Skip to main content
Department of Anesthesiology Department of Anesthesiology
  1. HOME
  2. Research
  3. Basic Science
  4. Yaksh Research Lab
  5. Faculty
  6. Camilla I. Svensson, Ph.D

Camilla I. Svensson, Ph.D

Camilla Svensson, Ph.D.

Camilla I. Svensson, Ph.D.
Adjunct Associate Professor, Anesthesiology
University of California, San Diego
csvensson@ucsd.edu

Professor, Department of Physiology and Pharmacology
Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
camilla.svensson@ki.se

Research Summary

The focus of my research is centered on joint pain in rheumatic conditions, using models of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), based on injection of collagen type II antibodies or anti-citrullinated protein antibodies (ACPA) isolated from RA patients' blood or generated from RA patients' B-ceAntibody-induced pain precedes onset of inflammation. This observation is interesting considering that arthralgia and presence of serum autoantibodies predate development of RA by years in humans. Thus, I am exploring if antibodies are directly activating sensory neurons in the absence of inflammation and/or trigger other cells to release factors that activate nociceptors in the joint. I have data indicating that ACPA activate osteoclasts causing release of the CXCL1 (mouse analogue to human IL-8), and that CXCR1 antagonists attenuate ACPA-induced pain-like behavior. My work points to the role of peripheral and central Fc-gamma receptors in RA-induced pain and, for this purpose, we have developed transgenic mice and associated tools to be used in efforts to decipher the role of the different Fc-gamma receptors in pain signaling.

Pain-like behavior in these models persists for an extended period, and in the case of development of joint inflammation, outlasts signs of inflammation by many weeks. This suggests that exposure to certain autoantibodies, with or without a period of joint inflammation, initiates long-term changes in the sensory system. Accordingly, a major focus is to decipher mechanisms that maintain antibody-induced long-term pain, and we have data that indicate that certain autoantibodies activate components of programs associated with neuropathic pain.

I am a professor in the Department of Physiology at the Karolinska Institute. Since 2015, I have been an adjunct associate professor in Anesthesiology at UCSD and spend 2-3 months/year at UCSD. I have collaborative grants and funding thought UCSD. This enables me to have close collaborations with investigators at UCSD and to co-supervise Ph.D. students and postdoctoral fellows.

Education

  • MS: Pharmacology, 08/1993-11/1999, Uppsala University, Sweden
  • PhD: Molecular Pathology, 09/2001-06/2005, UC San Diego, La Jolla, CA
  • Postdoc Fellow: Rheumatology/Immunology, 06/2005-07/2008, UC San Diego,

Career Appointments

  • 2007–2008 Project Scientist, UC San Diego, La Jolla, CA
  • 2008–2015 Assistant Professor, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
  • 2015–2018 Associate Professor, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
  • 2015 – present Adjunct Associate Professor, UC San Diego, La Jolla, CA
  • 2018 – present Professor, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden 

Selected Publications

(Selected out of 83)

  • Palada V, Ahmed AS, Finn A, Berg S, Svensson CI, Kosek E.Characterization of neuroinflammation and periphery-to-CNS inflammatory cross-talk in patients with disc herniation and degenerative disc disease. nBrain Behav Immun. 2019 Jan;75:60-71.
  • Bas DB, Su J, Sandor K, Agalave NM, Lundberg J, Codeluppi S, Baharpoor A, Nandakumar KS, Holmdahl R, Svensson CI. Collagen antibody-induced arthritis evokes persistent pain with spinal glial involvement and transient prostaglandin dependency. Arthritis Rheum. 2012 Dec;64(12):3886-96. PubMed PMID: 22933386.
  • Wigerblad G, Bas DB, Fernades-Cerqueira C, Krishnamurthy A, Nandakumar KS, Rogoz K, Kato J, Sandor K, Su J, Jimenez-Andrade JM, Finn A, Bersellini Farinotti A, Amara K, Lundberg K, Holmdahl R, Jakobsson PJ, Malmström V, Catrina AI, Klareskog L, Svensson CI. Autoantibodies to citrullinated proteins induce joint pain independent of inflammation via a chemokine-dependent mechanism. Ann Rheum Dis. 2016 Apr;75(4):730-8. PubMed PMID: 26613766; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4819624.
  • Krishnamurthy A, Joshua V, Haj Hensvold A, Jin T, Sun M, Vivar N, Ytterberg AJ, Engström M, Fernandes-Cerqueira C, Amara K, Magnusson M, Wigerblad G, Kato J, Jiménez-Andrade JM, Tyson K, Rapecki S, Lundberg K, Catrina SB, Jakobsson PJ, Svensson C, Malmström V, Klareskog L, Wähämaa H, Catrina AI. Identification of a novel chemokine-dependent molecular mechanism underlying rheumatoid arthritis-associated autoantibody-mediated bone loss. Ann Rheum Dis. 2016 Apr;75(4):721-9. PubMed PMID: 26612338; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4819614.
  • Su J, Gao T, Shi T, Xiang Q, Xu X, Wiesenfeld-Hallin Z, Hökfelt T, Svensson CI. Phenotypic changes in dorsal root ganglion and spinal cord in the collagen antibody-induced arthritis mouse model. J Comp Neurol. 2015 Jul 1;523(10):1505-28. PubMed PMID: 25631752.
  • Catrina AI, Svensson CI, Malmström V, Schett G, Klareskog L. Mechanisms leading from systemic autoimmunity to joint-specific disease in rheumatoid arthritis. Nat Rev Rheumatol. 2017 Feb;13(2):79-86. PubMed PMID: 27974851.
  • Wigerblad G, Bas DB, Fernades-Cerqueira C, Krishnamurthy A, Nandakumar KS, Rogoz K, Kato J, Sandor K, Su J, Jimenez-Andrade JM, Finn A, Bersellini Farinotti A, Amara K, Lundberg K, Holmdahl R, Jakobsson PJ, Malmström V, Catrina AI, Klareskog L, Svensson CI. Autoantibodies to citrullinated proteins induce joint pain independent of inflammation via a chemokine-dependent mechanism. Ann Rheum Dis. 2016 Apr;75(4):730-8. PubMed PMID: 26613766; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4819624.
  • Krishnamurthy A, Joshua V, Haj Hensvold A, Jin T, Sun M, Vivar N, Ytterberg AJ, Engström M, Fernandes-Cerqueira C, Amara K, Magnusson M, Wigerblad G, Kato J, Jiménez-Andrade JM, Tyson K, Rapecki S, Lundberg K, Catrina SB, Jakobsson PJ, Svensson C, Malmström V, Klareskog L, Wähämaa H, Catrina AI. Identification of a novel chemokine-dependent molecular mechanism underlying rheumatoid arthritis-associated autoantibody-mediated bone loss. Ann Rheum Dis. 2016 Apr;75(4):721-9. PubMed PMID: 26612338; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4819614.
  • Su J, Gao T, Shi T, Xiang Q, Xu X, Wiesenfeld-Hallin Z, Hökfelt T, Svensson CI. Phenotypic changes in dorsal root ganglion and spinal cord in the collagen antibody-induced arthritis mouse model. J Comp Neurol. 2015 Jul 1;523(10):1505-28. PubMed PMID: 25631752.
  • Fernandez-Zafra T, Gao T, Jurczak A, Sandor K, Hore Z, Agalave NM, Su J, Estelius J, Lampa J, Hokfelt T, Wiesenfeld-Hallin Z, Xu X, Denk F, Svensson CI.Exploring the transcriptome of resident spinal microglia after collagen antibody-induced arthritis.Pain. 2018 Sep 20. doi: 10.1097.