Fredric Carlsson

Infection represents an evolutionary arms race between pathogen and host. Throughout human history microbes have evolved strategies to manipulate and evade our immune system – a requisite for their ability to establish and maintain infection. Successful pathogens are therefore fantastic "immunologists" equipped with ability to regulate key aspects of both humoral and cellular immunity.

My laboratory is focused on microbial pathogenesis and inflammation. We study host-pathogen interactions whereby bacteria harness the host immune system to promote colonization and disease, studies that may provide insights into disease pathogenesis as well as fundamental aspects of immune regulation and function.

We are particularly interested in elucidating the host-pathogen genotype interplay and mechanisms that underlie invasive infection and interindividual disease variability. As study systems we use Streptococci and Mycobacteria – representing evolutionarily distant pathogens causing acute and chronic infections, respectively.

Teaching

I teach on courses in Microbiology (BIOR18, 15 credits), Antibiotics - Biology and Chemistry (BIOR56, 7,5 credits), Immunology (BIOR85, 15 credits) and Immunology and Infection Biology (BIOR88, 15 credits), and I am coordinating our master's education in Molecular Biology - Microbiology.

Current group members

• Katie Laschanzky (PhD student)
• Jaume Salgado Bolarin (PhD student)

Selected publications

Cytosolic serpins act in a cytoprotective feedback loop that limits ESX-1-dependent death of Mycobacterium marinum-infected macrophages. Nobs E, Laschanzky K, Munke K, Movert E, Valfridsson C, and Carlsson F. mBio. 2024

The germ theory revisited: A noncentric view on infection outcome. Carlsson F and Råberg L. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2024

Interplay between human STING genotype and bacterial NADase activity regulates interindividual disease variability. Movert E, Bolarin JS, Valfridsson C, Velarde J, Skrede S, Nekludov M, Hyldegaard O, Arnell P, Svensson M, Norrby-Teglund A, Cho KH, Elhaik E, Wessels MR, Råberg L, and Carlsson F. Nat Commun. 2023

Intragranuloma accumulation and inflammatory differentiation of neutrophils underlie mycobacterial ESX-1-dependent immunopathology. Lienard J, Munke K, Wulff L, Da Silva C, Vandamme J, Laschanzky K, Joeris T, Agace W, and Carlsson F. mBio. 2023

The Mycobacterium marinum ESX-1 system mediates phagosomal permeabilization and type I interferon production via separable mechanisms. Lienard J, Nobs E, Lovins V, Movert E, Valfridsson C, and Carlsson F.  Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2020

Streptococcal M protein promotes IL-10 production by cGAS-independent activation of the STING signaling pathway. Movert E, Lienard J, Valfridsson C, Nordström T, Johansson-Lindbom B, and Carlsson F. PLoS Pathog. 2018