Immunology

The research conducted by the Immunology Group focuses on analyzing the structure of immunoglobulins and their reactivity with antigens under physiological conditions, as well as in infectious, autoimmune, metabolic diseases, and hematological malignancies. Basic research is pursued in several parallel directions:

  • Investigation of immunoglobulin reactivity with microbial antigens, aiming to define the interconnection between antimicrobial and self-antigen reactivity.
  • Molecular constituents of the peripheral blood immune complex, by applying immunochemical, biochemical and “classical” physicochemical methods.
  • Implementation of photon correlation spectroscopy (synonym: Dynamic Light Scattering; DLS) for analysis of the size of the immune complex and assessment of structural characteristics of different molecular forms of immunoglobulin molecules.
  • Study of the morphological and rheological properties of erythrocytes, which play a crucial role in the removal of immune complexes (immune adherence).
  • Examination of the effects of the cellular and molecular environment on the level and structure of monoclonal immunoglobulins secreted by multiple myeloma cells
As part of its applied research activities, the Immunology Group focuses on:
  • The development of inovative bovine and porcine hemoglobin preparations as heme iron-based dietary supplements intended for the prevention or treatment of hypochromic anemia, as well as additives for cell culture applications.
  • The investigation of the biological effects of minerals and plant extracts.

NEXT THREE YEARS

We plan to conduct an in-depth analysis of immunoglobulins under physiological conditions and in the context of infectious, autoimmune, metabolic, and malignant diseases, opening new avenues of research:

  • Investigating the antimicrobial reactivity of immunoglobulins in the oral region to determine their role in the development of dental caries.
  • Identifying immunoglobulin glycans using mass spectrometry.

 

  • Analyzing Fc receptor polymorphisms to identify gene variant combinations that may have pathological significance in the aforementioned diseases.
  • Exploring the use of erythrocytes as immuno- and hemo-compatible delivery systems and as biomarkers of autoimmune and metabolic diseases and particular physiological conditions.

Head of the Research Group

Principal research fellow

Vesna Ilić

Principal research fellow

Vesna Ilić

Vesna Ilić has PhD in biology. Since 2027, Head of the Immunology Group at IMR. For more than twenty-five years, she has been studying the structure and immunoregulatory function of immunoglobulins and immune complexes in physiological (aging, physical exercise, etc.) and pathological conditions (infectious diseases of humans and animals, autoimmune diseases, and malignancies of B lymphocytes and plasma cells). Her currently conducted basic research studies are focused on: 1) Assessment of the reactivity of immunoglobulins with microbial antigens, with the aim to more precisely explain interconnections between this reactivity and reactivity with self-antigens; 2) Analysis of the molecular composition (proteins, lipids, nucleic acids) of the immunocomplex; 3) application of the method of Dynamic Light Scattering (synonym Dynamic Light Scattering) for the analysis of the size of colloidal particles of immunocomplexes; 4) Analysis of the morphological and rheological characteristics of erythrocytes, as cells of importance for the removal of immunocomplexes (immune adherence). Beside the basic research studies, for almost thirty years, she has performed applied, biotechnological research where she has investigated biological/immunomodulatory/effects of extracellular hemoglobin, minerals, and newly synthesized drugs.

Email:vesnai@imi.bg.ac.rs

Group Members

Principal Research Fellow

Dragana Marković
Senior research associate

Ivana Drvenica
senior research associate

Dejana Kosanović
research associate

Sonja Mojsilović
Research associate

Marijana Kovačić
Senior Research associate

Irina Maslovarić
Research associate

Biljana Ristic
Radoš Stefanović

Radoš Stefanović

Principal Research Fellow

Dragana Marković

Dragana Marković completed her B.Sc. degree in 1996 and awarded her PhD degree at the Faculty of Biology, University of Belgrade, Serbia. She currently holds the position of an Senior Research Associate at the Institute for Medical Research, University of Belgrade, National Institute of Republic of Serbia, and works in the Group for Immunology. Her expertise and interest lies in the field of proteomics, immunochemistry, cellular and molecular biology, and redox biology, in relation to inflammatory responses and inflammation-associated diseases. Her research interest relates to local and systemic inflammatory diseases of bone tissues (chronic periodontal diseases, rheumatoid arthritis) and hematological malignancies (chronic myeloproliferative neoplasms, malignancies of B lymphocytes and plasma cells) as well as to the field of chronic psychological stress. Her work also refers to examination of antigenicity of tick salivary proteins. Special place in her research have neutrophils and their pathogenic and proinflammatory potential in chronic inflammatory disorders.

Email:dragana.markovic@imi.bg.ac.rs

Senior research associate

Ivana Drvenica

Ivana T. Drvenica (née Kostić) is a senior research associate in the Group for Immunology. She graduated from the Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Belgrade (Pharmaceutical Technology module) in 2009 and received her PhD in Biotechnology and Biochemical Engineering in 2015 from the Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy at the same University. Her research interest is focused on the development of modern systems for extended/controlled delivery of conventional and unconventional biologically active substances, including the development of cellular drug carriers based on erythrocytes and erythrocyte membranes, as well as the introduction of sophisticated biophysical methods into the medical fields of research (characterization of erythrocytes, immunoglobulins, and immune complexes). Ivana Drvenica started innovative research into the optimal ways of stabilizing hemoglobin from sustainable sources (slaughterhouse blood) to develop a dietary supplement based on highly bioavailable heme iron, and the effects of extracellular hemoglobin on the proliferative, differentiation, and immunomodulatory capacity of mesenchymal cells.

Email:ivana.drvenica@imi.bg.ac.rs

senior research associate

Dejana Kosanović

Dejana Kosanovic, Senior Research Associate, got her PhD in Biology at the University of Belgrade (2015). In 2023. she joined Immunology Group of Institute for Medical Research, where she works on glycan expression on paraproteins from serum of patients with monoclonal gammopathies, and is a member of the Serbian Society of Cancer Researchers (SDIR). As a biology student, she spent an academic year at Georgia State University in Atlanta, USA, (Forecast EXCHANGE Program, 2007-2008) and a month at Complutense University in Madrid, Spain, (Tempus Project H.E.R.B.S, 2009). She was employed at the Torlak Institute, Belgrade (2012-2021), and conducted postdoctoral research in proteomics, Laboratory for Medical Mycology, Maynooth University, Republic of Ireland (GOIPD/2018/115, 2018-2020). In 2021, she began working with data related to two oncological clinical studies on Medidata Rave and Veeva Vault EDC (Electronic Data Capture) systems.

research associate

Sonja Mojsilović

Research associate

Marijana Kovačić

Marijana Kovačić has PhD in biochemistry. In his scientific research work, he examines the content and structural and functional properties of proteins in body fluids and cells that are important for the functioning of the immune response of humans and domestic animals. Her research is mostly focused on examining the impact of the structural and functional characteristics of the immune complex in calves with bronchopneumonia, as well as examining the molecular composition of the immune complex in autoimmune diseases (rheumatoid arthritis). In this research, she analyzes the size of the constituents, the protein and lipid composition of the immune complex and their role. as a modulator of leukocyte function. In addition, he is analysis of lipid classes and fatty acid analysis of patients with multiple myeloma.

Email:marijana.buac@imi.bg.ac.rs

Senior Research associate

Irina Maslovarić

Irina Maslovaric is a medical doctor, immunology specialist with a doctoral research degree in biological sciences. She is a researcher in basic immunology. Her research interest involves analysis of cellular and molecular mechanisms implicated in regulation of immune response in normal and pathological conditions, in animals and humans as well as immunochemical and physicochemical characterization of immunoglobulins, events responsible for their synthesis, and biological effects.

Email:irina.maslovaric@imi.bg.ac.rs

Research associate

Biljana Ristic

Biljana Ristić is a research associate in the immunology group. She received her PhD at the Institute of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine University of Belgrade, studying the antitumor and antibacterial effects of graphene quantum dots in 2017. Biljana received the FOSTAR award for the best doctoral dissertation in the field of human molecular genetics and biomedicine. Previous research has been focused on investigating the role of autophagy in the survival and death of tumour cells, as well as the effects of autophagy modulation on viral infection, cancer therapy and neurodegenerative disorders. She is particularly interested in investigating the complex molecular mechanisms underlying the interaction of autophagy and the innate immune response to SARS-CoV-2 virus infection. Biljana is currently investigating the morphological and rheological characteristics of erythrocytes as cells for removing immune complexes, as well as investigating the biological/immunomodulatory effects of extracellular hemoglobin.

Email:biljana.ristic@imi.bg.ac.rs

Radoš Stefanović

Radoš Stefanović

Radoš Stefanović (born August 25, 1993, in Mramorak, Serbia) completed his undergraduate studies at the Faculty of Sports and Physical Education, University of Belgrade, in 2016. He worked as a teaching assistant and a strength and conditioning coach at the youth academy of FK Partizan. He earned his master’s degree in Physiology from Liverpool John Moores University, supported by the Postgraduate International Achievement Scholarship. His research focused on the proteomic analysis of facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy as part of a Muscular Dystrophy UK-funded project.

In 2023, he began his PhD studies at Faculty of Sport and Physical Education at University of Belgrade, where he works as a junior teaching assistant and at Institute for Medical Research as junior research assistant. His research focuses on the molecular adaptations of erythrocytes to exercise, including membrane deformability, oxidative stress, and interaction between membrane and cytoskeletal proteins. Radoš has strong expertise in data analysis, bioinformatics working with large datasets using R and Python. In his free time, he enjoys rock climbing, skiing, and mountaineering, and is an active member of the Mountaineering Association of Serbia.

Projects – implementation is in progress

Project M2BoostHEM – „Hemoglobin from wasted bovine and porcine slaughterhouse blood in stabilized solid-state forms: potential heme-iron based dietary supplements“ from Proof of Concept program funded by The Science Fund of the Republic of Serbia. Principal investigator: Ivana Drvenica.

 

Project „Tailoring nanoerythrosomes properties toward the development of biomimetic platforms for potential drugdelivery“, Serbian-Hungarian bilateral project for period 2024-2026.

Principal investigator: Biljana Ristić

All projects of this group

Latest RESEARCH PAPERS

Immunoglobulin and immune complexes

Djukić T, Drvenica I, Kovačić M, Milanović S, Majerič D, Šefik-Bukilica M, Miletić M, Bugarski B, Ilić V. Exploring the link between hydrodynamic size and immunoglobulins of circulating immune complexes in rheumatoid arthritis patients. International Journal of Molecular Sciences 2024; 25: 3138. doi: 10.3390/ijms25063138

Djukić T, Drvenica I, Kovačić M, Minić R, Vučetić D, Majerič D, Šefik-Bukilica M, Savić O, Bugarski B, Ilić V. Dynamic light scattering analysis of immune complexes in sera of rheumatoid arthritis patients. Analytical Biochemistry. 2023; 674: 115194. Doi: 10.1016/j.ab.2023.11519

Maslovarić I, Kosanović D, Marković D, Prodanović M, Savić O, Janjušević A, Ilić V, Minić R. IgA monoclonal gammopathies are accompanied by higher total TGF-β1 levels than IgG or IgM monoclonal gammopathies. Scand J Immunol. 2024; 100(6):e13422. doi: 10.1111/sji.13422.

Kovačić M, Fratrić N, Arsić A, Mojsilović S, Drvenica I, Marković D, Maslovarić I, Grujić Milanović J, Ivanov M, Ilić V. Structural characteristics of circulating immune complexes in calves with bronchopneumonia: Impact on the quiescent leukocytes. Research in Veterinary Science. 2020; 133: 63-74 doi: 10.1016/j.rvsc.2020.09.004

 

Hemoglobin and erythrocytes

Radmilović MD, Ilić VL, Vučetić DD, Trivanović DI, Rabasović MD, Krmpot AJ, Drvenica IT. Light on abnormal red blood cell subpopulations: Label-free optics-based approach for studying in vitro rigidified blood cells. Spectrochim Acta A Mol Biomol Spectrosc. 2025; 327:125420. doi: 10.1016/j.saa.2024.125420.

Radmilović MD, Ilić VLj, Trivanović D, Petakov A, Lalić K, Rabasović MD, Krmpot AJ, Drvenica IT. Elongation index derivative as a potential hemorheological parameter in a diffraction analysis of Diabetes mellitus patients’ erythrocytes. Optical and Quantum Electronics, 2024; 56(7):1225. doi: 10.1007/s11082-024-06973-9

Radmilović MD, Drvenica IT, Rabasović MD, Ilić VL, Pavlović D, Oasa S, Vukojević V, Perić M, Nikolić SN, Krmpot AJ. Interactions of ultrashort laser pulses with hemoglobin: Photophysical aspects and potential applications. International Journal of Biological Macromolecules. 2023; 244:125312. Doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2023.125312.

Stančić AZ, Drvenica IT, Obradović HN, Bugarski BM, Ilić VL, Bugarski DS. Native bovine hemoglobin reduces differentiation capacity of mesenchymal stromal cells in vitro. Int J Biol Macromol. 2020 Feb 1;144:909-920. Doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2019.09.167.

 

 

Effects of Mineral and plant extracts

Drvenica I, Stojić M, Fratrić N, Kovačić M, Grujić-Milanović J, Vejnović B, Marković D, Gvozdić D, Ilić V. Oral supplementation with organically modified clinoptilolite during prepartum period influences the redox status of peripheral blood and colostrum of primiparous dairy cows. Italian Journal of Animal Science. 2022, 21(1): 847-58. doi: 10.1080/1828051X.2022.2070034

Stojić M, Ilić V, Kovačić M, Gvozdić D, Stajković S, Vejnović B, Savić O, Fratrić N. Effects of oral supplementation with organically modified clinoptilolite during prepartum period on colostrum quality in primiparous dairy cows. Journal of Dairy Research. 2020, 87(4): 429-435. doi: 10.1017/S0022029920001077

Maslovarić I, Ilić V, Drvenica I, Stančić A, Mojsilović S, Kukolj T, Bugarski D, Saso L, Nicoletti M. Insight into the biological activity of hennosides—glucosides isolated from Lawsonia inermis (henna): could they be regarded as active constituents instead. Plants. 2021, 10, 237. (Epub 2021 Jan 26). doi: 10.3390/plants10020237

All papers

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