World's Best Scientists 2026 revealed!
Rolf Kiessling

Rolf Kiessling

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Immunology
Sweden
2026

D-Index & Metrics

Immunology

D-Index
102
Citations
36230
World Ranking
679
National Ranking
9

Medicine

D-Index
102
Citations
36253
World Ranking
7698
National Ranking
153

Research.com Recognitions

  • 2026 - Research.com Immunology in Sweden Leader Award
  • 2025 - Research.com Immunology in Sweden Leader Award
  • 2022 - Research.com Immunology in Sweden Leader Award

Overview

Rolf Kiessling is affiliated with the Karolinska Institute in Sweden. Their research primarily focuses on immunology, oncology, and molecular biology, with significant contributions to cancer immunotherapy, particularly in the field of CAR-T cell therapy and immune cell interactions within the tumor microenvironment.

Their work spans several key topics, including:

  • CAR-T cell therapy research
  • Cancer Immunotherapy and Biomarkers
  • Immune cells in cancer
  • Immune Cell Function and Interaction
  • Immunotherapy and Immune Responses
  • Neuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration Mechanisms
  • IL-33, ST2, and ILC Pathways

Kiessling has published extensively in venues such as:

  • OncoImmunology
  • Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer
  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
  • Advanced Science
  • Oncogene

Frequent collaborators include Stina L. Wickström, Andreas Lundqvist, Jeroen Melief, Yago Pico de Coaña, and Yihai Cao, indicating a network of ongoing partnerships in immunology and cancer research.

Among their recent papers are:

  • "Targeting a scavenger receptor on tumor-associated macrophages activates tumor cell killing by natural killer cells", 2020, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
  • "Counteracting CAR T cell dysfunction", 2020, Oncogene
  • "The Outcome of Ex Vivo TIL Expansion Is Highly Influenced by Spatial Heterogeneity of the Tumor T-Cell Repertoire and Differences in Intrinsic In Vitro Growth Capacity between T-Cell Clones", 2020, Clinical Cancer Research
  • "Targeting of Nrf2 improves antitumoral responses by human NK cells, TIL and CAR T cells during oxidative stress", 2022, Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer
  • "Visualization of human T lymphocyte-mediated eradication of cancer cells in vivo", 2020, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Their research focuses heavily on understanding immune cell functions, how tumor microenvironments affect immune therapies, and the mechanisms underlying CAR-T and NK cell effectiveness against cancer cells. This includes exploring oxidative stress impacts, spatial heterogeneity of T-cell repertoires, and improving antitumoral immune responses.

Kiessling's work crosses multiple fields of study, most notably:

  • Immunology and Microbiology
  • Medicine
  • Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Within subfields, their research is categorized under Immunology, Oncology, Molecular Biology, Neurology, and Biomedical Engineering reflecting a broad interdisciplinary approach anchored in immune cell biology and therapeutic development.

Best Publications

  • Selective rejection of H–2-deficient lymphoma variants suggests alternative immune defence strategy

    Klas Kärre;Hans Gustaf Ljunggren;Gerald Piontek;Rolf Kiessling

  • "Natural" killer cells in the mouse. I. Cytotoxic cells with specificity for mouse Moloney leukemia cells. Specificity and distribution according to genotype.

    R. Kiessling;Eva Klein;H. Wigzell

  • "Natural" killer cells in the mouse. II. Cytotoxic cells with specificity for mouse Moloney leukemia cells. Characteristics of the killer cell.

    R. Kiessling;Eva Klein;H. Pross;H. Wigzell;H. Wigzell

  • The human antimicrobial and chemotactic peptides LL-37 and α-defensins are expressed by specific lymphocyte and monocyte populations

    Birgitta Agerberth;Jehad Charo;Joachim Werr;Berit Olsson

  • Heat-shock proteins as activators of the innate immune system

    Robert P.A Wallin;Andreas Lundqvist;Solveig H Moré;Arne von Bonin

  • Evidence for a similar or common mechanism for natural killer cell activity and resistance to hemopoietic grafts

    R. Kiessling;R. Kiessling;Paula S. Hochman;O. Haller;G. M. Shearer

  • Classification of current anticancer immunotherapies

    Lorenzo Galluzzi;Erika Vacchelli;José Manuel Bravo-San Pedro;Aitziber Buqué

  • Regulatory T Cells in Cancer

    Dimitrios Mougiakakos;Aniruddha Choudhury;Alvaro Lladser;Rolf Kiessling

  • Hydrogen peroxide secreted by tumor-derived macrophages down-modulates signal-transducing zeta molecules and inhibits tumor-specific T cell-and natural killer cell-mediated cytotoxicity.

    Koji Kono;Flavio Salazar-Onfray;Max Petersson;Johan Hansson

  • Immature Immunosuppressive CD14+HLA-DR−/low Cells in Melanoma Patients Are Stat3hi and Overexpress CD80, CD83, and DC-Sign

    Isabel Poschke;Dimitrios Mougiakakos;Johan Hansson;Giuseppe V. Masucci

  • An analysis of the murine NK cell as to structure, function and biological relevance.

    Rolf Kiessling;Hans Wigzell

  • Decreased Expression of the Signal-transducing ζ Chains in Tumor-infiltrating T-Cells and NK Cells of Patients with Colorectal Carcinoma

    Hiroshi Nakagomi;Max Petersson;Inger Magnusson;Claes Juhlin

  • Interleukin 10 pretreatment protects target cells from tumor- and allo-specific cytotoxic T cells and downregulates HLA class I expression.

    M Matsuda;F Salazar;M Petersson;G Masucci

  • Role of non-conventional natural killer cells in resistance against syngeneic tumour cells in vivo

    O. Haller;M. Hansson;R. Kiessling;H. Wigzell

  • Tumor-induced immune dysfunction.

    Rolf Kiessling;Ken Wasserman;Shigetoshi Horiguchi;Koji Kono

  • Circulating heat shock protein 60 is associated with early cardiovascular disease.

    A. Graham Pockley;Ruhia Wu;Carola Lemne;Rolf Kiessling

  • Selective expression of interleukin 10, interferon gamma, and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor in ovarian cancer biopsies.

    Pavel Pisa;Eva Halapi;Eva K. Pisa;Eva Gerdin

  • Alterations in the signal-transducing molecules of T cells and NK cells in colorectal tumor-infiltrating, gut mucosal and peripheral lymphocytes: correlation with the stage of the disease.

    Masanori Matsuda;Max Petersson;Rodica Lenkei;Jean-Luc Taupin

  • Inhibition of Tumor-Derived Prostaglandin-E2 Blocks the Induction of Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cells and Recovers Natural Killer Cell Activity

    Yumeng Mao;Dhifaf Sarhan;André Steven;Barbara Seliger

  • Primary human tumor cells expressing CD155 impair tumor targeting by down-regulating DNAM-1 on NK cells.

    Mattias Carlsten;Håkan Norell;Yenan T. Bryceson;Isabel Poschke

  • Genetic variation of in vitro cytolytic activity and in vivo rejection potential of non-immunized semi-syngeneic mice against a mouse lymphoma line.

    Rolf Kiessling;Gyözö Petranyi;George Klein;Hans Wigzell

  • Small interfering RNA (siRNA) inhibits the expression of the Her2/neu gene, upregulates HLA class I and induces apoptosis of Her2/neu positive tumor cell lines

    Aniruddha Choudhury;Jehad Charo;Sunil K. Parapuram;Richard C. Hunt

Frequent Co-Authors

Giuseppe Masucci
Giuseppe Masucci Karolinska Institute
Andreas Lundqvist
Andreas Lundqvist Karolinska Institute
Klas Kärre
Klas Kärre Karolinska Institute
Johan Hansson
Johan Hansson Karolinska Institute
George Klein
George Klein Karolinska Institute
Barbara Seliger
Barbara Seliger Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg
Karl-Johan Malmberg
Karl-Johan Malmberg Oslo University Hospital
Hans-Gustaf Ljunggren
Hans-Gustaf Ljunggren Karolinska Institute
Håkan Mellstedt
Håkan Mellstedt Karolinska Institute
Federica Cavallo
Federica Cavallo University of Turin

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