Genomics

Soskic Group

The Soskic Group focuses on the molecular, cellular, and genetic mechanisms underlying immune effector functions, with a particular emphasis on B cell biology and antibody divesrification. We aim to understand how gene regulatory networks control B cell differentiation and activation, how antibody class switching decisions are made, and how genetic variation shapes these processes to influence immune responses and susceptibility to autoimmunity.

Our Group takes a strongly interdisciplinary approach, integrating experimental and computational methods across immunology, genomics, and cell biology. We combine advanced immunological assays with high-throughput genomic technologies and computational analyses to dissect the molecular regulation of B cell activation and antibody diversification. In parallel, we investigate how genetic variation and dysregulated B cell activation contribute to immune disease risk.

For informal enquiries, please contact [email protected]

Group members

Publications

  • 12/2022 - Journal of Autoimmunity

    GWAS and autoimmunity: What have we learned and what next

    Autoimmune diseases are common conditions characterized by loss of tolerance, female predominance and a remarkable heterogeneity among different populations. Most often they are polygenic and several genetic loci have been linked with the risk of developing autoimmune diseases. However, causal inference is difficult. When the genomic revolution began there were high hopes of translating fast genetic analyses to the bedside but […]

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  • 10/2022 - Nature Communications

    Genetic variants associated with psychiatric disorders are enriched at epigenetically active sites in lymphoid cells

    Multiple psychiatric disorders have been associated with abnormalities in both the innate and adaptive immune systems. The role of these abnormalities in pathogenesis, and whether they are driven by psychiatric risk variants, remains unclear. We test for enrichment of GWAS variants associated with multiple psychiatric disorders (cross-disorder or trans-diagnostic risk), or 5 specific disorders (cis-diagnostic […]

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  • 08/2022 - Nature Immunology

    Differences in CD80 and CD86 transendocytosis reveal CD86 as a key target for CTLA-4 immune regulation

    CD28 and CTLA-4 (CD152) play essential roles in regulating T cell immunity, balancing the activation and inhibition of T cell responses, respectively. Although both receptors share the same ligands, CD80 and CD86, the specific requirement for two distinct ligands remains obscure. In the present study, we demonstrate that, although CTLA-4 targets both CD80 and CD86 […]

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  • 05/2022 - Nature Genetics

    Immune disease risk variants regulate gene expression dynamics during CD4+ T cell activation

    During activation, T cells undergo extensive gene expression changes that shape the properties of cells to exert their effector function. Understanding the regulation of this process could help explain how genetic variants predispose to immune diseases. Here, we mapped genetic effects on gene expression (expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs)) using single-cell transcriptomics. We profiled 655,349 […]

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  • 04/2022 - Cell Genomics

    Immune disease variants modulate gene expression in regulatory CD4+ T cells

    Identifying cellular functions dysregulated by disease-associated variants could implicate novel pathways for drug targeting or modulation in cell therapies. However, follow-up studies can be challenging if disease-relevant cell types are difficult to sample. Variants associated with immune diseases point toward the role of CD4+ regulatory T cells (Treg cells). We mapped genetic regulation (quantitative trait loci [QTL]) of gene […]

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