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SFB 1192

Project A6

Innate and innate-like lymphocytes in immune-mediated glomerular diseases

Cytokines produced by lymphocytes of the innate and adaptive immune system are central regulators of the immune response in homeostasis and immune-mediated diseases. Recent studies have shown that specialized subsets of “innate-like” T cells that display features of both innate and adaptive immunity, as well as different innate lymphocyte populations reside in the kidney, where they contribute to production of cytokines and regulation of the local immune response. However, the contribution of these innate and innate-like lymphocyte populations to kidney injury and repair in immune-mediated glomerular diseases is still incompletely understood. In the proposed project we will investigate the role of innate-like T cell subsets (focusing on MAIT cells) and innate lymphocyte populations (focusing on NK cells) in immune-mediated glomerular diseases. In a hypothesis based approach, we will first use an experimental mouse model of glomerulonephritis to study the function of kidney-resident NK cells and MAIT cells in glomerular inflammation. These studies will be complemented by a systems biology approach, in which we will perform a high dimensional analysis of the molecular interactions of innate and innate-like lymphocytes with renal parenchymal cells in the healthy human kidney and in renal biopsies of glomerulonephritis patients. Selected interaction pathways identified in these unbiased analyses of human kidney samples will then be subjected to functional testing in in vitro co-culture systems with lymphocytes and renal epithelial cells and in the glomerulonephritis model. In summary, our studies will elucidate the role of innate and innate-like lymphocyte subsets in the renal immune response and will thereby pave the way for targeted treatment approaches in patients with immune-mediated glomerular diseases.

Publications

  • Conventional NK Cells and Type 1 Innate Lymphoid Cells Do Not Influence Pathogenesis of Experimental Glomerulonephritis.

    Constantin Rickassel, Ann-Christin Gnirck, Nikhat Shaikh, Virginia Adamiak, Alex Waterhölter, Yakup Tanriver, Katrin Neumann, Tobias B Huber, Georg Gasteiger, Ulf Panzer, Jan-Eric Turner J Immunol. 2022 Apr

  • Clonal expansion and activation of tissue-resident memory-like Th17 cells expressing GM-CSF in the lungs of severe COVID-19 patients.

    Yu Zhao, Christoph Kilian, Jan-Eric Turner, Lidia Bosurgi, Kevin Roedl, Patricia Bartsch, Ann-Christin Gnirck, Filippo Cortesi, Christoph Schultheiß, Malte Hellmig, Leon U B Enk, Fabian Hausmann, Alina Borchers , Milagros N Wong, Hans-Joachim Paust , Francesco Siracusa, Nicola Scheibel, Marissa Herrmann, Elisa Rosati, Petra Bacher , Dominik Kylies, Dominik Jarczak, Marc Lütgehetmann, Susanne Pfefferle, Stefan Steurer, Julian Schulze Zur-Wiesch, Victor G Puelles, Jan-Peter Sperhake, Marylyn M Addo, Ansgar W Lohse, Mascha Binder, Samuel Huber, Tobias B Huber, Stefan Kluge, Stefan Bonn, Ulf Panzer , Nicola Gagliani, Christian F Krebs.Sci Immunol. 2021 Feb

  • Interleukin-9 protects from early podocyte injury and progressive glomerulosclerosis in Adriamycin-induced nephropathy.

    Xiong T, Attar M, Gnirck AC, Wunderlich M, Becker M, Rickassel C, Puelles VG, Meyer-Schwesinger C, Wiech T, Nies JF, Divivier M, Fuchs T, Schulze Zur Wiesch J, Taipaleenmäki H, Hoxha E, Wirtz S, Huber TB, Panzer U, Turner JE.Kidney Int. 2020 Sep

  • Innate Lymphoid Cells in Renal Inflammation.

    Becker M, Gnirck AC, Turner JEFront Immunol. 2020 Jan

  • Endogenous IL-22 is dispensable for tissue protection in experimental glomerulonephritis.

    Gnirck AC, Wunderlich M, Becker M, Xiong T, Weinert E, Meyer-Schwesinger C, Dumoutier L, Renauld JC, Huber S, Panzer U, Turner JEAm J Physiol Renal Physiol. 2019 Apr

  • T cell-derived IFN-γ downregulates protective group 2 innate lymphoid cells in murine lupus erythematosus. 

    Düster M, Becker M, Gnirck AC, Wunderlich M, Panzer U, Turner JEEur J Immunol. 2018 Aug

  • Innate lymphoid cells in autoimmunity and chronic inflammatory diseases. 

    Xiong T, Turner JESemin Immunopathol. 2018 Jul

  • Innate Lymphoid Cells – Key players in tissue-specific immunity. 

    Turner JE, Gasteiger GSemin Immunopathol. 2018 Jul

  • Tissue-Resident Lymphocytes in the Kidney.

    Jan-Eric Turner, Martina Becker, Hans-Willi Mittrücker, Ulf Panzer J Am Soc Nephrol. 2018 Feb

  • Natural killers: the bad guys in fibrosis? 

    Turner JEKidney Int. 2017 Jul

  • IL-33-mediated expansion of type 2 innate lymphoid cells protects from progressive glomerulosclerosis

    Riedel JH, Becker M, Kopp K, Düster M, Brix SR, Meyer-Schwesinger C, Kluth LA, Gnirck AC, Attar M, Krohn S, Fehse B, Stahl RA, Panzer U, Turner JEJ Am Soc Nephrol. 2017 Jul