Research Laboratory of Autoimmune and Autoinflammatory Diseases

Head of Laboratory: Mikhail Kostik, MD, DSc.

Research project: "Investigating the molecular mechanism of non-classical (non-monogenic) autoinflammatory diseases and searching for directions for their targeted therapy"

Objective

To develop approaches to clinical and laboratory diagnosis of non-classical autoinflammatory diseases, to develop and validate targeted therapy methods based on the study of the molecular mechanisms of their pathogenesis.

Tasks

• Establishing a biobank of patients with autoinflammatory diseases.

• Carrying out whole genome sequencing to identify disease-associated genetic mutations and rare variants.

• Developing approaches to the diagnosis of autoinflammatory diseases based on molecular genetic methods, data of cytokine and expression profiles and the results of molecular genetic testing.

• Establishing a laboratory of molecular immunology for working with cell cultures and experimental animals for functional tests.

• Describing new signal chains and disease development mechanisms, searching for new diseases.

• Developing approaches to targeted therapy based on the above research methods.

• Creating a clinical, laboratory, therapeutic algorithm for patients with autoinflammatory diseases.

Expected results

The project aims to generate cohorts of patients with the main forms of non-classical autoinflammatory diseases (juvenile idiopathic arthritis with systemic onset, adult Still's syndrome, idiopathic recurrent pericarditis, multifocal osteomyelitis and other undifferentiated autoinflammatory diseases), which will be examined in a prospective observation study in compliance with all the rules and principles of GCP and GMP.

Biobanking of the material will be carried out, followed by the study of expression profiles (RNA sequencing), NGS (next generation sequencing), metabolome, cytokine spectrum, minor cell populations of immunocompetent peripheral blood cells.

The prospective nature of the study and the phase course of autoinflammatory diseases will predetermine a dynamic study of the above indicators (during remission and exacerbation of the disease, initially and during therapy with genetically engineered, anticytokine drugs), making it possible to develop a multiparametric panel of highly specific diagnostic biomarkers as well as predictors for prescribing personalized, targeted biological therapy.

There are plans to conduct a registration study of domestic recombinant (IL-1) cytokine receptor antagonists for non-classical autoinflammatory diseases.

Specialists

• Mikhail Kostik, MD, DSc, Head of Laboratory, Senior Researcher

• Olga Kalinina, DSc in Biology, Leading Researcher

• Alexey Golovkin, MD, DSc, Leading Researcher

• Igor Kudryavtsev, PhD in Biology, Senior Researcher

• Ekaterina Kuchinskaya, MD, PhD, Researcher

• Valentina Myachikova, Researcher

• Ekaterina Zaikova, Junior Researcher

• Natalia Lyubimova, Junior Researcher

• Alexander Borodin, Research Assistant

• Artur Akino, Research Assistant
  

Contacts

Mikhail Kostik, Head of the Laboratory 
e-mail: kostik_mm@almazovcentre.ru