Effects and underlying mechanisms of a probiotic on porcine adaptive immune cells

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Gudrun Brockmann, since 10/2018
• Subject Area: Veterinary Medical Science ; Immunology ; Animal Breeding, Animal Nutrition, Animal Husbandry
• Term: from 2015 to 2019
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 290843655

Previous experiments have shown that dietary addition of Enterococcus faecium NCIMB 10415 (E. faecium) led to higher relative amounts of cytotoxic T cells in the gut associated immune system of weaned piglets. The proposed research project will following up previous findings with controlled in vitro experiments on primary cultured porcine immune cells to uncover if the in vivo identified E. faecium effects are based on direct or indirect mechanisms. The planned experiments will contribute to the identification of pathways, affected genes or transcripts of primary cultured porcine lymphocytes that are regulated by E. faecium and the verification of the activation of cytotoxic T cells after addition of E. faecium as a mechanism contributing to protection to viral infection. E. faecium will be applied in different concentrations and forms. To complement the search for mechanisms of action, the role of miRNAs involved in the action of feed additives on signaling pathways in the host will be studied. The results will add new insights into an important area of immunonutrition by feed additives.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Ehemalige Antragstellerin: Dr. Susanne Kreuzer-Redmer, until 9/2018