Area B
Humoral and cell-based bronchoalveolar defence mechanisms
Area B will investigate signalling cascades and mechanisms of cellular responses and cellular malfunctions during lung infection.
The project B2 (Peteranderl, Wolff) will focus on the pivotal role of human TNF-family family members (TRAIL) for regulation of alveolar integrity and investigate the role of SAMHD1 for virus propagation. The not funded project B5 (Meisel C, Meisel A, Kummer) should follow their observation that stroke induces massive alteration of the function of ciliated cells. In project B6, the researchers Hocke, Hippenstiel and Antelmann follow the observation that S. pneumoniae induced massive lung acidification which impacts on lung mitochondria, barrier regulation and feeds back to the bacteria. In a well-established cystic fibrosis model, PIs Hain and Mall (B8) will define the role of CFTR-defects on the lung micobiome and how this contributes to increased susceptibility for pneumonia observed in these patients. Project B9 (Herold, Triantafyllopoulou) investigates in-depth how newly established transcriptional programs and signalling networks such as DNA stress responses reprogram iMØ into different phenotypes, with particular focus on their role in lung stem cell-mediated repair by factors such as Plet1.