SFB 670:  Cell-Autonomous Immunity

• Subject Area: Biology ; Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine ; Medicine
• Term: from 2006 to 2018
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 13123509

The response of an organism to pathogens proceeds in several steps, beginning with the natural barriers, e.g., the membrane of a plant cell or the skin of the mammalia, followed by the elements of the innate immunity, which enable an early defence reaction. The initial processing of the pathogen non-self antigens in somatic cells as well as the spatiotemporally concerted defence reaction including various elements of the innate immunity normally set the course for a coordinated and well-balanced adaptive immune response.
The Collaborative Research Centre focusses on cell-autonomous detection and effector mechanisms, which enable macrophages, but also other non-professional phagocytes, to eliminate particularly intracellular microbial pathogens. Like higher vertebrates plants are able to defend themselves against microbial pathogens. As plants do not have a circulating immune system with antibodies and immune cells, every single cell of a plant must be able to detect and effectively eliminate microbial pathogens. Strikingly, the functional modalities that enable host cells to recognise microbial pathogens seem to be evolutionary conserved in plants and mammalians.
The distinct complexity of the research area poses a great challenge for the comprehensive understanding of the molecular interaction of animal and plant host cell components, on the one hand, with structures of intracellular pathogens, on the other hand. The research groups in Cologne and Bonn combine specific expertise to gain new insights into the function of cell-autonomous defence and its consequences for the immune defence against infectious agents in a complementary and interdisciplinary research network.
In the long run the collaborative efforts of this scientific consortium are expected to unravel new target structures for the development of novel therapeutic modalities in infectious diseases.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres

Completed projects

• 01 - The professional phagocyte Dictyostelium as a host model for pathogens (Project Heads Eichinger, Ludwig ;  Noegel, Angelika A. )
• 02 - The molecular basis and functional contribution of Ca2+ signatures in plant cellautonomous immunity and during pathogen entry (Project Head Panstruga, Ralph )
• 03 - Molecular analysis of the interaction between Rhodococcus equi and their host macrophages (Project Head Haas, Albert )
• 04 - Antimicrobial effector and signaling activities of NADPH oxidases in bacterial and viral infection (Project Heads Krönke, Martin ;  Utermöhlen, Olaf )
• 05 - The role of reactive oxygen species in S. aureus-induced autophagy (Project Head Krut, Oleg )
• 06 - Mechanisms of cell-autonomous resistance to Toxoplasma gondii (Project Head Howard, Jonathan Charles )
• 07 - Function of heterotetrameric adaptor complexes in phagosome maturation (Project Head Höning, Stefan )
• 08 - Cell autonomous immune responses towards Adeno-associated virus (AAV) infection in the liver (Project Heads Büning, Hildegard ;  Hallek, Michael )
• 09 - Cell autonomous defense in the control of hepatitis B virus infection (Project Head Protzer, Ulrike )
• 10 - Cell autonomous control of human papillomavirus infection (Project Head Smola, Sigrun )
• 11 - Local anti-viral immunity in the liver (Project Head Knolle, Percy Alexander )
• 12 - Molecular mechanisms of dendritic cell signal transduction subsequent to cellular infection by Vaccinia Virus or L. monocytogenes (Project Head Kolanus, Waldemar )
• 13 - Induced Receptor Endocytosis in the Cell-Autonomous Plant Basal Immune Response (Project Head Robatzek, Silke )
• 15 - Innate receptor signalling in host defence (Project Head Pasparakis, Manolis )
• 17 - Role of insulin signal transduction in the regulation of innate immune response (Project Head Brüning, Jens Claus )
• 18 - Intracellular perception of fungal effectors and initiation of immune signaling by allelic NLR receptors (Project Head Schulze-Lefert, Paul )
• 19 - Toll-related intracellular receptors in plant innate immunity (Project Head Parker, Jane E. )
• 20 - Activation modes of RIG-I (Project Heads Hartmann, Gunther ;  Schlee, Martin )
• 21 - Horizontal in trans signaling spreads cell autonomous immunity to bystander cells (Project Head Hornung, Veit )
• 22 - Extracellular functions of inflammasomes (Project Head Latz, Eicke )
• 23 - Dissection of pattern recognition receptor-mediated signaling in plants (Project Head Saijo, Yusuke )
• 24 - Identification of nuclear components and in vivo target genes of the Arabidopsis transcription factors AtWRKY18 and AtWRKY40 during early MAMP-triggered plant immunity (Project Head Somssich, Imre )
• 26 - XIAP-mediated cell-autonomous immune reaction against Shigella flexneri (Project Head Kashkar, Hamid )
• 27 - Characterization of the role of NLRC5 in immune responses and malignant transformation (Project Head Kufer, Thomas )
• 28 - In vivo visualization of inflammasome activation in the context of acute bacterial infections (Project Head Kastenmüller, Wolfgang )
• 29 - Physiological role of oxidized DNA recognition in the cytosol (Project Head Barchet, Winfried )
• 30 - Mechanisms of innate immune responses to DNA damage (Project Head Schumacher, Björn )
• 31 - Understanding the role of Sirtuin1 in cell autonomous defence against intracellular pathogens (Project Head Robinson, Nirmal )
• 32 - Molecular basis of network robustness during effector-triggered immunity (Project Head Tsuda, Ph.D., Kenichi )
• 33 - Characterization of an ancient cell death signaling module (Project Heads Hofmann, Kay ;  Pasparakis, Manolis )
• MGK - Integrated Research Training Group (Project Heads Büning, Hildegard ;  Utermöhlen, Olaf )
• N01 - N01 - Nachwuchsgruppe Analysis of Nod like receptor (NLR) mediated innate immunity in mammalian cells (Project Head Kufer, Thomas )
• Z01 - Central Tasks (Project Head Krönke, Martin )
• Z02 - Imaging-unit (Project Heads Büning, Hildegard ;  Kashkar, Hamid ;  Latz, Eicke ;  Protzer, Ulrike ;  Schauss, Astrid ;  Utermöhlen, Olaf )
• Z03 - Central animal facility: Generation, breeding and husbandry of mice including murine infection models (Project Heads Kastenmüller, Wolfgang ;  Knolle, Percy Alexander ;  Mahabir-Brenner, Esther ;  Pasparakis, Manolis ;  Utermöhlen, Olaf )
• Z04 - Bioinformatic Support (Project Head Schulze-Lefert, Paul )

• Applicant Institution: Universität zu Köln
• Participating University: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn
• Participating Institution: Max-Planck-Institut für Pflanzenzüchtungsforschung
• Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Martin Krönke