Team "Immunology" : Cytokine modulation of Hematopoiesis

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Our research team program aims to study the side effects associated to the clinical use of recombinant erythropoietin (EPO). We developed the first available functional full EPO- Knock-out (KO) in adult mice model that was obtained by the vaccination with a recombinant adenovirus encoding heterologous EPO form as a vaccine agent leading to the production of highly efficient EPO neutralizing antibodies. This model allows us to decipher the extra-erythroid functions of EPO, with a focus on the hematopoietic system.

Our research program during the last three years allowed us to identify the mechanisms regulating platelet heterogeneity that may have an important impact in prevention and treatment of atherothrombosis. We have demonstrated that EPO is the main regulatory factor of large-size platelet production. We believe that we uncovered a missing piece of the complex puzzle associated to the pathogenicity of atherothrombosis.
These results might have important impact in the better understanding of the cardiovascular risk and its therapeutic management. We will now focus on the identification of a signature associated with the activation of this specific pathway that may be helpful in our future clinical plans.