de la Rosa Lab
Cancer & Immunology / Immune Mechanisms and Human Antibodies
Profile
An enormous diversity of antibodies protects us from various infectious diseases by binding and neutralizing pathogens. During an infection, B cells undergo maturation processes including the acquisition of beneficial mutations followed by subsequent selection to increase the potency of antibodies. However, for some diseases the body’s immune system fails to induce natural protection. We study antibody maturation to understand how diversity is generated and which determinants are important to elicit potent protection.
Using high-throughput cellular and molecular screening methodologies, in vitro cultivation methods, and functional studies, our laboratory seeks out novel applications for B cells and antibodies to preserve human health.
Team
Front row fom left to right: Franziska Beate Flohr (Trainee), Iris Apostel-Krause (Staff), Clara Vazquez Garcia (Scientist), Luise Elizabeth Veelken (Bachelor student (internship)), Lisa Spatt (TA), Kathrin de la Rosa (Group leader) | Back row from left to right: Cathrin Gerhard (TA), Mikhail Lebedin (PhD), Casper Silvis (PhD), Emre Mert Ipekoglu (PhD), Dennis Jeroen Doorduijn (Scientist), Ata Ul Wakeel Ahmad (PhD) | 25.04.2024
Trainee
Image Gallery
(← swipe left)
From left to right: Dunja Vukcevic (Student assistant), Lisa Spatt (TA), Cathrin Gerhard (TA), Ata Ul Wakeel Ahmad (PhD), Mikhail Lebedin (PhD), Clara Vazquez Garcia (PhD), Emre Mert Ipekoglu (PhD), Casper Silvis (PhD), Iris Apostel-Krause (Staff), Kathrin de la Rosa (Group leader)
5th Lab Birthday on 04.07.2023: From left to right: Emre Mert Ipekoglu (PhD student), Clara Vazquez Garcia (PhD student), Lisa Spatt (TA), Cathrin Gerhard (TA), Iris Apostel-Krause (staff member), Mikhail Lebedin (PhD student), Kathrin de la Rosa (group leader), Casper Silvis (PhD student), Mateja Zvipelj (Erasmus student), Alexander Schäfer (IT staff member), Ata Ul Wakeel Ahmad (PhD student).
Berlin 5 x 5 km TEAM relay on 07.06.2023: From left to right: Ata Ul Wakeel Ahmad (PhD student), Clara Vazquez Garcia (PhD student), Iris Apostel-Krause (staff member), Mikhail Lebedin (PhD student).
Group in July 2022: From left to right: Kathrin de la Rosa (Group leader), Emre Mert Ipekoglu (PhD), Casper Silvis (PhD), Cathrin Gerhard (TA), Lisa Spatt (TA), Clara Vazquez Garcia (PhD), Christoph Ratswohl (PhD), Mikhail Lebedin (PhD), Ata Ul Wakeel Ahmad (PhD)
From left to right: Christoph Ratswohl (PhD student), Kathrin de la Rosa (PI), Lisa Spatt (technician), Carlotta Caramel (Erasmus student), Mikhail Lebedin (scientist), Clara Vazquez Garcia (PhD student), Petra Haink (secretary), Ata Ul Wakeel Ahmad (PhD student), Cathrin Gerhard (technician), Casper Silvis (PhD student)
October 2021 – CoViPa visits of DKFZ and DLR at the MDC
From left to right: Mikhail Lebedin (MDC), Christian Busse (DKFZ), Daniel Leidner (DLR), Andreas Doemel (DLR), Zhe Li (DKFZ), Maximilian Durner (DLR), Peter Lehner (DLR), Kathrin de la Rosa (MDC), Hedda Wardemann (DKFZ), Casper Silvis (MDC), Saskia Müller (DKFZ)
September 2021 – Johanna Quandt-Professorship of the Stiftung Charité and the Berlin Institute of Health at Charité (BIH)
From left to right: Ata Ul Wakeel Ahmad (PhD student), Christoph Ratswohl (PhD student), Casper Silvis (PhD student), Kathrin de la Rosa (PI), Carlotta Caramel (Erasmus student), Irina Yakutenko (PhD student), Mikhail Lebedin (scientist), Clara Vazquez Garcia (PhD student), Lisa Spatt (technician)
May 2020- Lab anniversary
From left to right: Cathrin Gerhard (technician), Clara Vazquez Garcia (PhD student), Mikhail Lebedin (PhD student), Christoph Ratswohl (PhD student), Lisa Spatt (technician), Kathrin de la Rosa (PI)
July 2019 - Lab anniversary, climbing park, Berlin
From left to right: Clara Vazquez Garcia (PhD student), Lisa Spatt (technician), Kathrin de la Rosa (PI), Petra Haink (secretary), Mikhail Lebedin (PhD student), Christoph Ratswohl (PhD student), Špela Knez (Erasmus Student)
July 2019 – Group picture, MDC campus
From left to right: Kathrin de la Rosa (PI), Christoph Ratswohl (PhD student), Lisa Spatt (technician), Clara Vazquez Garcia (PhD student), Petra Haink (secretary), Mikhail Lebedin (PhD student), Špela Knez (Erasmus Student)
May 2019 – Group picture, ‘EMBO Workshop on Antibody & Complement’, Girona, Spain
From left to right: Christoph Ratswohl (PhD student), Svetlana Khorkova (visiting student from Moscow, Russia), Lisa Spatt (technician), Mikhail Lebedin (PhD student), Kathrin de la Rosa (PI), Clara Vazquez Garcia (PhD student)
Projects and grants
2021-2025
CoVipa – Helmholtz Network Fund
CoViPa is a joint research initiative of 7 Helmholtz institutes and 3 university partners. Together with the German Aerospace Center (DLR, Wessling) and the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ, Heidelberg) we aim develop targeted immunomodulatory strategies by means of AI-based robotic platforms.
2021-2026
Johanna Quandt Fellowship of the Stiftung Charité
The goal of this program is to develop and study innovative approaches for two challenges of translational immunology: cellular vaccines for improved humoral immunity and the use antibodies to modulate T cell responses.
2020-2025
Starting grant of the European research council (ERC)
This research project aims to develop novel strategies for B cell engineering exploiting natural DNA-breaks to generate antibodies that surpass common reactivity profiles.
2018-2024
Emmy Noether Project of the german research foundation
The project aims to study a new layer of antibody diversity that is generated by integration of large DNA inserts in the antibody heavy chain locus.
Publications
News
Alumni
Christoph Ratswohl
PhD student
2018 – 2022
PhD thesis: “Towards novel active and passive vaccine design strategies that target the interaction with viral entry receptors”
Subsequent position: Postdoc, Immunological synapse formation of T cells and dendritic cells, Biotechnologie Institut Thurgau, Switzerland
Mateja Zvipelj
Erasmus student
March 2023 – July 2023
Project title: Identification of splice enhancer sequences to support exon integration in engineered primary human B cells
Miriam Herfort
BSc Student
February 2023 – May 2023
Dunja Vukcevic
MSc Student
September 2022 – March 2023
Master thesis on “Profiling DNA Repair in the switch region to predict the efficiency of DNA-repair in individuals”
Irina Yakuteno
August 2021 – November 2021
Subsequent position: self-employed science journalist and blogger
Carlotta Caramel
March 2021 – September 2021
Subsequent position: PhD student, department of pediatric oncology and hematology, Charité Berlin, Germany
Anthony Marchand
September 2019 – March 2020
Subsequent position: PhD Student, protein engineering, EPFL (École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne), Switzerland
Špela Knez
Erasmus student
April 2019 – August 2019
Subsequent position: PhD student, biotechnology and immunology, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
Svetlana Khorkova
MSc student
September 2018 – April 2019
Master thesis on "A method to detect transchromosomal insertions in immunoglobulim transcripts."
Subsequent position: PhD students program IMPRS at the Max Planck Institute for Immunobiology and Epigenetics Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany
