EuroMAbNet: European Monoclonal Antibodies Network

Members

José I. Rodríguez Barbosa

Name of the laboratory

Members of the laboratory

Unit Coordinator. Full Professor of Immunology

José I. Rodríguez Barbosa ignacio.barbosa@unileon.es

Senior Lecturer in Immunology. Associate Professor of Immunology

Maria Luisa del Río González m.delrio@unileon.es

PhD students

Raquel Garcimartin-Bailón

Laboratory activity

Rejection of allogeneic tissues and organs is an immunological phenomenon mediated by T cells and antibodies. The transplantation of vascularized solid organs across MHC histocompatibility barriers requires continuous and prolonged administration of immunosuppressive drugs, which are associated with severe long-term side effects. Therefore, developing therapeutic strategies that reduce or ideally eliminate immunosuppressive medication through the induction of immunological tolerance would enable long-term graft survival and significantly improve the quality of life of transplant recipients.

The main goal of our laboratory is the identification and validation of molecular targets involved in the exchange of information between dendritic cells and T cells, as well as between T and B lymphocytes, in order to modulate both cellular and humoral immune responses. Our work has focused on molecules belonging to the Immunoglobulin Superfamily and the TNF/TNFR Superfamily, which regulate immune communication and determine the activation or inhibition of immune responses.

A major line of research has been the modulation of T-cell activation through the blockade of costimulatory signals or the enhancement of inhibitory pathways (coinhibitory signals). These strategies aim to interfere with the collaboration between dendritic cells, T cells, and B cells to prevent allograft rejection. In parallel, we investigate approaches for the selective elimination of T cells responsive to alloantigens by targeting molecules that are specifically expressed during T-cell activation.

To achieve these objectives, we combine biochemical techniques, molecular biology approaches, and cellular and animal models of skin and bone marrow transplantation. Genes involved in key cell-interaction pathways are amplified, cloned, and expressed as membrane-bound or soluble proteins corresponding to their extracellular domains. These recombinant proteins are purified from culture supernatants of transfected cells and used as antigens to generate monoclonal antibodies with different effector functions, including agonistic, antagonistic, depleting, and non-depleting activities. These antibodies and recombinant proteins are subsequently used as therapeutic tools in vitro and in vivo to evaluate their capacity to modulate immune responses and prevent rejection across different histocompatibility barriers

Over the past two decades, our research has also contributed to understanding the role of coinhibitory pathways such as the PD-1/PD-L1 axis in regulating immune responses. Early experimental observations indicated that blockade of this pathway can enhance T-cell activity, an insight that later became central to the development of cancer immunotherapy. Building on this knowledge, our laboratory has investigated the function of coinhibitory receptor–ligand interactions in hematopoietic tumor models using genetically modified transplantable tumor cell lines in which ligands such as PD-L1 and HVEM were altered. These studies have allowed us to analyze their role in tumor development, the tumor microenvironment, and the anti-tumor immune response mediated by NK cells and CD8 T lymphocytes.

Publications (2021-present)

• Malainou C, Peteranderl C, Ferrero MR, Vazquez-Armendariz AI, Alexopoulos I, Franz K, Knippenberg K, Better J, Estiri M, Wu CY, Schultheis H, Bushe J, Del Rio ML, Rodriguez-Barbosa JI, Pfeffer K, Günther S, Looso M, Gruber AD, Vadász I, Matt U, Herold S. TNF superfamily member 14 drives post-influenza depletion of alveolar macrophages, enabling secondary pneumococcal pneumonia. J Clin Invest. 2025 Nov 18;136(2):e185390. doi: 10.1172/JCI185390. eCollection 2026 Jan 16. PMID: 41252214.
• Tur-Planells V, Bykov Y, Dawodu G, García-Romero N, Izpura-Luis S, Pérez-Rodríguez L, Rius-Rocabert S, Palacín-Aliana I, Arranz-Herrero J, Márquez-Leiva I, Monago-Sanchez A, Del Rio ML, Rodriguez-Barbosa JI, Cano-Ochando J, García-Sastre A, Lozano-Ojalvo D, Nistal-Villan E, Ayuso-Sacido A, Cuadrado-Castano S. Infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) as a novel oncolytic virotherapy in glioblastoma. J Immunother Cancer. 2025 Nov 4;13(11):e011741. doi: 10.1136/jitc-2025-011741. PMID: 41193181.
• Del Rio ML, Nuero-Garcia OM, Roncador G, Garcimartín-Bailon R, Cubria JC, Schneider P, Rodriguez-Barbosa JI. A bioactive soluble recombinant mouse LIGHT promotes effective tumor immune cell infiltration delaying tumor growth. J Mol Med (Berl). 2025 Jul;103(7):867-883. doi: 10.1007/s00109-025-02552-x. Epub 2025 Jun 2. PMID: 40457031.
• Del Rio ML, de Juan CY, Roncador G, Caleiras E, Álvarez-Esteban R, Pérez-Simón JA, Rodriguez-Barbosa JI. Genetic deletion of HVEM in a leukemia B cell line promotes a preferential increase of PD-1- stem cell-like T cells over PD-1+ T cells curbing tumor progression. Front Immunol. 2023 Mar 23;14:1113858. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1113858. eCollection 2023. PMID: 37033927.
• Del Rio ML, Perez-Simon JA, Rodriguez-Barbosa JI. Differential Engraftment of Parental A20 PD-L1 WT and PD-L1 KO Leukemia Cells in Semiallogeneic Recipients in the Context of PD-L1/PD-1 Interaction and NK Cell-Mediated Hybrid Resistance. Front Immunol. 2022 Jun 20;13:887348. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.887348. eCollection 2022. PMID: 35795681.
• Rodríguez-Gil A, Escamilla-Gómez V, Nufer M, Andújar-Sánchez F, Lopes-Ramos T, Bejarano-García JA, García-Guerrero E, Calderón-Cabrera C, Caballero-Velázquez T, García-Calderón CB, Hernández-Díaz P, Reguera-Ortega JL, Rodríguez-Torres N, Martínez-Cibrián N, Rodríguez-Barbosa JI, Villadiego J, Pérez-Simón JA. Combined treatment of graft versus host disease using donor regulatory T cells and ruxolitinib. Sci Rep. 2022 May 19;12(1):8348. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-12407-x. PMID: 35589917.
• Del Rio ML, Nguyen TH, Tesson L, Heslan JM, Gutierrez-Adan A, Fernandez-Gonzalez R, Gutierrez-Arroyo J, Buhler L, Pérez-Simón JA, Anegon I, Rodriguez-Barbosa JI. The impact of CD160 deficiency on alloreactive CD8 T cell responses and allograft rejection. Transl Res. 2022 Jan;239:103-123. doi: 10.1016/j.trsl.2021.08.006. Epub 2021 Aug 27. PMID: 34461306.
• von Knethen A, Rodriguez-Barbosa JI. Editorial: The Roles of Checkpoint Inhibitors in Inflammatory Diseases. Front Immunol. 2021 Oct 28;12:795495. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.795495. eCollection 2021. PMID: 34777402.