NIMP
National Immune Monitoring Platform
The National Immune Monitoring Platform (NIMP) is a network of research facilities distributed across the Netherlands that are joining their unique expertise in different aspects of the analysis of the immune system to provide an integrated tool that will revolutionize immune monitoring and will enable Precision Medicine of immune-mediated inflammatory diseases and cancer. Also, NIMP aims to provide support for the development of immune-targeting drugs, improve organ transplantation, and vaccination strategies.
Infrastructure and User Services
NIMP is designed as a multicenter platform that brings together the following experts in the different aspects of the immune system:
- Cytomics Node (Amsterdam UMC/Radboud University Nijmegen): Functional assays of immune activity, characterization of immune subsets in blood and tissues (multiplexed immunophenotyping and single cell transcriptomics), and development of a new modality of cell analysis, time-lapse cytometry.
- Proteomics Node (Amsterdam UMC/Erasmus MC): Analysis of the full and targeted plasma proteome, single cell proteomics, and phosphoproteomics of immune cells.
- Immunometabolism Node (LACDR): Focus on analysis of the full metabolome in plasma and other relevant tissues, as well as development of single cell metabolomics.
- Microbiome Node (Amsterdam Microbiome Expertise Center): Characterization of the gut microbiome in connection with immunological function.
- Antibody Diversity Node (Sanquin Research/LUMC): Antibody diversity and functionality, BCR/TCR sequencing (B/T cell repertoire analyses), and antibody glycosylation.
- Data integration Node (Amsterdam UMC/SILS): Research data management, computational analysis, data integration, longitudinal statistical analysis.
- Study design Node (Amsterdam UMC): Support on the design of clinical studies involving immune monitoring.
- Outreach node (ImmuneHealth XL): Patient engagement, interaction with research foundations, policy advising.
NIMP will provide service at different levels:
- Full immune monitoring services: We will provide support including study design, sample collection and biobanking, sample processing, data acquisition, data curation and analysis, and data interpretation.
- Focused immune monitoring services. For specific projects we are able to adapt the offering of services to the need of the users (trimming off analytical options).
Examples/description of the type of research
The immune system is overwhelmingly complex due to immense dynamic cell (sub)type diversity that interacts through a myriad of chemically mediators. Additionally, the immune system constantly changes in response to external (microbiome, lifestyle, environment) and internal factors (genetics, neural, endocrine and metabolic factors). Comprehensively addressing the immune system is necessary to bring immune monitoring to the next level, but requires significant different expertise and technological excellence. Chronic Immune-Mediated Inflammatory Diseases (IMIDs) represent >80 increasingly prevalent conditions impacting 5–7% of people. Furthermore, the immune system plays a critical role in allergies, infectious diseases, cancer, cardiovascular disorders, and metabolic syndrome, collectively impacting >60% of people in developed countries. Small drugs, immune modulatory biologicals (immunotherapies) and vaccines provide new therapeutic opportunities in these diseases. Yet, a major limitation in their successful application is lack of proper companion diagnostics in early stages to (1) predict efficiency, (2) identify responsive patients, and (3) prevent immune-related adverse events. Solving these issues is necessary for IMIDs, for which multiple immunotherapies exist and patients generally go through 6-month “trial-and-error” cycles to achieve clinical response. It also applies to cancer patients treated with checkpoint inhibitors, or other immunotherapy types, and would have formidable impact in guiding rational design of vaccines against allergens, emerging viruses, and multi-resistant bacteria. Importantly, developments in single cell technologies and omics provide unprecedented understanding of our immune system. We can now use systems immunology and AI-driven methodologies to integrate cytomics, proteomics, metabolomics and microbiomics into multilayered immunotypes that can be linked to clinical outcomes.
How to access the infrastructure?
- Internal: Users from the same academic center, directly via local node (approx. 35%)
- External academic: Users from other academic research institutes, via request to program manager (approx. 30%).
- External non-academic: Users from clinical research organizations and pharmaceutical industry, via business developer (approx. 30%).