Dr Francesco Carlucci

I am an Arthritis Research UK Clinician Scientist studying the genetic basis and pathogenesis of autoimmunity. In my research studies I use several novel congenic mouse strains spontaneously developing a systemic disease resembling human Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE). My major interest is to understand the cellular and molecular mechanisms controlling the production of autoantibodies and to identify the gene/s driving the different disease traits. The long term aim is to translate the information obtained with the animals to humans in order to dissect the complex genetic inheritance of lupus and discover new therapeutic approaches.

I am an Honorary Consultant Rheumatologist at Imperial College Academic Health Sciences Centre. My clinical interests include systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis.

 

SELECTED KEY PUBLICATIONS

Carlucci F, Fossati-Jimack L, Dumitriu IE, Heidari Y, Walport MJ, Szajna M, Baruah P, Garden OA, Cook HT, Botto M. Identification and characterisation of a lupus suppressor 129 locus on chromosome 3. Journal of Immunology. 2010 Jun 1;184(11):6256-65.

Carlucci F, Cook HT, Garg A, Pepys MB, Botto M. Single Injection of Human C-Reactive Protein has No Effect on Murine Lupus or Nephrotoxic Nephritis. Arthritis & Rheumatism 2010 Jan 62(1):245-9.

Heidari Y, Fossati-Jimack L, Carlucci F, Walport MJ, Cook HT, Botto M. A lupus-susceptibility C57BL/6 locus on chromosome 3 (Sle18) contributes to autoantibody production in 129 mice. Genes Immun. 2009 Jan;10(1):47-55.

Carlucci F, Cortes-Hernandez J, Fossati-Jimack L, Bygrave AE, Walport MJ, Vyse TJ, Cook HT, Botto M. Genetic dissection of spontaneous autoimmunity driven by 129-derived chromosome 1 Loci when expressed on C57BL/6 mice. J Immunol. 2007 Feb 15;178(4):2352-60.

Pickering MC, Warren J, Rose KL, Carlucci F, Wang Y, Walport MJ, Cook HT, Botto M. Prevention of C5 activation ameliorates spontaneous and experimental glomerulonephritis in factor H-deficient mice. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2006 Jun 20;103(25):9649-54.

Manderson AP, Carlucci F, Lachmann PJ, Lazarus RA, Festenstein RJ, Cook HT, Walport MJ, Botto M. The in vivo expression of actin/salt-resistant hyperactive DNase I inhibits the development of anti-ssDNA and anti-histone autoantibodies in a murine model of systemic lupus erythematosus. Arthritis Res Ther. 2006;8(3):R68.