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Experimental Immunology

Group leader Mika Rämet

Mika Rämet

Professor of Experimental Immunology

Current position
Professor of Experimental Immunology

Street address
Arvo Ylpön katu 34
33520 Tampere
Finland

Mailing address
Kalevantie 4
33014 Tampere University
Finland

E-mail
mika.ramet (at) tuni.fi

Phone number
+358-50-4336276

130 peer reviewed publications in international journals. The publications have been cited 11 363  times, of which the most cited publication accounts for 980 citations. The author has a h-index of 49. (Google Scholar, 20 June 2024)

Biography

I received my MD and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Oulu, Finland. Therefater I worked as a research Fellow at the Harvard University, Boston from 1999 to 2002. After returning to Finland, I received Specialist’s degree in Peadiatrics and Neonatology at the Tampere University. I have led my independent research team at Tampere University since 2003. I have hold professorship in Experimental Immunology since 2008 (Tampere University, tenured). I acted as the Professor of Peadiatrics (Chair, tenured) at the University of Oulu 2014-2020.

Research interests

  • Development of a new vaccine against tuberculosis
  • Molecular mechanisms regulating innate immunity
  • Protective immunity against  Mycobacterial infection
  • Spontaneous preterm delivery: susceptibility genes and timing of childbirth
  • Mechanisms, prevention and treatment of the most common neonatal diseases

Our research centers on the basic mechanisms of immune response using primarily non-mammalian models such as the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster and zebrafish Danio rerio. I was the first to demonstrate the power of RNAi screening in cultured cells. Nowadays we use model organisms to investigate host-microbe interactions primarily related to the most important paediatric pathogens. In addition, we have focused on identifying genetic alterations predisposing to the preterm birth as well as to severe respiratory infections during the neonatal period.

I have received several honours in recognition of my research including awards from the Society for Pediatric Research (Fellow Clinical Research Award), the Finnish Medical Association Duodecim (Young Investigator Prize), the Finnish Pediatric Association (Helena and Niilo Hallman Award) and the Anders Jahre Prize for young scientist. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Tampere University awarded me for my societal impact, I received the ‘Hyvän tiedon omena’ recognition from Finnish health journalists, and clinical research professionals chose me as researcher of the year 2021. The University of Oulu chose me as the Alumni of the Year 2023.

Our research has been funded by the Jane and Aatos Erkko Foundation, the Academy of Finland, Sigrid Juselius Foundation, Tampere Tuberculosis Foundation and Stiftelsen Alma och K. A. Snellman Foundation.

Major 20 publications: (Citations as in Google Scholar 20 June 2024)

  1. Rämet M, Manfruelli P, Pearson A, Mathey-Prevot B & Ezekowitz RA. Functional genomic analysis of phagocytosis and identification of a Drosophila receptor for E. coli. Nature 2002;416:644-648. Citations 818
  2. Kleino A, Valanne S, Ulvila J, Kallio J, Myllymäki H, Enwald H, Stöven S, Poidevin M, Ueda R, Hultmark D, Lemaitre B & Rämet M. Inhibitor of apoptosis 2 and TAK1 binding protein are components of the Drosophila Imd pathway. EMBO Journal 2005;24:3423-3434. Citations 283
  3. Kocks C, Cho JH, Nehme N, Ulvila J, Pearson AM, Meister M, Strom C, Conto S, Hetru C, Stuart L, Stehle T, Hoffmann JA, Reichhart J-M, Ferrandon D, Rämet M & Ezekowitz RA. Eater, a novel transmembrane protein mediating phagocytosis of bacterial pathogens in Drosophila. Cell 2005;123:335-346. Citations 453
  4. Kleino A, Myllymäki H, Kallio J, Vanha-aho LM, Ulvila J, Oksanen K, Hultmark D, Valanne S & Rämet M. Pirk is a negative regulator of the Drosophila Imd pathway. Journal of Immunology 2008, 180:5413-5422. Citations 229
  5. Valanne S, Myllymäki H, Kallio J, Sshmid M, Kleino A, Murumägi A, Airaksinen L, Kotipelto T, Kaustio M, Ulvila J, Esfahani S, Engström Y, Silvennoinen O, Hultmark D, Parikka M & Rämet M. Genome-wide RNAi in Drosophila cells identifies G protein-coupled receptor kinase 2 as an evolutionary conserved regulator of the NF-kB signaling. Journal of Immunology, 2010, 184:6188-98. Citations 104
  6. Kallio J, Myllymäki H, Grönholm J, Amstrong M, Vanha-aho LM, Mäkinen L, Silvennoinen O, Valanne S & Rämet M. Eye Transformer is a negative regulator of Drosophila JAK-STAT signaling. FASEB Journal, 2010, 24: 4467-4479. Citations 68
  7. Valanne S, Wang JH & Rämet M. The Drosophila Toll signaling pathway. Journal of Immunology 2011, 186:649-656. Citations 980
  8. Parikka M, Vuoksio M, Harjula SK, Halfpenny N, Oksanen K, Lahtinen MJ, Pajula E, Iivanainen A, Pesu M & Rämet M. Mycobacterium marinum causes a latent infection that can be reactivated by gamma irradiation in adult zebrafish. PLoS Pathogens, 2012, 8:e1002944. Citations 149
  9. Oksanen KE, Halfpenny NJ, Sherwood E, Harjula SK, Hammarén MM, Ahava MJ, Pajula ET, Lahtinen MJ, Parikka M & Rämet M. An adult zebrafish model for preclinical tuberculosis vaccine development. Vaccine, 2013,31:52029.  Citations 75
  10. Myllymäki H, Valanne S & Rämet M. The Drosophila Imd signaling pathway. Journal of Immunology 2014, 192:3455-3462. Citations 541
  11. Vanha-aho LM, Anderl I, Vesala L, Hultmark D, Valanne S & Rämet M. Edin expression in the fat body is required for resistance against parasitoid wasps in Drosophila melanogaster. PLoS Pathogens, 2015, 11:e1004895. Citations 45
  12. Anderl I, Vesala L, Ihalainen T, Vanha-aho LM, Ando I, Rämet M & Hultmark D. Transdifferentiation and proliferation in two distinct hemocyte lineages in Drosophila melanogaster larvae after wasp infection. PLoS Pathogens, 2016, 12(7):e1005746. Citations 148
  13. Myllymäki H, Niskanen M, Luukinen H, Parikka M & Rämet M. Identification of protective postexposure mycobacterial vaccine antigens using an immunosuppression-based reactivation model in the zebrafish. Disease Models & Mechanisms, 2018, 11(3). Citations 30
  14. Harjula SK, Ojanen M & Rämet M. Interleukin 10 mutant zebrafish have enhanced Th1 response and improved resistance against Mycobacterium marinum infection. Scientific Reports, 2018, 8:10360.  Citations 40
  15. Valanne S, Salminen TS, Järvelä-Stölting M, Vesala L & Rämet M. Immune-inducible non-coding RNA molecule lincRNA-IBIN connects immunity and metabolism in Drosophila melanogaster. PLoS Pathogens, 2019, 15:e1007504. Citations 55
  16. Tiensuu H, Haapalainen A, Karjalainen M, Pasanen A, Huusko J, Marttila R, Ojaniemi M, Muglia LJ, Hallman M & Rämet M. Risk of spontaneous preterm birth and fetal growth associates with fetal SLIT2. PLoS Genetics, 2019, accepted. Citations 55
  17. Valanne S, Järvelä-Stölting M, Harjula S, Myllymäki H, Salminen TS & Rämet M. Osa-containing Brahma complex regulates innate immunity and expression of metabolic genes in Drosophila. Journal of Immunology, 2021,206:917-18. Citations 4
  18. Tiensuu H, Haapalainen AM, Tissarinen P, Pasanen A, Määttä TA, Huusko JM, Ohlmeier S, Bergmann U, Ojaniemi M, Muglia LJ, Hallman M & Rämet M. Human Placental Proteomics and Exon Variant Studies Link AAT/SERPINA1 with Spontaneous Preterm Birth. BMC Medicine, 2022, 20(1):141. Citations 18
  19. Saralahti A, Harjula SKE, Rantapero T, Uusi-Mäkelä M, Kaasinen M, Junno M, Piippo H, Nykter M, Lohi O, Rounioja S, Parikka M & Rämet M. Characterization of the innate immune response to Streptococcus pneumoniae infection in zebrafish. PLoS Genetics, 2023, 19(1):e1010586. Citations 3
  20.  Pasanen A, Karjalainen MK, FinnGen, Zhang G, Tiensuu H, Haapalainen A, Ojaniemi M, Feenstra B, Jacobsson B, Palotie A, Laivuori H, Muglia LJ, Rämet M & Hallman M. Meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies of gestational duration and spontaneous preterm birth identifies new maternal risk loci. PLoS Genetics, 2023, 19(10):e1010982. Citations 1

Recent and on-going professional and community activities

  • Council member, Research Council of Biosciences, Health and Environment, the Academy of Finland (2019-21)
  • Chairman, Research Council of Health, the Academy of Finland (2016-18)
  • Chairman, Evaluation committee, the Snellman Foundation (2019 -)
  • Panel member, Organism biology, Vetenskaprådet, Swedish Research Council (2014-19)
  • Chair, Finnish Society for Immunology (2014-17)
  • Vice chair , Finnish Society for Immunology (2013-14, 2018-20)
  • Member of the Board, Scandinavian Society for Immunology, (2013-18)
  • Chairman of the Board, Academy Programme pHealth (2019-21)
  • Chairman of the Board, Academy Programme Cohort (2019-21)
  • Chairman of the Board, Academy Programme Health from Science (TERVA) (2017-22)
  • Vice Chair, Board of the Academy Programme Develop (2019-21)
  • Coordinator of the non-mammalian model organism network, Biocenter Finland (2010-19)
  • Memebr, the Finnish Research Infrastructure Committee (FIRI Committee) at the Academy of Finland (2016-22)
  • Member, Science Council, University of Oulu, Finland (2014-20)
  • Editorial Board member, Scandinavian Journal of Immunology (2013–20)
  • Editorial Board member, Developmental and Comparative Immunology (2012-20)
  • Session Chair, International Congress of Immunology, Melbourne, Australia , 2016
  • Opponent in Doctoral Dissertation (7 times)
  • Pre-examiner of Doctoral Dissertation (12 times)