RESEARCH AREA G
NOD-like Receptors in Innate Immunity
Multidisciplinary approach to investigate the role of NOD-like receptors in health and disease. NOD-like receptors (NLRs) are pivotal players of the innate immune system recognizing intracellular bacterial ligands and/or other danger signals. The discovery of variants in the NOD2/CARD15 gene (that encodes for the intracellular innate immune receptor NOD2) as strong susceptibility factors for Crohn disease and the subsequent description of associations between genes of this family and other autoimmune disorders like Blau syndrome, Muckle-Wells-syndrome, familial cold autoinflammatory syndrome (FCAS) and asthma strongly demonstrates the importance of this family for human health.
The area will take an integrated approach combining the expertise of the different cluster platforms towards a complex understanding of NOD-like receptor function in health and disease. This will include
- phylogenetic analysis of the evolution and development of genetic variability in NLRs (Bosch)
- description of the crystal-based structure of NOD2, and the molecular basis of receptor-ligand interaction of NOD2 (Grötzinger, Scheidig)
- elucidation of a comprehensive map of the molecular framework of NOD2 signalling (Saftig, Tholey, Rosenstiel)
- deciphering the impact of NLR variations/deficiency on susceptibility to infection in vivo (Kabelitz, Proksch, Hölscher, Ehlers)
- molecular epidemiology of NOD2 variants in the population (Schreiber, Franke)
Participating institutions: University Kiel (Biology, Medicine) and Research Center Borstel
Spotlight on people: young professors and research scientists through cluster funding
Coordinator:
Philip Rosenstiel (Molecular Biology and Gastroenterology), University Kiel
Phone: +49 431 5974268, E-Mail: prosenstielmucosade
Junior Research Group I-g: Inflammation Associated Carcinogenesis
The well-established connection between inflammation and cancer shall be explored in appropriate animal models with the ultimate goal of a translation into clinical strategies. The focus is on colorectal and hepatobiliary cancer as well as hematological neoplasms.
Coordinator:
Holger Kalthoff, University Kiel
Phone: +49 431 5971938, E-Mail: hkalthoffemailuni-kielde
