ABSTRACT
The life of any organism depends on the ability of cells to detect and to respond to pathogens. In order to detect the immense variety of pathogenic entities, the innate immune system of mammals has evolved a range of distinct sensing strategies. One major mechanism is based on the recognition of microbial DNA – an invariant and highly immunogenic pathogen-associated molecular pattern. Host cells, however, contain abundant sources of self-DNA. In the context of cellular damage or metabolic derangement, “out-of-the-context” self-DNA can elicit potentially damaging inflammatory responses. Our research focuses on the so-called cGAS-STING system – an evolutionary highly conserved innate DNA sensing system. On DNA binding, cGAS is activated to produce a second messenger cyclic dinucleotide (cyclic GMP-AMP), which stimulates the adaptor protein STING to induce innate immune responses. While this process was originally discovered as a crucial component of the immune defense against pathogens, recent work has elucidated a pathogenic role for innate DNA sensing in a variety of sterile inflammatory diseases. In this talk I will discuss recent findings on molecular regulation of DNA sensing and highlight opportunities for harnessing cGAS-STING for therapeutic purposes.
BIO
Born in Germany, Andrea Ablasser studied Medicine at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich (GER) and earned her MD in 2010. After a postdoctoral work at the University of Bonn (GER), she joined the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (CH) as Professor in 2014. Amongst several distinctions, Ablasser is a recipient of the Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize, the NOMIS Distinguished Scientist Award, the William B. Coley Prize, the EMBO Gold Medal, and the National Latsis Prize. Since 2020 she is named “highly Cited Researcher” (Clarivate Analytics). Ablasser is an elected member of EMBO and the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. In 2018, she co-founded IFM-Due, a company developing immunomodulatory medicines, which was acquired by Novartis in 2024.
Ablasser is studying the mechanisms of innate immunity. She played a major role in deciphering how cells respond to intracellular DNA as a signal of infection via the so-called cGAS-STING pathway – a fundamental mechanism of immunity that evolved in bacteria billions of years ago. Apart from its beneficial role in pathogen defense, recognition of DNA is implicated in the pathogenesis of several inflammatory diseases, including neurodegenerative disease and autoimmunity. Ablasser’s current research focuses on understanding molecular rules that govern the termination and control innate immune responses. Using this insight, she is investigating the roles of innate immunity in contexts of disease and exploring novel therapeutic paradigms for cancer immunotherapy.
For further information please contact the AGORA team.
