Integrated Cell Analysis Research Group

Group leader: Zsuzsanna Hevessy MD, PhD

Members: Sándor Baráth MSc, PhD; János Kappelmayer MD, PhD, DSc; Bettina Kárai MD, PhD; Bettina Palicskó PhD student; Parvind Singh PhD student; Gábor Tóth MD, PhD

Technician: Marianna Száraz-Széles

 

Background: Previously, our group has demonstrated the presence and prognostic role of coagulation factor XIII subunit A in B-ALL and Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia. We investigated the effect of preanalytical variables on sample quality (CSF, bone marrow, peripheral blood). We established the reference ranges and described age-dependencies for thymidine kinase enzyme and non-conventional T cell groups.

 

Areas of interest:

1. Hematological diseases: we are looking for effective diagnostic and prognostic markers in premalignant and malignant hematological disorders. We are also working on the integration of multidimensional data visualization and analysis and the introduction of this technique into routine diagnostics. We are investigating the impact of pre-analytical variables on sample evaluability. As the coordinating and supervisor laboratory for flow cytometry in the international ALL-IC (Acute Lymphoid Leukemia - InterContinental) group, we are working on standardization of minimal residual disease detection. As the central flow cytometry laboratory for the national childhood acute leukemia CSF project, we analyze de novo CSF samples from all children with acute leukemia in Hungary. We participate in several clinical collaborations.

2. Immunology/T cell subsets: T cells represent a very heterogeneous group of cellular components of the immune system. This diversity is reflected in the immunophenotype of T cells, which can be well characterized by flow cytometry. The diversity of immune phenotypes also implies a diversity of functions, which are now known to be not only involved in the adaptive part of the immune response process, but also closely linked to the innate immune system components. One such cell group is the so-called non-conventional T cells, which can themselves be classified into several subgroups. The function of these cells in the immune response process is already partly known, but relatively little is known about their role in the pathogenesis of different pathologies, how their function is affected by certain therapeutic agents or even lifestyle changes (e.g. exercise). One of the objectives of our group is to characterize these cells and to understand their role in the pathogenesis of different diseases, including effects on the immune response process (e.g. sport), different therapies and different pathologies.

3. Platelet research: Flow cytometric methods are well suited for the analysis of platelet activation, with a particular focus on platelets with procoagulant activity. This population of platelets expresses phosphatidylserine on their surface which provides a basis for the active clotting proteins to organize into multiprotein complexes. We investigate procoagulant platelets by flow cytometry and their function by thrombin generation assay. We will investigate how different physiologically present peptides and drugs used in malignant hematological diseases affect procoagulant platelets.

4. Sports medicine: Our aim is to investigate new biomarkers that could objectively predict an increased risk of developing a potential sports injury and could also provide a timely indication of the onset of career-ending overuse.

5. Precision medicine: We build algorithms to investigate diseases and test their usefulness in real clinical settings.

Research techniques applied: We apply state-of-the-art flow cytometric measurement and analysis methods, combining traditional bivariate data analysis methods with the latest machine learning based data analysis techniques.

 

List of the most relevant publications:

 

  1. P. Singh, K. Gaspar, A. Szegedi, L. Sajtos, S. Barath, Z. Hevessy: Investigating Vα7.2+/CD161- T cell and MAIT cell profiles using flow cytometry in healthy subjects and subjects with Atopic Dermatitis. Int. J. Mol. Sci 2024, 25, 3486.
  2. Baráth, S., Singh, P., Hevessy, Z., Ujfalusi, A., Mezei, Z., Balogh, M., Széles, M., Kappelmayer, J.: Enhancing antigen detection: Leveraging machine learning algorithms for flow cytometric analysis. Cytom. Part B-Clin. Cytom. 2024;1-6.
  3. Hevessy, Z., Tóth, G., Antal-Szalmás, P., Tőkés-Füzesi, M., Kappelmayer, J., Kárai, B., Ajzner, É., Working Group on Guidelines, Algorithms of the Hungarian Society of Laboratory Medicine: Algorithm of differential diagnosis of anemia involving laboratory medicine specialists to advance diagnostic excellence. Clin. Chem. Lab. Med. 2024; 62(3): 410–420
  4. Singh, P., Széles, M., Mezei, Z., Baráth, S., Hevessy, Z.: Age-dependent frequency of unconventional T cells in a healthy adult Caucasian population: a combinational study of invariant natural killer T cells, [gamma][delta] T cells, and mucosa-associated invariant T cells. GeroScience. 44 (4), 2047-2060, 2022.
  5. Baráth, S., Mezei, Z., Széles, M., Hevessy, Z.: Combined use of different antibody clones improves the efficiency of human leukocyte antigen B27 detection by flow cytometry. Cytom. Part B-Clin. Cytom. 102 (3), 239-245, 2022.
  6. Singh, P., Széles, M., Mezei, Z., Baráth, S., Hevessy, Z.: Gender-dependent frequency of unconventional T cells in a healthy adult Caucasian population: a combinational study of invariant NKT cells, [gamma] [delta] T cells, and mucosa-associated invariant T cells. J. Leukoc. Biol. 112 (5), 1155-1165, 2022.
  7. Maurer-Granofszky, M., Schumich, A., Buldini, B., Gaipa, G., Kappelmayer, J., Mejstříková, E., Karawajew, L., Rossi, J., Suzan, A., Agriello, E., Anastasiou-Grenzelia, T., Barcala, V., Barna, G., Batinic, D., Bourquin, J., Brüggemann, M., Bukowska-Strakova, K., Burnusuzov, H., Carelli, D., Deniz, G., Dubravčić, K., Feuerstein, T., Gaillard, M., Galeano, A., Giordano, H., Gonzalez, A., Groeneveld-Krentz, S., Hevessy, Z., Hrušák, O., Iarossi, M., Jáksó, P., Kloboves Prevodnik, V., Kohlscheen, S., Kreminska, E., Maglia, O., Malusardi, C., Marinov, N., Martin, B., Möller, C., Nikulshin, S., Palazzi, J., Paterakis, G., Popov, A., Ratei, R., Rodríguez, C., Sajaroff, E., Sala, S., Samardzija, G., Sartor, M., Scarparo, P., Sędek, Ł., Slavkovic, B., Solari, L., Svec, P., Szczepański, T., Taparkou, A., Torrebadell, M., Tzanoudaki, M., Varotto, E., Vernitsky, H., Attarbaschi, A., Schrappe, M., Conter, V., Biondi, A., Felice, M., Campbell, M., Kiss, C., Basso, G., Dworzak, M., I-BFM-FLOW-Network: An Extensive Quality Control and Quality Assurance (QC/QA) Program Significantly Improves Inter-Laboratory Concordance Rates of Flow-Cytometric Minimal Residual Disease Assessment in Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia: an I-BFM-FLOW-Network Report. Cancers (Basel). 13 (23), 1-16, 2021.
  8. Kárai, B., Tisza, K., Eperjesi, O., Nagy, A., Ujfalusi, A., Kelemen, Á., Szegedi, I., Kiss, C., Kappelmayer, J., Hevessy, Z.: A Novel Method for the Evaluation of Bone Marrow Samples from Patients with Pediatric B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia: multidimensional Flow Cytometry. Cancers (Basel). 13 (20), 1-14, 2021.
  9. Mezei G, Batár P, Kozma L, Illés Á, Kappelmayer J, Debreceni IB. Ponatinib Exerts an Inhibitory Effect on Collagen-induced Platelet Aggregation and Generation of Coated-Platelets. Anticancer Res. 2021 Oct;41(10):4867-4874. doi: 10.21873/anticanres.15300.
  10. Ghansah H, Debreceni IB, Fejes Z, Nagy B Jr, Kappelmayer J  The Proteasome Inhibitor Bortezomib Induces Apoptosis and Activation in Gel-Filtered Human Platelets. Int J Mol Sci. 2021 Aug 19;22(16):8955. doi: 10.3390/ijms22168955.
  11. Kárai, B., Gyurina, K., Ujfalusi, A., Sędek, Ł., Barna, G., Jáksó, P., Svec, P., Szánthó, E., Nagy, A., Müller, J., Simon, R., Vojczek, Á., Szegedi, I., Tiszlavicz, L., Kowalczyk, J., Kolenova, A., Kovács, G., Szczepański, T., Dworzak, M., Schumich, A., Attarbaschi, A., Nebral, K., Haas, O., Kappelmayer, J., Hevessy, Z., Kiss, C.: Expression Patterns of Coagulation Factor XIII Subunit A on Leukemic Lymphoblasts Correlate with Clinical Outcome and Genetic Subtypes in Childhood B-cell Progenitor Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Cancers (Basel). 12 (8), 1-17, 2020.
  12. Kárai, B., Habók, M., Reményi, G., Rejtő, L., Ujfalusi, A., Kappelmayer, J., Hevessy, Z.: A novel flow cytometric method for enhancing acute promyelocytic leukemia screening by multidimensional dot-plots. Ann. Hematol. 98 (6), 1413-1420, 2019.
  13. Kárai, B., Bedekovics, J., Miltényi, Z., Gergely, L., Szerafin, L., Ujfalusi, A., Kappelmayer, J., Hevessy, Z.: A single-tube flow cytometric procedure for enhancing the diagnosis and prognostic classification of patients with myelodysplastic syndromes. Int. J. Lab. Hematol. 39 (6), 577-584, 2017.

Frissítés dátuma: 2024.04.11.