Intravital analyses of T cell priming and effector phases during active and spontaneous EAE (B11)

• Subject Area: Molecular and Cellular Neurology and Neuropathology
• Term: from 2010 to 2016
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 29837756

The project aims to elucidate the mechanisms of how CNS-reactive auto-antibodies exert their pathogenic function in EAE, a model for multiple sclerosis. In the previous research period it was detected that myelin-reactive antibodies are critical B cell effector molecules for the initiation of the inflammatory process within the CNS. Using intravital two photon laser scanning microscopy and functional (genetic) characterizations B11 will investigate the disease-promoting role of auto-antibodies at the cellular and molecular level by: 1. visualizing and testing potential effector functions of different auto-antibody specificities with variable auto-destructive potential; 2. evaluating the role of Fc receptors on distinct myeloid cell populations and characterizing the isotype requirements of the antibodies; and 3. testing the clinical relevance of the experimental findings with human auto-antibody containing sera.

• DFG Programme: CRC/Transregios
• Subproject of: TRR 43: The Brain as a Target of Inflammatory Processes
• Applicant Institution: shared FU Berlin and HU Berlin through:; Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin
• Co-Applicant Institution: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
• Project Heads: Professor Dr. Alexander Flügel; Privatdozent Dr. Fred Lühder