SFB 914:  Trafficking of Immune Cells in Inflammation, Development and Disease

• Subject Area: Medicine ; Biology
• Term: from 2011 to 2023
• Website: Homepage
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 165054336

Trafficking of immune cells is a key prerequisite for immune surveillance under physiological steady state conditions and during disease states. Proper immune surveillance is of utmost importance in mammalian homeostasis as it ensures defense against pathogen intruders, but also because it guarantees tissue integrity through the continuous removal of dying cells. In order to be both functional and efficient, the migration and trafficking behavior of immune cells has to be precisely controlled and fine-tuned on demand. This critical task is complicated by the fact that trafficking of immune cells does not follow a uniform process. Indeed, different types of immune cells are rather endowed with unique machinery allowing them to chase subset-specific trafficking routes in order to fulfill their individual tasks within their individual target tissues. To date, the molecular and cellular signatures that control and organize this complex process of mammalian immune cell trafficking are still incompletely understood. It is therefore the mission of CRC 914 to dissect the signals and mechanisms that regulate the migratory responses of distinct leukocyte subsets during inflammation, development and in disease states. An Integrated Research Training Group entitled “Leukocyte Trafficking” flanks our scientific efforts. As a long-term perspective, CRC 914 aims to contribute to the development of innovative concepts for therapeutic interventions during acute and chronic infectious and non-infectious inflammatory diseases by specifically and selectively targeting the identified migratory patterns of distinct leukocyte subsets.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres

Completed projects

• A01 - Deciphering mechanisms of kindlin3 and talin1-mediated integrin activation and signaling in hematopoietic cells (Project Head Moser, Markus )
• A02 - Role of novel coronin 1A and CD18 interacting partners in neutrophil trafficking (Project Heads Maier-Begandt, Daniela ;  Walzog, Barbara )
• A03 - Mechanical characterization of integrin-dependent leukocyte adhesion (Project Heads Benoit, Martin ;  Massberg, Steffen )
• A04 - Molecular mechanism regulating LFA-1 mediated T cell migration (Project Head Laschinger, Melanie )
• A05 - Role of integrin trafficking and stability for leukocyte migration (Project Heads Böttcher, Ralph Thomas ;  Fässler, Reinhard )
• A06 - Rho-GTPase-dependent plasmacytoid dendritic cell seeding, retention and recruitment in vivo (Project Heads Brocker, Thomas ;  Stutte, Susanne )
• A07 - Cytoskeletal dynamics in migrating leukocytes and Dictyostelium amoebae (Project Heads Müller-Taubenberger, Annette ;  Schleicher, Michael )
• A08 - Rare human diseases involving neutrophil granulocytes – new models to study trafficking and cell migration (Project Head Klein, Christoph )
• A09 - Protein sorting at the trans-Golgi network (TGN) and its impact on immune cell migration (Project Head von Blume, Ph.D., Julia )
• A10 - Regulation of macrophage trafficking and function (Project Head Schulz, Christian )
• A11 - The role of dendritic cells in coordinating innate leukocyte trafficking (Project Head Schraml-Schotta, Ph.D., Barbara )
• A12 - Nucleokinesis in leukocyte trafficking (Project Head Renkawitz, Jörg )
• A13 - Functional proteomics dissection of chemotactic protein diversity (Project Head Meissner, Felix )
• B01 - Regulation of neutrophil recruitment by A20 in the fetus and in postnatal life (Project Head Sperandio, Markus )
• B02 - Mechanisms of cell-cell contact induced activity modulation in myeloid leukocytes (Project Heads Massberg, Steffen ;  Stark, Konstantin )
• B03 - Role of thrombospondins for leukocyte trafficking to inflamed tissue (Project Heads Krombach, Fritz ;  Reichel, Christoph )
• B04 - Antigen- and leukocyte-trafficking events guiding effective CD8+T lymphocyte differentiation (Project Heads Busch, Dirk ;  Verschoor, Ph.D., Admar )
• B05 - Helicobacter pylori - CEACAM interaction, gastric leukocyte recruitment and local immunomodulation (Project Head Haas, Rainer )
• B06 - Dying cell-derived find-me signals in leukocyte recruitment (Project Head Lauber, Kirsten )
• B07 - Modulation of immune cell migration by Legionella pneumophila (Project Head Hilbi, Hubert )
• B08 - Alarmins induce acute neutrophil mobilization (Project Heads Söhnlein, Oliver ;  Weber, Christian )
• B09 - Mechanisms mediating circadian leukocyte recruitment to arteries and veins (Project Head Scheiermann, Christoph )
• B10 - Role of the cytokine midkine in neutrophil trafficking and myocarditis (Project Head Weckbach, Ludwig Thomas )
• B11 - Role of cytosolic MRP8/14 in leukocyte recruitment in vivo (Project Head Prünster, Monika )
• MGK - Integrated Research Training Group of CRC 914 (IRTG 914) (Project Heads Moser, Markus ;  Sperandio, Markus )
• Z01 - 4D-Multiphoton intravital microscopy in mouse models of immune cell trafficking (Project Heads Ishikawa-Ankerhold, Hellen ;  Khandoga, Alexander ;  Massberg, Steffen )
• Z02 - Central Tasks of the Collaborative Research Centre (Project Head Walzog, Barbara )
• Z03 - Fast and high-resolution imaging of leukocyte trafficking using spinning-disk confocal microscopy (Project Heads Scheiermann, Christoph ;  Sperandio, Markus ;  Walzog, Barbara )

• Applicant Institution: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
• Participating Institution: Max-Planck-Institut für Biochemie (MPIB)
• Spokesperson: Professorin Dr. Barbara Walzog