Washington University in St Louis · BiologyMicroglial Immunity and Alzheimer's Unit
Marco Colonna · Saint Louis, Missouri
Research Focus
Professor Marco Colonna's lab at Washington University focuses on the immune system's role in Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and other conditions. Researchers in the lab study how immune cells manage to clear harmful proteins like amyloid plaques and Tau aggregates in the brain. They are particularly interested in the function of microglia, a type of brain immune cell, and the receptor TREM2 which could be targeted for drug development to improve treatments for AD.
Alzheimer's DiseasemicrogliaTREM2B cellsimmune systemneuroinflammationantibody therapyautoimmunityinnate immunity
Research Aims
5AIM 01Investigate the role of meningeal B cells in the immune response to Alzheimer's Disease.
AIM 02Explore signaling pathways downstream of the TREM2 receptor in microglia.
AIM 03Assess the effectiveness of small-molecule TREM2 agonists in enhancing microglial function.
AIM 04Analyze clonal expansions of T cells in Alzheimer's patients to identify their specificity.
AIM 05Determine the origin and behavior of immune cells that infiltrate the central nervous system.
Skills the Lab Values
cell cultureimmunophenotypingRNA sequencingPCRflow cytometrymouse modelsWestern blotantibody generationclinical trial designdata analysis
Output against the department
Publications844top 2% of dept.24th of 1,033
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations117ktop 1% of dept.9th of 1,033
this lab
most citedleast cited
Career totals from OpenAlex, compared against labs that share a department. A department spans everything from one paper to tens of thousands, so bar heights are on a log scale — otherwise the largest lab would flatten every other bar to a line.