The Centre d'Immunologie de Marseille-Luminy (CIML) was founded in 1976 and has been described by
AERES, an independent evaluation agency, as "without doubt one of the best
immunology centers of excellence in Europe".[1] The CIML addresses all areas of contemporary immunology; it is located in
Marseille in the South of France.[2]
Function
The institute has 17 research teams, with 250 staff including 185 scientists, students, and post-docs from 24 countries. It offers Masters and PhD programs.[3]
The CIML has 90 academic collaborations and 21 industrial partners in France, Europe, and worldwide, and has formed several spin-offs, including: Innate Pharma, Ipsogen (Quiagen), and Immunotech (Beckman-Coulter).[citation needed]
The institute has published over 400 scientific publications in the last 5 years, including 145 in journals with an
impact factor ≥ 10.[4]
It is located on a science campus that is home to more than 1,500 researchers and 10,000 students, and 15 biotech companies.[5]
Early work at CIML was centered on
T cells. The study of their antigen receptors lead to the discovery of chromosomal inversion during the formation of the
T cell receptor (TCR).[10] Researchers at the CIML also published the first nucleotide sequence of a gene encoding a human
major histocompatibility complex (MHC) gene [11] and described how the TCR recognizes its MHC ligand.[12] The functions of these T cells were also investigated, leading in particular to the identification of
Granzyme A and
GZMB (then called CTLA-1 and CTLA-3)[13] and the demonstration of their playing a role in the perforin-granzyme-based mechanism of T-cell-mediated cytotoxicity, and to the discovery of the second,
Fas ligand/
Fas receptor based pathway of cytotoxicity.[14][15] Other biologically important regulatory molecules identified at the CIML include interleukins such as
interleukin-17 (as CTLA-8)[16] and cell surface molecules, such as
CTLA-4[17] regulating T cells. Subsequently, research at the CIML expanded to other cells of the
immune system, including
B cells,
dendritic cells and
natural killer cells, as well as other models systems, such as C. elegans.[18] CIML researchers identified the
immunoreceptor tyrosine-based inhibitory motif (ITIM)-containing KARAP/DAP12[19] that is important for NK cell function and characterized the key function of the
killer activated receptor NKp46.[20] Other recent advances include the discovery of early precursors of B-cell
follicular lymphoma in apparently healthy individuals,[21] and of dendritic cell aggresome-like induced structures (DALIS) in dendritic cells,[22] thought to play an important role in regulating antigen presentation, as well as the discovery of
MafB/
M-CSF circuits in hematopoietic stem cell commitment, and
macrophages.[23][24]
The CIML's Master's and PhD program is integrated into the educational framework of
Aix-Marseille University. Participation in the CIML program requires enrollment in the Master's-PhD program at the Ecole Doctorale des Sciences de la Vie. A unique part of the program is a student exchange scheme with
Harvard Medical School.[citation needed]
Clinical activities
In immunology, more than in any other discipline,
physiology is often revealed by
pathology. Therefore, the institute is involved in many studies with clinical objectives. A wide range of malignancies are studied at the CIML such as
leukemias and
hematopoietic cancers,
lymphomas and primary immune deficiencies, or
brucellosis and juvenile
arthritis. Treatments are also a major concern of the institute, such as studies on the prevention, monitoring, and treatment of hematologic malignancies and on the impact of therapies on the immune system. Finally, theoretical work which may provide key solutions to medicine are performed at the CIML on inflammatory mechanisms associated with the development of inflammatory bowel.[citation needed]