Iannis Adamopoulos

Our laboratory aims to understand the cellular and molecular interactions of the skeletal and immune systems in a relative recent branch of immunology termed osteoimmunology. Osteoimmunology studies the fundamental scientific principles that regulate the interplay of immune cells with bone cells that lead to the pathogenesis of multiple musculoskeletal and rheumatic diseases. Specifically in our laboratory, we study the molecular mechanisms that control osteoclast differentiation and activation, the cells that are primarily responsible for bone resorption. We have developed unique animal models to study the effect of RANKL, IL-23, IL-17, IL-27 and other cytokines in inflammatory bone loss. We use these models to study the interaction of the immune and skeletal systems and identify novel biology that can be exploited therapeutically for multiple diseases including osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis.