Pris til Anette Wolff

Anette Wolff

Juriens begrunnelse:

Recommendation from the evaluation committee, 2011.

We were asked to recommend an outstanding original scientific paper in the field of immunology, in which the work must have been performed with affiliation to a Norwegian research institution. Nominated articles published during the two preceding years were taken into consideration.
The winning article was published by Anette S. Bøe Wolff as joint first author in the prestigious journal “The Journal of Experimental Medicine” in 2010, and has already been cited numerous times in high quality journals. “Chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis in APECED or thymoma patients correlates with autoimmunity to Th17-associated cytokines”
Kisand K*, Bøe Wolff AS*, Podkrajsek KT, Tserel L, Link M, Kisand KV, Ersvaer E, Perheentupa J, Erichsen MM, Bratanic N, Meloni A, Cetani F, Perniola R, Ergun-Longmire B, Maclaren N, Krohn KJ, Pura M, Schalke B, Ströbel P, Leite MI, Battelino T, Husebye ES, Peterson P, Willcox N, Meager A. J Exp Med. 2010 15;207(2):299-308

*These authors contributed equally to this work

APECED is a syndrome caused by mutations in the autoimmune regulator gene (AIRE), leading to the loss of deletion of autoreactive T cells in the thymus with multiple autoimmune consequences. A hallmark of the disease is the selective susceptibility to severe chronic yeast infections, called mucocutaneous candidiasis (CMC). The susceptibility to candida infections has been hard to reconcile, since many autoimmune diseases are characterized by exaggerated Th17 responses with production of the cytokines IL-17 and IL-22. Such immune responses normally fight infections at epithelial surfaces. However, by analyzing >150 APECD patients, the authors found high levels of neutralizing antibodies to IL-17 and IL-22 and the presence of such autoantibodies was strongly associated with CMC. The study thus suggests that the patients have reduced Th17 responses due to blocking antibodies against the effector cytokines.

This study provides important insights into the mechanisms behind the generation of specific autoantibodies, and reveals the potential of anti-cytokine autoantibodies to modulate cytokine pathways. In addition, the study has significant implications for the development of therapies to neutralize exaggerated Th17 responses, like in psoriasis, as CMC might be a significant side-effect.

The research has been carried out as a multicenter survey and was supported by EU Framework program 6, Helse-Vest and The Norwegian Research Council, the European Regional Fund and Archimedes Foundation, Estonian Science Foundation, the Estonian Ministry of Education and Research, The Wellcome Trust, Slovene National Research Agency, and Tampere University Hospital Research Fund.

Elin Bergseng
Post. Doc.
Immunologisk Institutt
Universitetet i Oslo

Espen S. Bækkevold
Forsker
Avdeling for Patologi
Oslo Universitetssykehus

Lise Kveberg
Post doc
Immunologisk Institutt
Oslo Universitetssykehus