The Gravallese Lab is devoted to understanding the pathogenesis of inflammatory arthritis, including rheumatoid arthritis, spondyloarthritis, psoriatic arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus. Our mission is to discover fundamental mechanisms of inflammation in these diseases and to dissect the impact of inflammation on bone. We study the onset, progression, persistence, and regulation of these systemic autoimmune diseases using human tissues, murine models of disease and in-vitro assays, in order to contribute to the development of new clinical interventions for rheumatic disease.
A new paradigm in the pathogenesis of autoimmune disease is the aberrant control of the innate immune system. In a recently added research area, we are focusing on cytosolic DNA sensing as an agent of the innate immune system. We identified cytosolic DNA sensor pathways as playing an important role in autoimmunity and bone.
Our research falls within three major categories
- Identification of novel pathways of inflammation in rheumatic disease.
- Identification of the effects of synovial inflammation on osteoblast function and bone formation.
- Identification of the role of innate immune pathways, in particular the cytosolic DNA sensor pathways, in the regulation of specific manifestations of autoimmunity.
