Immunity/tolerance balance in homeostasis and disease

Our group has described that the leukocyte receptor PSGL-1 is a tolerogenic receptor implicated in maintaining the immune system homeostasis. We have recently reported that PSGL-1 absence promotes the development of an autoimmune syndrome similar to human scleroderma and the absence of P-selectin, the main ligand of PSGL-1, promotes the development of a lupus-like syndrome. Interestingly, we have found that aged PSGL-1 KO female mice develop pulmonary arterial hypertension, the main cause of death of scleroderma patients, and point the relevance of PSGL-1 in maintaining the vascular homeostasis. Our research is focused in translational studies trying to understand the possible role of PSGL-1 and P-selectin in the pathogenesis of these diseases in humans.

At present, we are initiating a project to analyze the role of PSGL-1 in the generation and activation/differentation of B cells. We are also searching for alterations in PSGL-1-dependent signaling that could be implicated in the pathogenesis of scleroderma, lupus and pulmonary arterial hypertension.