Leiden University Medical Center
Albinusdreef 2
2333 ZA Leiden
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Prof. Cees van Kooten Head of the immunology Research Laboratory, Department of Nephrology, Leids Universitair Medisch Centrum, Leiden, The Netherlands Phone: +31 71 5263964 Fax: +31 71 5266868  Contact |
After a PhD and post-doctoral position in immunology, he has been appointed since 1995 at the Department of Nephrology of the LUMC, Leiden, investigating various aspects of renal inflammation and renal transplant immunology, including the role of both innate and adaptive immunity. This included research on IgA nephropathy: the regulation of IgA production and effector functions of IgA like interactions with Fc-receptors and the complement system. Moreover, there has been a major attention for the functional role of both professional antigen presenting cells like dendritic cells and macrophages, as well as human renal epithelial cells. Both in human and rats, functional modulation of dendritic cells and macrophages has been studied in vitro and in vivo, with the aim to skew their immune regulatory mechanisms and to explore the possibility to prolong allograft survival. Quantification and characterization of human DC subsets in renal biopsies has been explored to monitor renal transplantation in the clinic.
Cees van Kooten, PhD is professor in Experimental Nephrology & Transplant Immunology and Head of the immunology research laboratory of the department of Nephrology of the Leiden University Medical Center (Leiden, the Netherlands).
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=%22van%20Kooten%20C%22%5BAuthor%5D
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Prof. Moh R. Daha
Professor of Experimental Nephrology, Department of Nephrology, Leids Universitair Medisch Centrum, Leiden, The Netherlands Phone: +31 71 5263964 Fax: +31 71 5266868 Contact
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Mohamed R Daha PhD graduated at the University of Leiden in 1973. His postdoc research at the Harvard medical school concerned mediators of inflammation with specific interest to renal disease. In this regard he was one of the main contributors to define the mechanisms of action of C3Nephritic factor (C3NeF), an autoantobody against the amplification convertase of complement. This autoantibody increases the half life of the C3 convertase leading to uncontrolled activation of C3 and subsequent deposition of activated C3 in kidneys resulting in renal damage a loss of renal function. Over the years his line work has been centered around the many functions of complement in relation to inflammation not only in kidney disease but also in rheumatological- and other autoimmune diseases like systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).
More recent studies have focussed on the role of complement in the regulation of apoptosis, the effects of complement on dendritic cell function and involvement complement in for instance IgA mediated renal injury in primary IgA nephropathy. At the present time he tries to obtain information on the contribution of injured host tisssue itself on tissue injury by amplification of complement activation at the site of injury. It is felt that classical complement pathway induced diseases may escape complement control by escaping via the alternative pathway of complement. Therefore one of the topics to be analyzed in the context of Transvir will be the contribution of Properdin, the recognition molecule of the alternative pathway of complement, in focusing complement activation to sites of initial injury in a mouse kidney disease model and in protein overload nephropathy.
In his career he has supervised more than 70 PhD students and has been a (Co) author of more than 600 scientific publications in peer reviewed journals.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=%22Daha%20MR%22%5BAuthor%5D
The LUMC is a modern knowledge centre. The more than 7000 staff members of the LUMC are passionate about improving patient care through scientific research. We offer courses of instruction and continuing education to train doctors for this purpose. The LUMC focuses on top clinical and highly specialised care: the complex medical issues for which there are often not yet any answers. With patient care and research labs under one roof, patients, doctors and researchers collaborate to develop new treatment methods
The Leiden Group will provide the Technical Platform for dendritic cell biology and for complement biology including structural biology. They will also be a platform for rodent models of inflammation. The Scientist-in charge (Van Kooten) is Professor of Immunology in the Department of Renal Medicine. He has special expertise in the biology of complement ranging from structural studies to its interaction with immune and resident cells. Van Kooten is an immunologist with special expertise in the biology of macrophages and myeloid dendritic cells. Their expertise provides the opportunity to investigate the function of DC not only in vitro but also to assess the role of DC in vivo in regulation of tolerance, inflammation and immunity in general.
Prof Daha is an internationally renowned molecular immunologist with special expertise in complement. He has been especially successful at translating basic molecular insights into in vivo studies of disease, both in models and in patients.
Consortium
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