dEPIMAL Project aims to study the relationship between antigenic stimulus upon Plasmodium infection and gene regulation of immune cells during pre-immunisation. Our goal is understanding how certain individuals from endemic regions acquire an effective natural immunity after years of repeated exposure to parasite infection. Differences in age and symptoms across individuals during this immune-protective process indicates that the epigenetic state of immune cells have a key role in the development of natural immunity.
Integrative Multi-Omics’ methods
We use computational methods to integrate simultaneous gene expression and chromatin accessibility data from single-cell and bulk assays. Our approach consists of deploying genome-wide analyses to identify cell-specific regulatory signatures. In this project, we used data to study cell differentiation processes during immune response to malaria infection from murine models and humans.
Immunoproteomics of Pf-specific antigens
We develop immunoproteomic methods to characterise antigen repertoires from individual serums with differential protective response to malaria. The identification of P. falciparum IgG and IgM antigenic variability in individuals by immunoproteomic-wide analysis will improve association studies of regulatory landscapes of immune cells.
Selected publications
