Open Research

Projects

Open Research Projects

Principal Investigator
Prof. Dr. Andreas Diefenbach

ILC3 as regulators of intestinal organ hypertrophy in response to increased metabolic demands during pregnancy and lactation

We study development and function of the innate immune system, in particular of innate lymphoid cells (ILC). A current focus is to obtain a molecular understanding of how the innate immune system, by integrating environmental …

Principal Investigator
Prof. Dr. Kai-Uwe Eckhardt
Dr. Markus Schüler

The role of DNA damage response signaling in chronic kidney disease

Our research group studies the underlying mechanisms of chronic kidney disease (CKD). Acute and chronic kidney injury has been increasingly recognized as a global public health concern, associated with high morbidity, and …

Principal Investigator
Prof. Dr. Kamran Ghoreschi

Tfh and Th17 cells as markers for the risk for pemphigoid diseases in aging healthy skin

Our laboratory focuses on the immunological and molecular pathomechanisms of the skin with the aim to identify approaches for personalized and preventive medicine. One group of our translational research interests are chronic …

Principal Investigator
Prof. Dr. Anja Hauser

Mechanosensing of intestinal macrophages

Our lab is interested in analyzing immune cells in the tissue context, using state-of-the art, functional intravital microscopy and histocytometry approaches1,2,3. In addition to reacting to stimuli from hematopoietic and …

Principal Investigator
Prof. Dr. Dr. Ahmed N. Hegazy

Oncostatin M in maintaining intestinal homeostasis

The mammalian gastrointestinal tract contains the largest number of immune cells and harbors a large and diverse population of commensal bacteria that exist in a symbiotic relationship with the host.

Principal Investigator
Prof. Dr. Frank L. Heppner

The role of autophagy as a health-maintaining mechanism in the brain

My research group is primarily active in the field of experimental and translational neuropathology and neuroscience. The focus is on understanding the impact of the immune system on the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative …

Principal Investigator
Prof. Dr. Max Löhning
Dr. Ping Shen

Identification of TLR signaling as novel risk factor and treatment target in osteoarthritis using single-cell RNA sequencing

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a joint disease featuring cartilage breakdown and chronic pain. In Germany, more than 5 million patients suffer from OAand there is no effective treatment. Among several risk factors for OA development, …

Principal Investigator
Prof. Dr. Marcus A. Mall
Dr. Markus Bardua

Membrane-bound neutrophil elastase as a potential biomarker for early detection of chronic inflammatory diseases

Biomarkers play a central role in detecting chronic inflammatory diseases before irreversible tissue damage occurs. These measurable, ideally disease-specific, indicators can be detected in the organism even before the onset …

Principal Investigator
Dr. Christoph Klose

Dissecting tissue-homeostatic functions of group 2 innate lymphoid cells

Type 2 immune responses promote tissue homeostasis as well as tissue remodeling and protect against infections with macroparasites but can become detrimental when triggered against non-infectious environmental stimuli

Principal Investigator
Prof. Dr. Felix Knauf,
PD Dr. Martin Reichel,
Dr. Nicola Wilck

The adaptation of the intestinal epithelium to an oxalate-containing diet

Our laboratory focuses on the mechanisms involved in maintaining oxalate homeostasis. Oxalate is a component of various foods, found in different vegetables, nuts, but also in tea and coffee. High urinary oxalate …

Principal Investigator
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Kübler

Role of the primary cilium in the physiological autoregulation of pulmonary blood vessels

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is the leading symptom of diseases characterized by an increase in mean pulmonary arterial blood pressure. PH increases right ventricular stress and ultimately leads to potentially fatal right …

Principal Investigator
Prof. Dr. Chiara Romagnani

Identification of the transcriptional network promoting innate lymphoid cell (ILC) differentiation and controlling intestinal tissue homeostasis and mesenteric lymph node formation

Chronic inflammatory disorders, especially rheumatic diseases, are triggered and maintained by effector mediators produced by the adaptive immune system, such as T cell and B cells. In T cells, inflammatory programs are …

Principal Investigator
Prof. Dr. Leif Erik Sander

From infection to fibrosis — defining common immune determinants of disease and resolution

Resilience to infections is equally defined by the host’s ability to clear the infecting pathogen and to resolve and mitigate secondary injury, and thus to restore and maintain tissue homeostasis. These physiological …

Principal Investigator
PD Dr. Michael Sigal

How to bacteria shape gastrointestinal stem cells to create a “healthy gut”

Helicobacter pylori is a human-specific bacterium that colonizes the stomachs of about 50% of the world’s population. We have previously found that H. pylori can invade gastric glands and colonize stem cell compartment. This …

Principal Investigator
Dr. Efstathios Stamatiades

The roles of myeloid cells in acute immune complex-mediated nephritis to maintaining renal health

My lab is interested in understanding the role of macrophages in homeostasis and disease. Immune complex (IC)-mediated pathologies encompass a range of acute or chronic clinical conditions (e.g., post-streptococcal …

Principal Investigator
Prof. Dr. Frank Tacke,
Dr. Linda Hammerich

Characterization of the immune microenvironment in gastrointestinal tumors using single cell techniques

We are especially interested in characterizing the microenvironment of gastrointestinal tumors, because these tumors usually develop under chronic inflammatory conditions but then often switch to an immunosuppressive environment.

Principal Investigator
Prof. Dr. Antigoni Triantafyllopoulou

Immunoregulatory role of macrophages and microglia in CNS lupus.

Our research aims to understand the role of tissue-resident cells of the innate immune system in the prevention of chronic inflammatory diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus and inflammatory bowel disease. Our goal is …

Principal Investigator
Dr. Nicola Wilck
Dr. Hendrik Bartolomaeus

Influence of CKD-associated microbiome changes on the immune system and cardiovascular risk

Our laboratory investigates the interaction of dietary factors with the gut microbiota and the host, especially with the host’s immune system, in the context of cardiovascular and renal disease. Arterial hypertension and …