Spatial decoding of hepatic microenvironments to decipher, diagnose and stratify autoim-mune hepatitis (A08)

• Subject Area: Gastroenterology ; Immunology
• Term: since 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 530990199

Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is a progressive, immune-mediated liver disease with unknown aetiology. Despite its potentially devastating course, the exact pathomechanistic processes and specific diagnostic and prognostic markers of AIH have not been defined yet. We hypothesise that the histological area of the portal tract interface contains critical mechanistic and prognostic spatial data for AIH. We will use our complementary expertise to perform subcellular proteogenomic mapping of the hepatic microarchitecture of AIH. This will lead to a better understanding of its pathogenesis and the development of better tools for diagnosis and risk stratification and a deeper understanding of more general mechanisms of liver autoimmunity.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 1700: Immune regulation in the liver: from homeostasis to disease
• Applicant Institution: Universität Hamburg
• Project Heads: Professor Victor G. Puelles, Ph.D.; Dr. Marcial Sebode; Professorin Dr. Marina Zimmermann