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Anetta Härtlova
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Anetta S. Härtlova Group

Research group
Active research
Project owner
University of Gothenburg

Short description

Anetta S. Härtlova, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in Molecular Medicine.

About Anetta S. Härtlova lab

Anetta S. Härtlova, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in Molecular Medicine with main focus on understanding the role and regulation of immune and inflammatory pathways – that protect against pathogen infection but also contribute to chronic inflammation – in the context of ageing and age-related pathologies. Her research aims to explore the molecular regulation of these pathways in order to develop new therapeutic target against chronic inflammation and ageing.

Molecular mechanisms of innate immune signalling

Recently, chronic inflammation has been recognized as one of the hallmarks of the ageing process and the age-related diseases including neurodegeneration and metabolic disorders. However, little is known about the causes and molecular mechanisms that mediate systemic chronic inflammation. There is an increasing appreciation that changes in the tissue microenvironment, such as the accumulation of cell debris and systemic changes in metabolic and hormonal signals, contribute to macrophage polarization and the development of chronic inflammation. Despite its relevance, there is little understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying macrophages’ plasticity required for tissue homeostasis.

The main research interest of the laboratory is to examine the cell type-specific roles of phagocytosis and innate immune sensing pathways in the regulation of inflammatory response using a combination of biochemical, high-resolution mass spectrometry, and image-based approaches in vitro and in conditional knockout mouse models. Our long term goal is to develop therapeutic strategies to modulate these pathways and prevent or treat age-related human diseases.

Collaborations

The group has furthermore established extensive collaborations with researchers at the University of Gothenburg and Umeå University. Internationally, the group collaborates actively with researchers at Newcastle University (U.K.), Francis Crick Institute London (U.K.), Imperial College London (U.K.), Weizmann Institute of Science (Israel), VIB Ghent (Belgium), Institute Pasteur de Lille (France) and Medical Faculty, University of Chile (Chile).

Anetta Härtlova
Photo: Johan Wingborg

Contact Information

Anetta Svitorka Härtlova

anetta.hartlova@gu.se

Postal Address: Box 435, 40530 Göteborg
Visiting Address: Medicinaregatan 7 A
40530 Göteborg

Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Institute of Biomedicine
Box 435
405 30 Göteborg

Visiting Address: Medicinaregatan 7 A
405 30 Göteborg

News Spotlight

January 2020:
A warm welcome to Orsolya Bilkei-Gorzo, a new post-doctoral researcher in the Härtlova lab.

December 2019:
A war welcome to Prof. Alejandro Rojas – Fernandez from Universidad Austral de Chile, Chile.

November 2019:
A warm welcome to Ivo Fabrik, a new post-doctoral researcher and Nina Zehetner, a new master student in the Härtlova lab.

September 2019:
Congratulations to Sine for the cfcd travel grant award at the #EMDS2019.

May 2019:
The Best poster prize, Institutional day (Institute of Biomedicine: https://biomedicine.gu.se/biomedicine)

April 2019:
Short talk at the Keystone meeting on Immunometabolism, Metaflammation and Metabolic Disorders (D6), Vancouver, Canada (http://www.keystonesymposia.org/19D6).

Photo: Anetta Härtlova

Grants and Awards

Active research grants as Principal Investigator

  • Cancerfonfen # 19 0352 Pj (2020-2022)
  • SciLifelab WCMTM Facilitation grant 2019
  • NMMP Facilitation grant 2019
  • 2019: Anna Ahrenberg Foundation (2019)
  • 2019-2021 STINT collaborative Sweden-Chille project #CS2018-7952.
  • 2019-2021 Åke Wirbergs Research funding #M18-0121.

Institutional Support, University of Gothenburg

2018-2022 – WCMTM Tenure-track funding

Awards

  • Selected for poster presentation at the BSI/NVVI Annual Immunology Congress 2016, Liverpool. “The activation of MSR1 recruits TAB1/TAK1/JNK complex to the phagosome to promote phenotypic switch.“Liverpool, UK. (2016)
  • Travel fellowship from the EMBO association, Heidelberg, Germany. (2016)
  • Best poster prize at the Toll 2015 meeting, Marbella, Spain (2015)
  • Keystone Symposia Future of Science Fund Scholarship from Steven C. Ley, Zhijian 'James' Chen and Jenny P.Y. Ting to attend the Keystone symposia on NF-kappaB and MAPk signaling in Inflammation. Whistler, Canada. (2015)
  • Travel fellowship from the EMBO association, Heidelberg, Germany. (2016)
  • Travel fellowship from the EMBO association, Heidelberg. (2010)
  • Sigma-Aldrich Award: Proteomics & Life, Prague, Czech Republic. (2010)
  • The European Cooperation in Science and Technology award. (2007)

Publications

ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8152-4361

Publications 2023

Fabrik, I., Bilkei-Gorzo, O., Fabrikova, D., Öberg, M., Fuchs, J., Sihlbom, C., Göransson, M., Härtlova, A.
Lung macrophages utilize unique cathepsin K-dependent phagosomal machinery to degrade intracellular collagen.
Life Sci Alliance 2023 Jan 25;6(4):e202201535.

Publications 2022

Kurzawa-Akanbi M, Whitfield P, Burté F, Bertelli PM, Pathak V, Doherty M, Hilgen B, Gliaudelytė L, Platt M, Queen R, Coxhead J, Porter A, Öberg M, Fabrikova D, Davey T, Beh CS, Georgiou M, Collin J, Boczonadi V, Härtlova A, Taggart M, Al-Aama J, Korolchuk VI, Morris CM, Guduric-Fuchs J, Steel DH, Medina RJ, Armstrong L, Lako M.
Retinal pigment epithelium extracellular vesicles are potent inducers of age-related macular degeneration disease phenotype in the outer retina.
J Extracell Vesicles. 2022 Dec;11(12):e12295.

Bilkei-Gorzo O, Heunis T, Marín-Rubio JL, Cianfanelli FR, Raymond BBA, Inns J, Fabrikova D, Peltier J, Oakley F, Schmid R, Härtlova A, Trost M.
The E3 ubiquitin ligase RNF115 regulates phagosome maturation and host response to bacterial infection.
EMBO J. 2022 Dec 1;41(23):e108970.

Erttmann, S.F., Swacha, P., Jiang, H. Aung, K.M., Brindefalk, B., Härtlova, A., Uhlin, B. E., Wai, S.N., Gekara, N.O.
Microbiota-driven antiviral innate immunity involves the cGAS-STING-IFN-I axis.
Immunity. 2022 May 10;55(5):847-861.e10.

Gorreja F, Caër C, Rush STA, Forsskål SK, Härtlova A, Magnusson MK, Bexe Lindskog E, Börjesson LG, Block M, Wick MJ.
MEFV and NLRP3 Inflammasome Expression Is Attributed to Immature Macrophages and Correlates with Serum Inflammatory Proteins in Crohn´s Disease Patients.
Inflammation. 2022 Feb 21:1-20.

Govaere O, Petersen SK, Martinez-Lopez N, Wouters J, Van Haele M, Mancina RM, Jamialahmadi O, Bilkei-Gorzo O, Lassen PB, Darlay R, Peltier J, Palmer JM, Younes R, Tiniakos D, Aithal GP, Allison M, Vacca M, Göransson M, Berlinguer-Palmini R, Clark JE, Drinnan MJ, Yki-Järvinen H, Dufour JF, Ekstedt M, Francque S, Petta S, Bugianesi E, Schattenberg JM, Day CP, Cordell HJ, Topal B, Clément K, Romeo S, Ratziu V, Roskams T, Daly AK, Anstee QM, Trost M, Härtlova A.
Macrophage scavenger receptor 1 mediates lipid-induced inflammation in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
J Hepatol. 2022 May;76(5):1001-1012.

Publications 2021

Kurzawa-Akanbi M, Tammireddy S, Fabrik I, Gliaudelytė L, Doherty MK, Heap R, Matečko-Burmann I, Burmann BM, Trost M, Lucocq JM, Gherman AV, Fairfoul G, Singh P, Burté F, Green A, McKeith IG, Härtlova A, Whitfield PD, Morris CM.
Altered ceramide metabolism is a feature in the extracellular vesicle-mediated spread of alpha-synuclein in Lewy body disorders.
Acta Neuropathol. 2021 Dec;142(6):961-984

Don-Doncow N, Vanherle L, Matthes F, Petersen SK, Matuskova H, Rattik S, Härtlova A, Meissner A.
Simvastatin therapy attenuates memory deficits that associate with brain monocyte infiltration in chronic hypercholesterolemia.
NPJ Aging Mech Dis. 2021 Aug 4;7(1):19.

Maasfeh L, Härtlova A, Isaksson S, Sundin J, Mavroudis G, Savolainen O, Strid H, Öhman L, Magnusson MK.
Impaired Luminal Control of Intestinal Macrophage Maturation in Patients With Ulcerative Colitis During Remission.
Cell Mol Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2021;12(4):1415-1432. doi: 10.1016/j.jcmgh.2021.06.004.

Breyer F, Härtlova A, Thurston T, Flynn HR, Chakravarty P, Janzen J, Peltier J, Heunis T, Snijders AP, Trost M, Ley SC.
TPL-2 kinase induces phagosome acidification to promote macrophage killing of bacteria.
EMBO J. 2021 May 17;40(10):e106188. doi: 10.15252/embj.2020106188.

Öberg M, Fabrik I, Fabrikova D, Zehetner N, Härtlova A.
The role of innate immunity and inflammation in Parkinson´s disease.
Scand J Immunol. 2021 May;93(5):e13022.

Publications 2020

Kragh Petersen S, Bilkei-Gorzo O, Govaere O, Härtlova A.
Macrophages and scavenger receptors in obesity-associated non-alcoholic liver fatty disease (NAFLD). 
Scand J Immunol. 2020 Nov;92(5):e12971.

Publications 2019

Guo M, Härtlova A*, Gierliński M, Prescott A, Castellvi J, Losa JH, Petersen SK, Wenzel UA, Dill BD, Emmerich CH, Ramon Y Cajal S, Russell DG, Trost M*.
Triggering MSR1 promotes JNK-mediated inflammation in IL-4-activated macrophages.
EMBO J. 2019 Apr 26. pii: e100299. doi: 10.15252/embj.2018100299. PubMed PMID: 31028084. *co-corresponding author

Pauwels AM, Härtlova A, Peltier J, Driege Y, Baudelet G, Brodin P, Trost M, Beyaert R, Hoffmann E.
Spatiotemporal Changes of the Phagosomal Proteome in Dendritic Cells in Response to LPS Stimulation.
Mol Cell Proteomics. 2019 May;18(5):909-922. doi: 10.1074/mcp.RA119.001316. Epub 2019 Feb 26. PubMed PMID: 30808727; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6495253.

Hansen M, Peltier J, Killy B, Amin B, Bodendorfer B, Härtlova A, Uebel S, Bosmann M, Hofmann J, Büttner C, Ekici AB, Kuttke M, Franzyk H, Foged C, Beer-Hammer S, Schabbauer G, Trost M, Lang R.
Macrophage Phosphoproteome Analysis Reveals MINCLE-dependent and -independent Mycobacterial Cord Factor Signaling.
Mol Cell Proteomics. 2019 Apr;18(4):669-685. doi: 10.1074/mcp.RA118.000929. Epup 2019 Jan 11. PubMed PMID: 30635358; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6442366.

Dean P, Heunis T, Härtlova A, Trost M.
Regulation of phagosome functions by post-translational modifications: a new paradigm.
Curr Opin Chem Biol. 2019 Feb;48:73-80. doi: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2018.11.001. Epub 2018 Nov 24. Review. PubMed PMID: 30481638.

Selected Publications

Härtlova A*, Herbst S*, Peltier J, Rodgers A, Bilkei-Gorzo O, Fearns A, Dill BD, Lee H, Flynn R, Cowley SA, Davies P, Lewis PA, Ganley IG, Martinez J, Alessi DR, Reith AD, Trost M, Gutierrez MG. *contributed equally.
LRRK2 is a negative regulator of Mycobacterium tuberculosis phagosome maturation in macrophages.
EMBO J. 2018 Jun 15;37(12).
F1000 valuation (very good**) https://f1000.com/prime/733277592#

Erttmann SF*, Härtlova A*, Sloniecka M, Raffi FA, Hosseinzadeh A, Edgren T, Rofougaran R, Resch U, Fällman M, Ek T, Gekara NO. *contributed equally.
Loss of the DNA Damage Repair Kinase ATM Impairs Inflammasome-Dependent Anti-Bacterial Innate Immunity.
Immunity. 2016 Jul 19.

Dill BD, Gierlinski M, Härtlova A, Arandilla AG, Guo M, Clarke RG, Trost M.
Quantitative proteome analysis of temporally resolved phagosomes following uptake via key phagocytic receptors.
Mol Cell Proteomics. 2015 May;14(5):1334-49.

Härtlova A, Erttmann SF, Raffi FA, Schmalz AM, Resch U, Anugula S, Lienenklaus S, Nilsson LM, Kröger A, Nilsson JA, Ek T, Weiss S, Gekara NO.
DNA damage primes the type I interferon system via the cytosolic DNA sensor STING to promote anti-microbial innate immunity.
Immunity. 2015 Feb 17;42(2):332-343.
F1000 valuation (exceptional***) https://f1000.com/prime/725357350#

Group Members

Sine Kragh Petersen
PhD student

I joined Anetta Härtlova’s group in January 2019 to pursue my PhD in the metabolic regulation of inflammation. I was awarded a MS.c. degree in Biology with a specialization in Cell Biology and Physiology from the University of Copenhagen. During my studies I contributed to research through my master’s thesis in metabolism and through my student job at the Paediatric Oncology Research Laboratory, Rigshospitalet.

Sine is interested in how different fat from our diet impacts our immune system.

Publication from the lab:
Guo M, Härtlova A*, Gierliński M, Prescott A, Castellvi J, Losa JH, Petersen SK, Wenzel UA, Dill BD, Emmerich CH, Ramon Y Cajal S, Russell DG, Trost M*. Triggering MSR1 promotes JNK-mediated inflammation in IL-4-activated macrophages. EMBO J. 2019 Apr 26. pii: e100299. doi: 10.15252/embj.2018100299. PubMed PMID: 31028084.

Maria Öberg

PhD student

I joined Anetta Härtlova’s group in February 2019 due to my interests in the role of the immune system in age related diseases. I was awarded a BS.c. degree in molecular biology 2016 and a master’s degree in molecular biology with specialization in medical biology 2018, both at Lund university. During my studies I contributed to research on the detection of peripheral immunological biomarkers for epilepsy as well as research on the involvement of macrophages in neuroblastoma. This made me interested in the role of the innate immune system in homeostasis and disease, especially in the molecular mechanisms of innate immune cells and their effect on neurodegenerative diseases.

Maria is interested in how supporting innate immune cells shape our mind.

Daniela Fabrikova
Post-doc

I joined Anetta Härtlova’s group in March 2019 as a postdoctoral researcher to study how exosome-mediated inflammation contributes to development of age-related diseases. I was awarded a PhD degree in Infection biology in the Czech Republic in 2018. During my studies I contributed to research of the mechanisms that govern the regulation of innate immune signalling pathways in Francisella tularensis pathogenesis by ubiquitylation.

Daniela is interested in how dysregulation of lipid metabolism influences innate immune sensing mechanisms in our brain.

Alumni:

Megan Gant
Visiting UK PhD student

I am a visiting Ph.D student from Newcastle, UK where I worked on Toll-like receptors as well as being involved in the development of analytical columns for HPLC in partnership with Thermo Scientific. In Gothenburg, I am a collaborator in projects related to innate immunity and Toll like receptors.

Vera Vozandychova
Visiting Czech Republic PhD student

I am a visiting Ph.D student from Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic where I worked on how ubiquitylation regulates innate immune response to bacterial infection. In Gothenburg, I am studying the regulation of innate immune sensors.

Linnéa Persson
Msc. Student

I joined Anetta Härtlova’s group in the end of March 2019 to do an applied project as part of my master’s degree in molecular biology. Previously I have mainly worked in the field of prokaryotic microbiology. During my bachelor’s project I joined a group focused on research regarding the rising antibiotic resistance crisis. My contribution in this group was a high-throughput screening for chromosomal determinants of conjugation in Escherichia coli. In the summer of 2018 I was part of Biozentrum Research Summer in Basel, where I joined a group specialized in the type VI secretion system (T6SS) in bacteria. During my time there I focused on the mechanisms of T6SS in the intracellular pathogen Francisella novicida.

In Anetta’s lab I will learn how to work with cell lines and gain a deeper understanding of the cellular function of LRRK2 in macrophages.

Ulf Alexander Wenzel
Publication from the lab:
Guo M, Härtlova A*, Gierliński M, Prescott A, Castellvi J, Losa JH, Petersen SK, Wenzel UA, Dill BD, Emmerich CH, Ramon Y Cajal S, Russell DG, Trost M*. Triggering MSR1 promotes JNK-mediated inflammation in IL-4-activated macrophages. EMBO J. 2019 Apr 26. pii: e100299. doi: 10.15252/embj.2018100299. PubMed PMID: 31028084.