Current Projects

• Contribution of Kupffer cells to hepatic stellate cell migration in liver fibrosis 
  Submitted by Jan Wirth  (University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany) 6/17/2010
  We ware investigating the contribution of Kupffer cells to the process of hepatic stellate cell migration at different stages of liver fibrosis in mice.



• Role of Macrophages in Ovarian Cancer Metastasis 
  Submitted by Carrie Rinker-Schaeffer  (The University of Chicago, Chicago,IL, United States) 6/17/2010
  We are testing the contribution of macrophages in the efficient metastatic colonization of ovarian cancer cells in the omentum.



• Adenovirus 
  Submitted by Michael Alberti  (University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States) 6/17/2010
  Interested in Adenovirus interactions with macrophages from various tissues.



• Macrophages in KBxN model of Arthritis 
  Submitted by Alison Hirukawa  (Biomedical Research Center (UBC), Vancouver, BC, Canada) 6/17/2010
  We would like to explore the contribution of different macrophage subsets to the KBxN model of arthritis.



• Antigen-presenting cells in the bone marrow immune niche 
  Submitted by Steffen Jung  (Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel) 6/13/2010
  We recently identified a unique bone marrow immune niche that is characterized by perivascular dendritic cell (DC) clusters (Sapoznikov et al Nature Immunology 2008). In a follow up of this study we are now investigating the requirements for CD8 T cell priming in the bone marrow. Initial data indicate that APC other can DCs can promote T cell priming. We hence would like to investigate the role of macrophages in this system.
  More: http://www.weizmann.ac.il/immunology/jung/



• Plasticity of Lymphoid Progenitors 
  Submitted by Susan Schlenner  (Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, MA, United States) 11/6/2010
  Recently, Dr. Hans-Reimer Rodewald (German Cancer Research Institute, Heidelberg) and I have published a mouse mutant that allows tracking of the developmental fate of lymphoid progenitors*. We have inserted a Cre recombinase into the Interleukin-7 receptor alpha locus and crossing with a Rosa26 reporter revealed high fidelity of the locus. All lymphoid cells are marked by the reporter while myeloid cells are excluded. Preliminary experiments have now suggested that even under homozygous conditions for Cre-knockin, which resembles an Il7r-knockout, labeling of myeloid cells does not increase. In other words, even if progression of lymphoid development is blocked the lymphoid progenitors do not seem to be re-directed towards the myeloid lineage. To investigate the plasticity of such lymphoid progenitors under conditions of myeloablation we would like to use clodronate lysosomes to specifically delete macrophages in Il7rCre/Cre x Rosa26YFP/+ mice. This situation might exhaust the myeloid progenitor subset and, consequently, lead to recruitment of lymphoid progenitors into the myeloid compartment. Increased labeling frequencies within the newly generated macrophage compartment would reveal such a contribution. These experiments will directly answer the question if the lack of contribution of developmentally blocked lymphoid progenitors to myeloid cells under physiological conditions is due to an intrinsic inability of the lymphoid “wannabes” to change cell fate or to a sufficient filling of the myeloid niche by myeloid progenitors foreclosing the need for the myeloid compartment to recruit from the lymphoid branch of hematopoiesis.



• Role of Macrophages in liver fibrosis 
  Submitted by Prakash Ramachandran  (MRC Centre for Inflammation research, Edinburgh, United Kingdom) 9/6/2010
  Investigating the role of hepatic macrophages in liver fibrosis



• Hemeoxygenase 1 plays an immunmodulatory role following UUO in kidney mouse 
  Submitted by anjana perianayagam  (University of Alabama at Birmingham, Alabama, United States) 8/6/2010
  HO1 is an enzyme that has anti-inflammatory properties.We are characterizimg leucocytic infiltrates following UUO surgery in HO knockout and WT mouse to further elucidate the anti-inflamatory role of HO-1



• Suppressive monocytes in transplantation tolerance 
  Submitted by jordi ochando  (ISCIII, Maajadahonda, Spain) 5/6/2010
  Rodriguez Garcia et al J Clin Invest, volume 120, Number 7, July 2010.



• Effect of Kupffer Cell Depletion on SPIO Uptake 
  Submitted by Oliver Bruns  (Heinrich-Pette-Institut, Hamburg, Germany) 4/6/2010
  Contrast agents are predominantly taken up by liver cells. In this project we want to analyse the contribution of Kupffer cells.