Evangelia Kourepini, Nikolaos Paschalidis and Davina Simoes - members of the Cellular Immunology Laboratory of Vily Panoutsakopoulou - published a study in the Journal of Cell Biology

Bits of viruses or bacteria are “danger” signals that activate plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) by inducing their type I interferon (IFN) production. This paper unveils a novel axis of signaling in pDCs through α4β1 integrin subtle activation that leads to IFN-β induction without danger signals. The effect is mediated by a specific fragment (SLAYGLR) of the cytokine osteopontin constitutively existing in tissues. The newly identified integrin/IFN-β axis render pDCs more “fit” to protect from melanoma development and may be implicated in a wide array of immune responses.

This paper is dedicated to the memory of our beloved Professor Vily

Εις μνήμην της Αλησμόνητης πολυαγαπημένης επιστήμονος του ΙΙΒΕΑΑ, Βίλης Πανουτσακοπούλου. Άξιες και άξιοι συνεργάτες της ολοκλήρωσαν με επιτυχία το project που περιέχει τις πολύτιμες ιδέες και προσπάθειες της

Pubmed

An integrin axis induces IFN-β production in plasmacytoid dendritic cells
Simoes DCM, Paschalidis N, Kourepini E, Panoutsakopoulou V. J Cell Biol. 2022 Sep 5;221(9):e202102055. doi: 10.1083/jcb.202102055. Epub 2022 Jul 25