Jarvoll P, Zhou T, Malmström V, Svensson CI, Hensvold A, Catrina AI, Klareskog L, Réthi B
Arthritis Rheumatol 2023 Feb;75(2):164-170
Autoantibodies targeting malondialdehyde-modifications in rheumatoid arthritis regulate osteoclasts via inducing glycolysis and lipid biosynthesis.
Sakuraba K, Krishnamurthy A, Sun J, Zheng X, Xu C, Peng B, Engström M, Jakobsson PJ, Wermeling F, Catrina S, Grönwall C, Catrina AI, Réthi B
J Autoimmun 2022 Dec;133():102903
Anti-Citrullinated Protein Antibody Reactivity towards Neutrophil-Derived Antigens: Clonal Diversity and Inter-Individual Variation.
Cîrciumaru A, Afonso MG, Wähämaa H, Krishnamurthy A, Hansson M, Mathsson-Alm L, Keszei M, Stålesen R, Ottosson L, de Vries C, Shelef MA, Malmström V, Klareskog L, Catrina AI, Grönwall C, Hensvold A, Réthi B
Biomolecules 2023 Mar;13(4):
Divergent and dominant anti-inflammatory effects of patient-derived anticitrullinated protein antibodies (ACPA) in arthritis development.
Raposo B, Afonso M, Israelsson L, Wähämaa H, Stålesen R, Wermeling F, Hensvold AH, Grönwall C, Rethi B, Klareskog L, Malmström V
Ann Rheum Dis 2023 May;82(5):724-726
Current view on the pathogenic role of anti-citrullinated protein antibodies in rheumatoid arthritis.
Catrina A, Krishnamurthy A, Rethi B
RMD Open 2021 Mar;7(1):
Citrullination Controls Dendritic Cell Transdifferentiation into Osteoclasts.
Krishnamurthy A, Ytterberg AJ, Sun M, Sakuraba K, Steen J, Joshua V, Tarasova NK, Malmström V, Wähämaa H, Réthi B, Catrina AI
J Immunol 2019 Jun;202(11):3143-3150
The human bone marrow plasma cell compartment in rheumatoid arthritis - Clonal relationships and anti-citrulline autoantibody producing cells.
Hensvold A, Horuluoglu B, Sahlström P, Thyagarajan R, Diaz Boada JS, Hansson M, Mathsson-Alm L, Gerstner C, Sippl N, Israelsson L, Wedin R, Steen J, Klareskog L, Réthi B, Catrina AI, Diaz-Gallo LM, Malmström V, Grönwall C
J Autoimmun 2023 Apr;136():103022
Rheumatoid arthritis specific autoimmunity in the lung before and at the onset of disease.
Joshua V, Loberg Haarhaus M, Hensvold A, Wähämaa H, Gerstner C, Hansson M, Israelsson L, Stålesen R, Sköld M, Grunewald J, Klareskog L, Grönwall C, Réthi B, Catrina A, Malmström V
Arthritis Rheumatol 2023 May;():
Anticitrullinated protein antibodies facilitate migration of synovial tissue-derived fibroblasts.
Sun M, Rethi B, Krishnamurthy A, Joshua V, Circiumaru A, Hensvold AH, Ossipova E, Grönwall C, Liu Y, Engstrom M, Catrina SB, Steen J, Malmstrom V, Klareskog L, Svensson C, Ospelt C, Wähämaa H, Catrina AI
Ann Rheum Dis 2019 Dec;78(12):1621-1631
Environmental and genetic factors in the development of anticitrullinated protein antibodies (ACPAs) and ACPA-positive rheumatoid arthritis: an epidemiological investigation in twins.
Hensvold AH, Magnusson PK, Joshua V, Hansson M, Israelsson L, Ferreira R, Jakobsson PJ, Holmdahl R, Hammarström L, Malmström V, Askling J, Klareskog L, Catrina AI
Ann Rheum Dis 2015 Feb;74(2):375-80