Dimitris Lagos is a Professor of Immunology. His research focuses on the role of regulatory and non-coding RNAs in immune responses to infection and cancer.
He is the Director of Research and Chair of Departmental Research Committee in York.
The Lagos group aims to translate exciting discoveries in RNA Biology to patient benefit through RNA Medicine.
Our work focuses on the immune system. Immune cells exhibit remarkable sophistication when attacking infected or cancerous cells or when repairing damaged tissues. We are fascinated by the multitude of gene regulatory mechanisms that co-operate to determine the amount, lifespan, and location of each biomolecule that shapes immune cell function. Inspired by the centrality of RNA, we investigate how non-coding and regulatory RNAs, and post-transcriptional RNA modifications shape the function of immune cells in infection and cancer, with a primary focus on T cells. In parallel with these mechanistic studies, we have a growing interest in pharmacological targeting of non-coding RNAs.
In addition to pre-clinical models, we study non-coding RNAs in humans to understand disease. Working with clinical cohorts, we explore RNA-based blood correlates for use in patient stratification and to improve current prognostic and diagnostic tools. In tissues, we develop RNA-centric spatially-resolved molecular pathology pipelines to study the evolution of post-transcriptional programmes associated with disease progression. We have applied such approaches to inflammatory and infectious diseases, including leishmaniasis and COVID-19, but also mental health conditions.
Funding
The group is funded by The Medical Research Council, The Wellcome Trust (CIDCATS PhD Training Program and Centre for Chronic Diseases and Disorders), and The BBSRC (DTP in Mechanistic Biology).
Recent research highlights
Shandell et al., Inhibition of the Na +/K +-ATPase by cardiac glycosides suppresses expression of the IDO1 immune checkpoint in cancer cells by reducing STAT1 activation. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2022.
Wilson et al., Integrated miRNA/cytokine/chemokine profiling reveals severity-associated step changes and principal correlates of fatality in COVID-19. iScience, 2022.
Dey et al., Early reduction in PD-L1 expression predicts faster treatment response in human cutaneous leishmaniasis. Journal of Clinical Investigations, 2021.
Hewitson et al., Malat1 Suppresses Immunity to Infection through Promoting Expression of Maf and IL-10 in Th Cells. Journal of Immunology, 2020.
Hewitson et al., miR-132 suppresses transcription of ribosomal proteins to promote protective Th1 immunity. EMBO Reports, 2019.
Visit Dr Dimitris Lagos' profile on the York Research Database to see a full list of publications, browse activities and projects, explore connections, collaborations, related work and more.
Dimitris is a member of the UK Coronavirus Immunology Consortium and the international leishmaniasis pathology network.
Current PhD students:
Primary supervisor
Katie West (White Rose BBSRC DTP)
Joshua Lee (White Rose BBSRC DTP iCASE Oxford Nanopore Technologies)
Magnus Gwynne (HYMS)
Secondary supervisor
Alina Capatina (White Rose BBSRC DTP)
Ben Rowlinson (White Rose BBSRC DTP)
Danielle Varley (Health Sciences)
Laetitia Raynal (The Rosetrees Trust)