Welcome!

Using experimental systems and patient material, we study the immune system with a specific interest related to autoimmune disease and cancer therapy.

A major part of the different projects in the lab involves using CRISPR-based custom screens as a discovery platform to understand complex biological processes and to identify novel drug targets. To facilitate the design of these custom screens, we have developed a freely accessible web-based software called Green Listed v2.0 (Henkel et al., 2025) that can be accessed here. A blog post describing our approach can be found here. A review describing bioinformatic tools we use for designing and analyzing hypothesis-driven CRISPR screens can be found here (Iyer VS et al., 2020). Related CRISPR plasmids that we have deposited at the non-profit repository Addgene are found here. Our CRISPR-related YouTube channel is found here.

Examples of how we work with CRISPR for discovery in vitro and in vivo are found here (Shen Y et al., preprint, where we use CRISPR in vivo to identify how genes affect autoreactive Tfh cells),  (Shen Y et al., 2021, where we describe the Rapid CRISPR Competitive/RCC assay and the ImmunoCRISPR/iCR model system), as well as here (Jiang L et al., 2022, Cancer Research, where we study the CRISPR DNA damage response).

Several projects in the lab also relate to our interest in signaling downstream of the IL-4 receptor (IL-4R). The basis for this interest was the unexpected finding that the expression of the IL-4R is essential for the activity of a drug (IVIG) used to treat patients with autoimmune disease and that the expression of this receptor is highly regulated during inflammation (Anthony RM et al., 2011, Nature, and Wermeling F et al., 2013, PNAS). We´ve also published a study describing how IL-4 can affect neutrophils, and consequences of this in the autoimmune setting (Panda SK et al., 2020, PNAS).

The Wermeling Laboratory is located at the Center for Molecular Medicine (CMM), Karolinska University Hospital, Solna, Sweden, physically located here. The group is part of the Rheumatology Unit, Department of Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Solna.

Feel free to contact me for consulting assignments (approved for F-tax):

LinkedIn: link

Github: link

This website is maintained by Fredrik Wermeling. Opinions expressed are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the view of the Karolinska Institutet, the Karolinska Hospital, CMM or any other organization mentioned on the website.