Mucosal immunity and host-microbe interactions in inflammatory diseases
The main research areas of the laboratory are innate and adaptive immunity on mucosal surfaces. Host-microbe interactions influence the physiological functions of the host. Many multifactorial diseases result from an impaired mucosal barrier or altered immune responses to components of the gut microbiota. Influencing the gut microbiota through diet, drugs or the disease can therefore make a person more susceptible or resistant to immune-mediated diseases such as inflammatory or autoimmune diseases or cancer. Metabolites of the gut microbiota influence the maturation and activity of T cells and can regulate the host’s immune system. The microbes on the intestinal epithelium regulate the immune response of T cells in the gut, and different diets can influence the host’s resistance to inflammation in the gut by affecting either the local pro-inflammatory environment or the function of the intestinal barrier.
Analysis of host-microbiota-diet interactions
The gut microbiota controls the maturation of the immune system and regulates its function throughout life. However, the host immune system responds differently to antimicrobial or nutritional stimuli at different developmental stages, which is why we focus on analyzing the interactions between host, microbiota and nutrition during the early developmental window of opportunity. Therefore, the microbes in a particular organ (e.g. the gut or skin) not only have an impact on the health of that organ, but also on distant tissues and other organs. Therefore, in the laboratory we analyze the phenotype of immune cells infiltrating healthy or inflamed tissue and determine the movement of cells between inducer and effector sites of the mucosal immune system as well as the movement of cells between the gut and distant tissues.
Changes in microbial activity induced by extreme diets
As part of this research focus, we are also investigating the changes in microbial activity caused by extreme diets and the resulting phenotype changes in inflammatory and cancer diseases.
We also study the role of the microbiome in the development of atopic dermatitis and food allergies in infants, in the efficacy of cancer therapies, in autoimmune uveitis, in the efficacy of immunomodulatory therapies and in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis and in many other serious human diseases.
