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Inflammation Neuroscience - Team Olofsson

Overactive inflammation causes increased morbidity and mortality, not least in cardiovascular disease, the most common cause of death in the world. A better understanding of the molecular and cellular mechanisms that drive disease development promises better opportunities for treatment and prevention.

Team Peder Olofsson. Group picture of 13 people outdoors.
Team Peder Olofsson. Back row: Peder Olofsson, Jacob Larsson, Hadder Batista Silva, Jérômine Vacquié, Qi Guo Font row: Ting Liu, Lamija Coric, Vladimir Shavva, Laura Tarnawski, April Nielsen, Patrícia Mendes, Wanmin Dai, Ekaterina Chernogubova. Photo: Private.

Our research

In the video above, Peder Olofsson and Henrik Hult (KTH) present how they research bioelectronic medicine within the interdisciplinary center . The film is produced by MikeyKay Films.

Understanding the pathophysiology of cardiovascular disease and overactive inflammation requires neuroscience because nerve signals regulate inflammation and metabolism. We have uncovered cellular and molecular mechanisms for neural regulation of inflammation and recently showed that activation of specific peripheral nerves controls the active healing of inflammation () and work in one of the European consortia we participate in found that specific nerve signals affect the development of atherosclerosis () (Fig. 1).

In the long term, we aim to create both an atlas and a dictionary of how neural reflexes regulate inflammation and metabolism, i.e. the 1) peripheral neuroanatomy and neurophysiology, and 2) cellular and molecular mechanisms of excessive inflammation (Fig. 2). We work toward this goal together with engineers at KTH and Linköping University within the Stockholm Center for Bioelectronic Medicine at MedTechLabs.

The figure illustrates what is written in the caption text.
Figure 1. Understanding cardiovascular inflammation requires neuroscience. Discoveries over recent decades showed that 1) atherosclerosis is an inflammatory disease and 2) neural reflexes regulate inflammation. Recent discoveries show that neural regulation plays a role in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease. Very little is known about these mechanisms, and this is a focus area in the group.
The figure illustrates what is written in the caption text.
Figure 2. Neural signals regulate inflammation and metabolism. (a) The brain coordinates organ function using peripheral nerves that reach virtually every tissue and cell. (b, c) Signals are propagated using electrical impulses and chemicals, i.e. neurotransmitters such as norepinephrine and acetylcholine. (d) Nerves have receptors that respond to mediators of inflammation, infection, and tissue damage.

More about our research:

Cooperation

  • Henrik Hult, KTH, Stockholm: Mapping neural signals that regulate of inflammation.
  • Magnus Berggren, LiU, Linköping: Improving machine-perihperal nerve interfaces.
  • Elvira Mass, University of Bonn, Bonn: Developmental biology of the immune system.
  • Falk Nimmerjahn, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nürnberg: Genetics and immunology.
  • Kevin J Tracey, The Feinstein Institute, New York: Neural regulation of inflammation.

Research support

  • The Swedish Research Council
  • Heart-Lung Foundation
  • SSF
  • MedTechLabs
  • ALF
  • NovoNordisk
  • WASP-DDLS
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Contact

Profile image

Peder Olofsson

Team leader, Professor

Selected publications


Olofsson PS
Science 2024 May;384(6699):962-963.


Di Nunzio G, Hellberg S, Zhang Y, Ahmed O, Wang J, Zhang X, Björck HM, Chizh V, Schipper R, Aulin H, Francis R, Fagerberg L, Gisterå A, Metso J, Manfé V, Franco-Cereceda A, Eriksson P, Jauhiainen M, Hagberg CE, Olofsson PS, Malin SG
Nat Cardiovasc Res 2024 Mar;3(3):356-371.


Tarnawski L, Shavva VS, Kort EJ, Zhuge Z, Nilsson I, Gallina AL, Martínez-Enguita D, Heller Sahlgren B, Weiland M, Caravaca AS, Schmidt S, Chen P, Abbas K, Wang FH, Ahmed O, Eberhardson M, Färnert A, Weitzberg E, Gustafsson M, Kehr J, Malin SG, Hult H, Carlström M, Jovinge S, Olofsson PS
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023 Apr;120(14):e2212476120.


Harikesh PC, Yang CY, Wu HY, Zhang S, Donahue MJ, Caravaca AS, Huang JD, Olofsson PS, Berggren M, Tu D, Fabiano S
Nat Mater 2023 Feb;22(2):242-248.


Caravaca AS, Gallina AL, Tarnawski L, Shavva VS, Colas RA, Dalli J, Malin SG, Hult H, Arnardottir H, Olofsson PS
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2022 05;119(22):e2023285119.


Tarnawski L, Reardon C, Caravaca AS, Rosas-Ballina M, Tusche MW, Drake AR, Hudson LK, Hanes WM, Li JH, Parrish WR, Ojamaa K, Al-Abed Y, Faltys M, Pavlov VA, Andersson U, Chavan SS, Levine YA, Mak TW, Tracey KJ, Olofsson PS
Front Immunol 2018 ;9():2648.


Cox MA, Duncan GS, Lin GHY, Steinberg BE, Yu LX, Brenner D, Buckler LN, Elia AJ, Wakeham AC, Nieman B, Dominguez-Brauer C, Elford AR, Gill KT, Kubli SP, Haight J, Berger T, Ohashi PS, Tracey KJ, Olofsson PS, Mak TW
Science 2019 02;363(6427):639-644.


Olofsson PS, Steinberg BE, Sobbi R, Cox MA, Ahmed MN, Oswald M, Szekeres F, Hanes WM, Introini A, Liu SF, Holodick NE, Rothstein TL, Lövdahl C, Chavan SS, Yang H, Pavlov VA, Broliden K, Andersson U, Diamond B, Miller EJ, Arner A, Gregersen PK, Backx PH, Mak TW, Tracey KJ
Nat Biotechnol 2016 Oct;34(10):1066-1071.


Rosas-Ballina M, Olofsson PS, Ochani M, Valdés-Ferrer SI, Levine YA, Reardon C, Tusche MW, Pavlov VA, Andersson U, Chavan S, Mak TW, Tracey KJ
Science 2011 Oct;334(6052):98-101.


Caravaca AS, Tsaava T, Goldman L, Silverman H, Riggott G, Chavan SS, Bouton C, Tracey KJ, Desimone R, Boyden ES, Sohal HS, Olofsson PS
J Neural Eng 2017 12;14(6):066005.


Christersdottir T, Pirault J, Gisterå A, Bergman O, Gallina AL, Baumgartner R, Lundberg AM, Eriksson P, Yan ZQ, Paulsson-Berne G, Hansson GK, Olofsson PS, Halle M
Eur Heart J 2019 08;40(30):2495-2503.


Brück E, Lasselin J, , Andersson U, Sackey PV, Olofsson PS
Intensive Care Med 2020 04;46(4):811-812.


Mohanta SK, Peng L, Li Y, Lu S, Sun T, Carnevale L, Perrotta M, Ma Z, Förstera B, Stanic K, Zhang C, Zhang X, Szczepaniak P, Bianchini M, Saeed BR, Carnevale R, Hu D, Nosalski R, Pallante F, Beer M, Santovito D, Ertürk A, Mettenleiter TC, Klupp BG, Megens RTA, Steffens S, Pelisek J, Eckstein HH, Kleemann R, Habenicht L, Mallat Z, Michel JB, Bernhagen J, Dichgans M, D'Agostino G, Guzik TJ, Olofsson PS, Yin C, Weber C, Lembo G, Carnevale D, Habenicht AJR
Nature 2022 05;605(7908):152-159.


Olofsson PS
Circ Res 2012 Mar;110(6):800-1.