Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 3 - SOS (Sorting of Self)

Teaser

Clearance of dying cells by phagocytes is important to remove cell-derived autoantigens during the steady state and during inflammation. A failure during this process can result in autoimmunity and autoimmune-disease. During our project we want to better understand thr...

Summary

Clearance of dying cells by phagocytes is important to remove cell-derived autoantigens during the steady state and during inflammation. A failure during this process can result in autoimmunity and autoimmune-disease. During our project we want to better understand thr processes underlying this clearance process and identify involved phagocate subsets as well as responsible molecular mechanisms. Insights into these issues will help to better understand the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases and to identify novel therapeutic targets.

Work performed

We identified tissue resident macrophages as Major cells responsible for the clearance of dying cells. Moreover we defined Special transcription factors such as NR4A1 that are involved in the non-immunogenic clearance of dying cells and for the maintenance of self-tolerance.

Final results

We developed novel techniques that allow us to track the clearance of dying cells in vivo and follow the involved phagocytes during their Differentiation process. We expect to utilize These developments to study the clearance of dying cells during models of autoimmune disease as well as within the Tumor Environment.

Website & more info

More info: http://www.medizin3.uk-erlangen.de/en/research/research-main-focus/translational-immunology/.