On September 22, the science fair "Forskerfestivalen" was arranged at the Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology. Forskerfestivalen is the largest public dissemination event at UiO and gives the general audience a glimpse of research topics from the Medical Faculty and Department of Pharmacy. The stand from J CoDiRC presented the wonders of the small intestine and the magic of gluten.
News
On September 2, J CoDiRC centre leader Ludvig M. Sollid received the research prize from the University of Oslo. This prize acknowledges his longstanding national and international leading contribution to research in celiac disease and human mucosal immunology. Congratulations!
This November, Milena Pavlović and Lonneke Scheffer, PhD students in the group of prof. Geir Kjetil Sandve at the Department of Informatics (UiO) published their computational framework Immune ML in Nature Machine Intelligence. ImmuneML is a freely available tool that allows researchers to tackle complex computational questions related to studies of adaptive immune receptor repertoires. This tool will be an important resource for all studies that link B cell receptor and T cell receptor sequence data to antigen recognition and disease. For celiac disease, this represents one step closer towards the goal of detecting genes of gluten specific T cells directly in blood.
Transglutaminase 2 (TG2) activity is essential to induce a pathogenic immune response towards gluten in coeliac disease. In a Phase 2 clinical trial, a daily dose of an irreversible TG2-inhibitor prevented gluten-induced mucosal destruction in coeliac patients that consumed gluten daily for 6 weeks. These findings represents a milestone in the search for treatment options for patients with coeliac disease.
Proteomics analysis of intestinal tissue biopsies finds that some patients with celiac disease considered to be well treated by regular gluten free diet have ongoing low-level inflammation in the intestine suggestive of ongoing low-level anti-gluten immunity. These patients developed strong intestinal response following 14 -day gluten challenge. We are now investigating whether some patients may still have activated gluten-specific T-cells despite long-term gluten free diet.
In February, our research was presented on social media platforms and at the website of Coeliac UK. We also participated in a Q&A, answering questions from patients and the public.
Lene S. Høydahl recieved the best research paper 2019 award from the Norwegian Society for Immunology (NSI) and the price for best research paper 2019 from the Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo. Congratulations Lene!
The paper "Distinct phenotype of CD4+ T cells driving celiac disease identified in multiple autoimmune conditions" published in Nature Medicine earlier this year recieved a price as one of six awarded excellent research paper from OUS in the second half of 2019.
Post.doc Asbjørn Christophersen has spear-headed the work that lead to identification of a narrow phenotype of gluten specific CD4+ T cells. This cell subset is also present in other autoimmune conditions and could be a target for future disease therapy.
Gluten is a protein we have enjoyed for thousands of years. But if you have celiac disease, your body thinks that this protein is something dangerous. But what is gluten really?
Through a massive, international collaborative effort, the entire genome of bread wheat has now been mapped. This makes it possible to in the future develop wheat strains that lack certain proteins, including the gluten proteins that are harmful for celiac disease patients.
PhD student Ida Lindeman has performed part of her PhD work in Cambridge, Sarah Teichmann's laboratory, as part of a researcher exchange program to develop world leading research at UiO. Her work has now been published in Nature Methods.
Since January 2018, Det Glutenfrie Verksted by Monica Hellmann, Nordic Refreshment Company AS, has donated 1 NOK per bag of gluten free baking mix to research on coeliac disease. The donation is supporting research under the management by Prof Ludvig M. Sollid and Knut E.A. Lundin who are very grateful for this generous gift.
Professor Cisca Wijmenga is awarded the distinguished UEG Research Prize 2018 for her outstanding work “A celiac mucosal barrier-on-chip model to investigate its role in initiation of celiac disease”.
Researchers from J CoDiRC won prizes for best original publications from Oslo University Hospital published in the second half of 2017
The patients weren't crazy—Knut Lundin was sure of that. But their ailment was a mystery. They were convinced gluten was making them sick. Yet they didn't have celiac disease, an autoimmune reaction to that often-villainized tangle of proteins in wheat, barley, and rye. And they tested negative for a wheat allergy. They occupied a medical no man's land. (Servick, Science News, 2018)
Gastroenterologist and J CoDiRC group leader Knut Lundin is the keynote speaker at the National Coeliac Conference 2018, UK. The conference is arranged in Malta by Coeliac UK and Narrative Structures to increase awareness of coeliac disease.
Each year the Norwegian Society of Immunology organizes the public event: "Immunologiens dag". This year the topic was autoimmune disease, and Ludvig Sollid and Knut Lundin were invited to speak about their research on coeliac disease
Diagnostikk av cøliaki – er tiden inne for å endre metode?
PhD student and dietary clinician Gry Skodje and Postdoc Lene Støkken Høydahl will both be giving talks at Glutenfri matmesse 2018, a public arrangement by Norsk Cøliakiforening i Oslo og Akershus April 14th.
All J CoDiRC members, associated members, Scientific Advisory Board and Patient Advisory Council enjoyed a two-day seminar at Kleivstua February 13-14 to present and discuss current research on coeliac disease in the Centre.
In a press release today Monica Hellmann, who is the founder of Det Glutenfrie Verksted, Nordic Refreshment Company AS, announces that she wants to donate money for the research of Professors Ludvig M. Sollid and Knut E.A. Lundin on coeliac disease.
Our member Gry Skodje (clinical dietician) from the research group of professor Knut Lundin, and with collaborators from Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, has published a study showing that fructans, rather than gluten, might be the villain of non-coeliac gluten sensitivity. This was covered in the national broadcast channel NRK news November 17th.
Professor Knut E.A. Lundin, group leader at J CoDiRC, is elected president for the European Society for Study of Coeliac Disease (ESSCD)
Assoc. Professor Shuo-Wang Qiao was challenged to explain what happens when the immune system fails in 30 seconds