BiographyBaptiste Janela graduated in Cell Biology and Physiology from the University of Rouen. He obtained his Master degree (2005) and PhD (2010) in Skin Immunology from the University Paris Diderot, Paris VII. He completed his PhD in the immuno-dermatology team of Prof. Philippe Musette, where he focused his research on severe cutaneous adverse reactions to drugs, notably on the Drug Reaction with Eosinophilia and Systemic Symptoms (DRESS). Baptiste came to Singapore as a postdoctoral fellow and subsequently promoted to senior research scientist in the Laboratory of Florent Ginhoux in the Singapore Immunology Network (SIgN). In SIgN, Baptiste focused his research on skin immunology and more specifically on the characterization of the role of dendritic cells subsets in Cutaneous Inflammatory Diseases and Skin Cancer in both human and mice. His work aims to fully understand DC biology in various skin diseases and to develop next-generation immunotherapies. Baptiste joined the Skin Research Institute of Singapore (SRIS) in 2018. He is now co-heading the Skin Immunology Platform of the SRIS and his laboratory is currently focused on deciphering the cellular/molecular mechanisms and signalling pathways that contribute to the immunopathology of skin diseases notably on Cutaneous Inflammatory Diseases, Wound Healing, Skin Cancer and Severe Cutaneous Adverse Drug Reactions.
Research interestsAs the largest barrier organ in the body, the skin is a challenging immune site that requires vigilance for invading pathogens, coupled with tolerance to self, environmental antigens, and microbiota. The laboratory is focussed on the understanding and deciphering the role and specific functions of antigen-presenting cells (APC) (Dendritic cells, macrophages) and monocytes during the development of skin inflammation. Together, these APC populations sense and integrate multiple signals from the internal and external environment in order to initiate and shape optimal immune responses. Thus, APC biology is at the center of allergic and autoimmune skin conditions, pathogen infections, wound healing, skin cancer and most importantly as promising targets for next-generation immunotherapies. In synergy with the Skin Immunology Platform of the SRIS, our approach integrates the application and development of new methods that take advantage of the combination of high dimensional platforms such as deep immune-phenotypic profiling using state of the art 30 colour flow cytometry or Cytometry by Time-Of-Flight mass spectrometry (CyTOF), Single Cell RNA sequencing analysis in combination with skin imaging. Both cellular and molecular profiling at the single cell level will provide new insight into the complexity of the skin immune response. In addition, this will permit us to understand the roles of the APC populations and their interactions with other immune cells in the skin which is necessary for the development of improved therapies for such conditions. Mouse models are regularly employed to study skin physiology, biochemistry, immunology, and for in vivo translational research. While many facets of anatomical, physiological, and immunological features are similar between mice and human, many comparative studies show large differences between mouse and human skin. Human skin is structurally and functionally different to mouse skin but also in their immune systems network such as the presence and location of differing dominant T cells, a differing array of chemokines expressed, and the presence or absence of antimicrobial peptides. Due to these major differences, it may contribute to the failure of translating mouse in-vivo skin model outcomes to human skin disease. Due to the fact that majority of current 3D skin models do not take immune components into account, the laboratory focuses on the generation of immunocompetent 3D skin equivalents from Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSCs). Inclusion of immune cells within 3D skin models would be an important step towards the recapitulation of native human skin and to mimic the pathogenesis of skin diseases in vitro.
Selected publicationsJanela B, Patel AA, Lau MC, Goh CC, Msallam R, Kong WT, Fehlings M, Hubert S, Lum J, Simoni Y, Malleret B, Zolezzi F, Chen J, Poidinger M, Satpathy AT, Briseno C, Wohn C, Malissen B, Murphy KM, Maini AA, Vanhoutte L, Guilliams M, Vial E, Hennequin L, Newell E, Ng LG, Musette P, Yona S, Hacini-Rachinel F, Ginhoux F. A Subset of Type I Conventional Dendritic Cells Controls Cutaneous Bacterial Infections through VEGFα-Mediated Recruitment of Neutrophils. Immunity. 2019 Apr 16;50(4):1069-1083.e8. doi:
10.1016/j.immuni.2019.03.001. Epub 2019 Mar 27. PMID: 30926233.
Bensussan A, Janela B, Thonnart N, Bagot M, Musette P, Ginhoux F, Marie-Cardine A. Identification of CD39 as a Marker for the Circulating Malignant T-Cell Clone of Sézary Syndrome Patients. J Invest Dermatol. 2019 Mar;139(3):725-728. doi:
10.1016/j.jid.2018.09.026. Epub 2018 Oct 25. PMID: 30798854.
McGovern N, Schlitzer A, Janela B, Ginhoux F. Protocols for the Identification and Isolation of Antigen-Presenting Cells in Human and Mouse Tissues. Methods Mol Biol. 2016;1423:169-80. doi:
10.1007/978-1-4939-3606-9_12. PMID: 27142016.
Musette P, Janela B. New Insights into Drug Reaction with Eosinophilia and Systemic Symptoms Pathophysiology. Front Med (Lausanne). 2017 Dec 4;4:179. doi:
10.3389/fmed.2017.00179. PMID: 29255708; PMCID: PMC5722807.
Picard D, Janela B, Descamps V, D'Incan M, Courville P, Jacquot S, Rogez S, Mardivirin L, Moins-Teisserenc H, Toubert A, Benichou J, Joly P, Musette P. Drug reaction with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms (DRESS): a multiorgan antiviral T cell response. Sci Transl Med. 2010 Aug 25;2(46):46ra62. doi:
10.1126/scitranslmed.3001116. PMID: 20739682.
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