Circadian regulation of light-induced disease activity in human and murine lupus (A02)

• Subject Area: Rheumatology ; Immunology
• Term: since 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 541063275

Tanja Lange, a clinical immunologist trained in rheumatology, and experimental immunologist Markus Hoffmann study the autoimmune disease systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), whose pathomechanisms are only partially understood, with ultraviolet (UV) photosensitivity and antinuclear autoreactivity playing key roles. Both the local (skin) and systemic immune responses following UVB exposure are under circadian control, but the mechanistic basis and clinical consequences are largely unexplored. To gain insight into the role of the circadian system in the pathogenesis of the disease, they will characterize the relationship between circadian clock properties and inflammatory markers and leukocyte activation in SLE patients and study time-of-day and circadian clock dependent local and systemic responses to UV light in lupus mouse models.

• DFG Programme: CRC/Transregios
• Subproject of: TRR 418: Foundations of Circadian Medicine
• Applicant Institution: shared FU Berlin and HU Berlin through:; Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin
• Project Heads: Professor Dr. Markus Hoffmann; Professorin Dr. Tanja Lange