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Dr. Max Borsche and his team will investigate blood samples collected at several time points from control subjects and Parkinson's disease patients with and without genetic alterations in the PRKN and PINK1 genes for misfolded alpha-synuclein and immunological changes. The project aims to gain deeper insights into the disease's etiology and pathogenesis and contribute to developing markers for the severity and progression of (genetic) Parkinson's disease.

Project partner:
Prof. Dr. Michael Morgan
Dr. Juliane Schott
Prof. Dr. Hildegard Büning
John W. Hadden II, CEO of ViroCell Biologics Ltd. (London, UK)
Prof. Farzin Farzaneh, CSO of ViroCell Biologics Ltd. (London, UK)

Collaboration partners:
Prof. Dr. med. Athanasia Warnecke, Medizinische Hochschule Hannover
Prof. Dr. Hinrich Staecker, University of Kansas (USA)

Pruritus (itching) is an unpleasant sensation that evokes the desire to scratch. Similar to acute pain, acute pruritus serves as an important protective mechanism to recognize potentially harmful stimuli. However, chronic pruritus (i.e. persisting for more than 6 weeks) usually has no useful function and can cause great suffering to patients.

Cells of the adaptive immune system, T and B lymphocytes, protect against viruses and bacteria during infection. In autoimmune disease, however, autoreactive immune cells recognize endogenous proteins and destruct tissues and organs. Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disease of arteries that lead to the build-up of vessel-occluding plaques and causes myocardial infarction and stroke. Atherosclerosis is understood as partial autoimmune disease as autoreactive, pathogenic immune cells can be found in atherosclerotic arteries.

The act of swallowing is a complex sensorimotor function which is processed in a distributed neural network. Therefore, disturbance of swallowing function (dysphagia) is a prevalent symptom of many neurological diseases, e.g. stroke. Dysphagia leads to major complications such as airway infections, malnutrition and long-time dependency on a feeding tube. Evidence-based treatment options are still limited. PD Dr. Sonja Suntrup-Krüger’s scientific interest is in the brain control mechanisms of swallowing in health and disease and neurostimulation methods to enhance dysphagia rehabilitation.

Konrad Aden is interested in the molecular pathophysiology of inflammatory bowel disease(IBD). IBD is characterized by fundamental disturbance of the amino acid metabolism, but the underlying molecular cause remains elusive. The aim of his research is to decipher the cause and consequences of disrupted amino acid immunometabolism and to translate key molecular findings into novel diagnostic and therapeutic approaches in the management of IBD.

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of the rapid transfer of findings from molecular and clinical research into clinical routine. The "W3 professorship for translational research and innovative clinical studies" aims to integrate data from clinical-epidemiological databases, imaging, bioinformatics and molecular biology in an interdisciplinary approach and to transfer it into guideline-relevant clinical studies and individualized therapeutic approaches. Using this approach, clinical innovation will be accelerated and scientific innovation will be faster accessible.

Atrial fibrillation, with three to four percent of the population being affected and a steadily growing number of patients, is not only the most common cardiac arrhythmia worldwide but also a major cause of thromboembolic events. Currently available treatment options show high recurrence rates and low efficiency. Due to the limited understanding of pathophysiological mechanisms underlying atrial cardiomyopathy, available therapies are still insufficient.

The trafficking of immune cells between and within different organs plays a key role in the development of chronic inflammation. In particular, this has been established in inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis and has led to new therapies.