Speakers:
Prof. Dr. Wiebke Sondermann, Deputy Director of the Department of Dermatology and Senior Attending Physician
Prof. Dr. Michael Sticherling, Senior Physician, Department of Dermatology
Dr. Lukas Sollfrank, Senior Physician at the Dermatology of Dermatology

 Program 

Wissenschaftliche Leitung: PD Dr. Thomas Rosenbach und Prof. Dr. Michael Sticherling

Hier geht es zum Programm

Es werden Fortbildungspunkte bei der Bayerischen Landesärztekammer beantragt.

Die CAR-T‑Zelltherapie setzt gezielt an fehlregulierten Immunzellen an. Das Ziel ist es, krankheitsauslösende Immunreaktionen nachhaltig zu unterbrechen und eine langfristige Remission zu ermöglichen.

Einige Autoimmunerkrankungen treten bereits früh im Kindes- bzw. Jugendalter auf. In Erlangen konnten inzwischen mehrere Jugendliche erfolgreich mit CAR-T-Zellen behandelt werden. Einen weiteren wichtigen Schritt stellt die Anwendung bei einer schweren, therapieresistenten Form der Colitis ulcerosa dar: In Erlangen wurden weltweit erstmals junge Erwachsenen mit dieser chronisch-entzündlichen Darmerkrankung (Colitis ulcerosa) mit CAR-T-Zellen behandelt, mit vielversprechenden Ergebnissen.

Neue Perspektiven für junge Patientinnen und Patienten
Autoimmunerkrankungen wie der systemische Lupus erythematodes betreffen häufig junge Frauen, und damit in einer Lebensphase, in der ein Kinderwunsch eine wichtige Rolle spielen kann. Sowohl die Erkrankung selbst als auch notwendige immunsuppressive Therapien können eine Schwangerschaft erschweren oder zeitweise unmöglich machen. 

Eine internationale Studie unter Leitung von Prof. Schett (Direktor der Medizinischen Klinik 3 – Rheumatologie & Immunologie) untersuchte Schwangerschaften nach einer CAR-T‑Zelltherapie bei Autoimmunerkrankung. Die bisherigen Verläufe waren komplikationslos. Auch in Erlangen gibt es erfreuliche Nachrichten: Drei ehemalige Patientinnen sind nach ihrer Behandlung Mütter geworden und haben gesunde Kinder zur Welt gebracht.

Neue Wege der Patientenkommunikation
Innovative Therapieansätze brauchen eine verständliche und patientenzentrierte Kommunikation. In Erlangen werden deshalb immersive Virtuelle Realität-Anwendungen wie „CARSLE VR – Fighting Lupus“ und mobile Formate eingesetzt, um komplexe Krankheitsmechanismen und Therapieabläufe anschaulich zu vermitteln. Ziel ist es, das Verständnis zu fördern und Patientinnen und Patienten bei einer informierten und selbstbestimmten Entscheidungsfindung zu unterstützen. 
Im Rahmen einer kontrollierten Interventionsstudie wird der Einfluss dieser Formate im Vergleich zu herkömmlichen Aufklärungsansätzen wissenschaftlich untersucht.

Europäische Vernetzung und Patientenperspektive
Auch über Erlangen hinaus wächst der Austausch rund um die CAR-T-Zelltherapie bei Autoimmunerkrankungen. Zu Gast beim diesjährigen Patiententag war Anna Fryxelius, Chief Advisor der Norwegian Rheumatism Association (NRF) und engagiert in der europäischen Patientenvertretung EULAR PARE. Ihr Besuch diente vor allem der Vernetzung und dem Austausch mit den Erlanger Patientinnen und Patienten sowie dem Behandlungsteam.

Besonders beeindruckt zeigte sie sich von den persönlichen Begegnungen mit den Betroffenen und ihren Geschichten. Gleichzeitig berichtete sie von einem jungen Lupus-Patienten aus Norwegen, der sechs Monate nach seiner CAR-T-Zelltherapie wieder seinem Beruf und Traum als Fischer nachgehen konnte. Beispiele wie diese zeigen, wie wichtig der Austausch und eine stärkere europäische Vernetzung von Betroffenen, Patientenorganisationen, Forschung und Medizin sind.

Weitere Informationen:

DZI-Geschäftsstelle
Tel.: 09131 85-44944
dzi-leitung(at)uk-erlangen.de

Die Translationale Immunologie erforscht die Rolle von B-Zellen und Autoantikörpern bei Autoimmunerkrankungen im Kindes- und Erwachsenenalter sowie während der Schwangerschaft. Ein besonderer Schwerpunkt liegt auf der Identifizierung und Charakterisierung krankheitsrelevanter Autoantikörper sowie auf der Untersuchung, wie Immuntherapien B-Zell-Antworten und Autoantikörper-Repertoires beeinflussen. Die gewonnenen Erkenntnisse tragen dazu bei, die zugrunde liegenden Mechanismen von Autoimmunerkrankungen aufzuklären, neue Krankheitsbilder zu erkennen und zu charakterisieren sowie die Diagnostik, das Monitoring und die Behandlung dieser Erkrankungen zu verbessern.

Weitere Informationen:

DZI-Geschäftsstelle

Tel.: 09131 85-44944

dzi-leitung(at)uk-erlangen.de

Get ready for an unforgettable evening as researchers from the fields of stem cell biology and gastroenterology take the microphone to not only share groundbreaking science on how the gut and brain communicate, but also provide some “non-scientific” perspectives.

Make sure you secure your place early. We can't wait to see you there!

Free tickets for the event:
Seating is limited and tickets are required. Tickets will be available from 10.09.2024 here: https://eveeno.com/gb-forinter-scienceslam
Some talks will be given in German, others in English.

Further information can be found at www.dzi.uk-erlangen.de and www.kfo5024.med.fau.de

Film about the secrets of the gut-brain axis

Following the lecture, Prof. Winner offered a lively discussion with the participants. Questions from members of the public covered topics such as the use of antibiotics, proper nutrition, the capabilities and limitations of stem cell cultures and the latest recommendations from research. Prof. Winner emphasized that research is constantly progressing and that many areas are still open for discovery.

The lecture can be viewed here or in the FAU media library: https://www.fau.tv/clip/id/53459

Congratulations to Bruno Ghirotto on this well-deserved success!

You can read more about Bruno's project within GB.Com here.

The feedback was overwhelmingly positive and we are delighted that several schoolgirls have already expressed an interest in doing an internship with us. Girls' Day was not only educational, but also inspiring for the next generation of female researchers!

Look forward to inspiring insights into their world and be inspired by their passion for stem cell research along the gut-brain axis! 

https://www.kfo5024.med.fau.de/2024/05/07/inspirierende-interviews-mit-unseren-teilnehmenden-des-unistemday2024/

ForInter describes a highly innovative approach for the first time in Bavaria, in which cell-cell interactions of different human brain cells as well as new genome editing approaches and single cell analyses are the scientific focus. For the first time, the network is creating a platform to analyze the function of the brain, to study different human brain cells in direct interaction on a cell biological and molecular level and at the same time to prospectively investigate the legal and ethical implications of therapies based on this. The Ministry of Science and the Arts is funding the network with 4 million euros over a period of four years.

Developments in biology and stem cell research in recent years have created the conditions for the generation of multidimensional cell culture systems and cerebral organoids (mini brains), which promise novel insights into structural and dynamic interactions. As a model, these enable the investigation of the human physiology of brain development.

ForInter brings together scientists from neurobiology, with expertise in basic biology and stem cell biology, as well as scientists from neuropathology and translational neurology. The neurobiological expertise is complemented and strengthened by scientists from the fields of bioinformatics, ethics and law.

The Ministry of Science and the Arts is funding the network with 4 million euros over a period of four years.

Research on cultured brain organoids is also being addressed within ForInters with regard to ethical and legal issues. Prof. Hans-Georg Dederer, Chair of Constitutional, Public International and International Business Law at the University of Passau, and his team are developing a legal framework for the research and therapeutic use of brain organoids.

Microglial cells play an important role in brain development and neuronal connectivity. Within the project, human microglia-like cells are generated from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). The interactions in two-dimensional models and three-dimensional tissue assemblies, the organoids, will be investigated. The study will be conducted using iPSCs from patients with familial leukodystrophy with CSF1R mutation, a disease caused by microglia. Genome editing methods will be used to uncover the role of the mutation.

Further information about the research network can be found at: ForInter BayFOR or in this press release

Here is a link to the paper: http://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/115/30/7813.full.pdf

Additional info here: FAU-Forscher identifizieren Parkinson als mögliche Autoimmunerkrankung

These advancements have been honored at the 2018 symposium of the Tom Wahlig Foundation in Berlin. Tatyana Pismenyuk (graduate student of the department) received a prize for her poster presentation "Rescue of neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative phenotypes in SPG11 by tideglusib". In collaboration with Dr. Martin Regensburger (clinician scientist of the department), she also received funding for an in vitro study on the role of adipocytokines in SPG11 hereditary spastic paraplegia.

More information: beate.winner(at)uk-erlangen.de

Link to Tom Wahlig Foundation: http://www.hsp-info.de/en/researchers/project_reports.htm

Application form Symposium 2018

Submit your application by email: GRK2162-symposium(at)fau.de

Confirmed Speakers:

• Keynote: Fred H. Gage (Salk Institute, USA)
• André Fischer (DZNE, Germany)
• Hongjun Song (UPenn, USA)
• Guo-Li Ming (UPenn, USA)
• Francesca Peri (EMBL, Germany)
• Sebastian Jessberger (UZH, Switzerland)
• Verdon Taylor (University of Basel, Switzerland)
• Illeana Hanganu-Opatz (UKE, Germany)
• Victor Borrell (CSIC, Spain)
• Tobias Böckers (University of Ulm, Germany)
• Melanie Meyer-Lühmann (University of Freiburg, Germany)
• Denis Jabaudon (Université de Genève, Switzerland)
• Leda Dimou (University of Ulm, Germany)
• Klaus Armin Nave (MPI für Experimentelle Medizin, Germany)
• Hans van Bokhoven (Radboud UMC, The Netherlands)
• Gaia Novarino (IST, Austria)

In the adult mammalian hippocampus, new neurons are constantly added to the dentate gyrus. Adult neurogenesis is impaired in several neurodegenerative mouse models including a-synuclein (a-syn) transgenic mice. Among different a-syn species, a-syn oligomers were reported to be the most toxic species for neurons. Here, we studied the impact of wild-type vs. oligomer-prone a-syn on neurogenesis. We compared the wild-type a-syn transgenic mouse model (Thy1-WTS) to its equivalent transgenic for oligomer-prone E57K-mutant a-syn (Thy1-E57K). Transgenic a-syn was highly expressed within the hippocampus of both models, but was not present within adult neural stem cells and neuroblasts. Proliferation and survival of newly generated neurons were unchanged in both transgenic models. Thy1-WTS showed a minor integration deficit regarding mushroom spine density of newborn neurons, whereas Thy1-E57K exhibited a severe reduction of all spines. We conclude that cell-extrinsic a-syn impairs mushroom spine formation of adult newborn neurons and that oligomer-prone a-syn exacerbates this integration deficit. Moreover, our data suggest that a-syn reduces the survival of newborn neurons by a cell-intrinsic mechanism during the early neuroblast development. The finding of increased spine pathology in Thy1-E57K is a new pathogenic function of oligomeric a-syn and precedes overt neurodegeneration. Thus, it may constitute a readout for therapeutic approaches.

Read full article

Contacts between endosomes and the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) promote endosomal tubule fission, but the mechanisms involved and consequences of tubule fission failure are incompletely understood. We found that interaction between the microtubule-severing enzyme spastin and the ESCRT protein IST1 at ER–endosome contacts drives endosomal tubule fission. Failure of fission caused defective sorting of mannose 6-phosphate receptor, with consequently disrupted lysosomal enzyme trafficking and abnormal lysosomal morphology, including in mouse primary neurons and human stem cell–derived neurons. Consistent with a role for ER-mediated endosomal tubule fission in lysosome function, similar lysosomal abnormalities were seen in cellular models lacking the WASH complex component strumpellin or the ER morphogen REEP1. Mutations in spastin, strumpellin, or REEP1 cause hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP), a disease characterized by axonal degeneration. Our results implicate failure of the ER–endosome contact process in axonopathy and suggest that coupling of ER-mediated endosomal tubule fission to lysosome function links different classes of HSP proteins, previously considered functionally distinct, into a unifying pathway for axonal degeneration.

Read more: The Journal of Cell Biology