Impact of aging on immune responses to pathogenic challenges (B04)

• Subject Area: Evolution, Anthropology
• Term: since 2018
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 325931972

How does immune aging shape microbial dynamics, and can age-related microbiome shifts be predicted from early immune states? We address this question by integrating longitudinal immunoprofiling and microbiome sequencing in the naturally short-lived turquoise killifish. We will quantify age-related changes in primary and memory immune responses to infection and determine whether microbial shifts reflect adaptive immune tracking or immune surveillance failure. Combining experiments, multi-omics, and computational modeling, the project aims to build predictive frameworks for immune decline and microbial evolution during aging.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 1310: Predictability in Evolution
• Applicant Institution: Universität zu Köln
• Project Heads: Dr. Handan Melike Dönertas, since 1/2022; Professor Dario Riccardo Valenzano, Ph.D.