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  • Manolis Roulis
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Faculty

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Manolis Roulis, Ph.D

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Assistant Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
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Department: Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
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1f Graduate Group Affiliations 8 a
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Stellar Chance Laboratories 505A (office) /508 (lab)
36 422 Curie Boulevard
Philadelphia, PA 19104
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Email: manolis.roulis@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
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13 Education:
21 c Diploma 14 (Biology) c
47 National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 2005.
 21 a Ph.D. 17 (Immunology) c
6d University of Ioannina / Biomedical Sciences Research Center “Alexander Fleming”, 2009.
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Links
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61 Roulis lab website
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Description of Research Expertise

4b4 Homeostasis in mucosal barrier tissues is maintained through complex interactions between resident cell types, the immune system and the microbiota. The overarching goal of my research is to understand why and how this balance is broken at the onset of chronic inflammatory, fibrotic and neoplastic processes, which may lead to an irreversible loss of tissue architecture and organ functionality. In this context, the mesenchymal microenvironment and its primary constituents, the extracellular matrix and the millions of fibroblasts that build it, is one of the most enigmatic areas of tissue biology today. The research of my laboratory focuses on the biology of recently discovered types of intestinal fibroblasts, which occupy specific niches within the tissue, have distinct transcriptional programs, but their function in physiology and in disease remains completely unknown. By integrating single cell studies in human tissues and in mice with functional analyses in mouse models, human organoids and organotypic systems, my laboratory aims to uncover specific cellular and molecular mechanisms through which fibroblasts control intestinal inflammation, fibrosis and tumorigenesis.
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Selected Publications

15d Kaffe E, Roulis M, Zhao J, Qu R, Sefik E, Mirza H, Zhou J, Zheng Y, Charkoftaki G, Vasiliou V, Vatner DF, Mehal WZ; AlcHepNet; Yuval Kluger, Flavell RA.: Humanized mouse liver reveals endothelial control of essential hepatic metabolic functions. Cell 186: 3793-3809, Aug 2023.

 170 Wu N, Sun H, Zhao X, Zhang Y, Tan J, Qi Y, Wang Q, Ng M, Liu Z, He L, Niu X, Chen L, Liu Z, Li HB, Zeng YA, Roulis M, Liu D, Cheng J, Zhou B, Ng LG, Zou D, Ye Y, Flavell RA, Ginhoux F, Su B.: MAP3K2-regulated intestinal stromal cells define a distinct stem cell niche. Nature 592: 606-610, 2021.

 1c1 Roulis M, Kaklamanos A, Schernthanner M, Bielecki P, Zhao J, Kaffe E, Frommelt LS, Qu R, Knapp MS, Henriques A, Chalkidi N, Koliaraki V, Jiao J, Brewer JR, Bacher M, Blackburn HN, Zhao X, Breyer RM, Aidinis V, Jain D, Su B, Herschman HR, Kluger Y, Kollias G, Flavell RA.: Paracrine orchestration of intestinal tumorigenesis by a mesenchymal niche. Nature 580: 524–529, 2020.

 1c2 Jarret A, Jackson R, Duizer C, Healy ME, Zhao J, Rone JM, Bielecki P, Sefik E, Roulis M, Rice T, Sivanathan KN, Zhou T, Solis AG, Honcharova-Biletska H, Vélez K, Hartner S, Low JS, Qu R, de Zoete MR, Palm NW, Ring AM, Weber A, Moor AE, Kluger Y, Nowarski R, Flavell RA.: Enteric Nervous System-Derived IL-18 Orchestrates Mucosal Barrier Immunity. Cell 180(1): 50-63, Jan 2020.

 139 Roulis M, Bongers G, Armaka M, Salviano T, He Z, Singh A, Seidler U, Becker C, Demengeot J, Furtado GC, Lira SA, Kollias G.: Host and microbiota interactions are critical for development of murine Crohn's-like ileitis. Mucosal Immunol 2016.

 18f Roulis M, Nikolaou C, Kotsaki E, Kaffe E, Karagianni N, Koliaraki V, Salpea K, Ragoussis J, Aidinis V, Martini E, Becker C, Herschman HR, Vetrano S, Danese S, Kollias G.: Intestinal myofibroblast-specific Tpl2-Cox-2-PGE2 pathway links innate sensing to epithelial homeostasis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 111: E4658-67, Oct 2014.

 12c Roulis M, Armaka M, Manoloukos M, Apostolaki M, Kollias G.: Intestinal epithelial cells as producers but not targets of chronic TNF suffice to cause murine Crohn-like pathology. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 108: 5396-401, Mar 2011.

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