prof. dr. Annemiek van Spriel

About Annemiek van Spriel

Scientific interests include immunology at the cellular and molecular level with a major focus on the plasma membrane organization of antigen-presenting cells. Tetraspanin proteins coordinate the spatial organization of specific immunoreceptors and signaling molecules into 'tetraspanin nanodomains'. We discovered that tetraspanins are critically involved in immune cell function, including antigen presentation, proliferation and antibody production. The aim of our research is to unravel the molecular mechanisms that underlie tetraspanin microdomain function in immune cells in relation to the development of malignant disease.

Prof. Dr. Annemiek van Spriel is a tenured senior scientist at the Department of BioMedical Sciences. She pursued a long-term Post-Doctoral Fellowship in the Leukocyte Membrane Laboratory of Ass. Prof. Mark Wright (Burnet Institute, Melbourne, Australia). In 2004, she joined the Tumor Immunology Department in the RIMLS where she obtained Grants from The Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) and the Dutch Cancer Society (KWF) to establish her own research line that is focused on investigating tetraspanins in immune cells in relation to the development of cancer.

Breakthrough discoveries

1.    Absence of tetraspanin CD37 leads to spontaneous formation of B-cell lymphoma and predicts clinical outcome in patients (Nat Commun 2022, J. Clin. Invest. 2016, Blood 2019, Blood Adv. 2022)

2.    New model of the tetraspanin web on immune cells visualized by super-resolution imaging (Sci. Rep. 2015)

3.    Tetraspanins CD37 and CD53 are essential for optimal B-cell responses (PloS Pathogens 2009, Science Signaling 2012, Science Signaling 2017)

4.    T-cell mediated anti-tumor immunity is dependent on tetraspanin CD53 (Cell Reports 2022)

5.    Identification of cross-talk between Fc receptors and complement receptors that affects neutrophil function (Nature Medicine 2000, Blood 2001, Blood 2003)

Full publication list:   www.webofscience.com/wos/author/record/604148

Personal prizes & awards

• 2023 Dutch Cancer Society (KWF) Grant. ‘’Identify master regulators of B-cell membrane targets to improve immunotherapy of non-Hodgkin lymphoma’’
• 2016: ERC consolidator grant (2M Euro) to investigate Tetraspanin proteins on tumour cells.
• 2015: Dutch Cancer Society (KWF) Grant ‘Protection against development of B-cell lymphoma by CD37, a novel tumor suppressor?’ (567,000 Euro).
• 2013: Aspasia Grant (NWO) 100.000 Euro for her work on Tetraspanins in the immune system.
• 2012: NWO-MEERVOUD Grant Laureate.
• 2012: Vidi Grant (NWO) 800.000 Euro for her work on tetraspanin proteins in the immune system. 'Connecting the network: tetraspanin platforms in immune cell signaling'.
• 2011: Innovation Grant of the Dutch Kidney Foundation 'Tetraspanin CD37: a novel player in IgA nephropathy' (100,000 Euro).
• 2010: NCMLS Talent event PhD fellowship. 'Tetraspanin dynamics in the plasma membrane of living immune cells' (240,000 Euro). International PhD talent recruitment program in Molecular life sciences.

Expertise

• Immunology
• Cell biology
• Immunoreceptors
• Membrane biology
• Signal transduction
• Advanced imaging