DFG funding for research into stem cell transplants and tissue from a 3D printer
Major success for FAU: The German Research Foundation (DFG) has awarded funding for a new Collaborative Research Center at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg for autoimmune diseases. The DFG is also providing a further funding period for two Transregio projects involving FAU.
New treatment methods for autoimmune diseases
In the new Collaborative Research Center (SFB) 1755 “Cellular and Systems Control of Autoimmune Disease” (CASCAID), FAU researchers hope to develop strategies for sustainable remission in autoimmune diseases and chronic inflammatory diseases without the use of medication. Autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis pose considerable clinical challenges because they are characterized by recurrent inflammatory flare-ups. These flare-ups lead to tissue damage and loss of organ function. The aim of the CRC is to gain a better understanding of these processes and to develop sustainable therapies. Speaker of CRC 1755 is Prof. Dr. Georg Schett from the Chair of Internal Medicine 3.
Current approaches to treatment control the inflammation, but do not permanently stop the disease. These treatment limitations are a sign of malfunctioning immune cell networks in the tissue. CASCAID aims to identify and characterize these networks. This Collaborative Research Center will form a bridge between translational pre-clinical and clinical research by using molecular data from large patient cohorts, human tissue samples and the latest methods for tissue profiling. The researchers hope that treatment approaches that have already been tested in clinical trials, such as the using CD19-CAR-T cells to treat autoimmune diseases, will help them gain a better understanding of the cellular and systemic mechanisms in tissue and to find new ways of achieving lasting remission without medication.
Manufacturing replacement tissue with a 3D printer
CRC/Transregio 225 funded by the DFG called “From the foundations of biofabrication to functional tissue models” located in Würzburg (coordinating university), Bayreuth and Erlangen has been extended until 2029. The consortium develops automated 3D printing methods in order to manufacture human tissue models with clearly defined biological functions. An internationally renowned competence cluster for biofabrication based on intense interdisciplinary collaboration has been set up in northern Bavaria.
During the third funding period, the consortium is focusing on the targeted expansion of the biological functions of the tissue models, gaining a better understanding of complex cell interactions and developing new bio-fabricated model systems for pre-clinical applications. TRR 225 is building on previous successes and is opening up new perspectives for animal-free testing systems, pharmaceutical research and regenerative therapies in the long term.
Third funding period for improving stem cell transplants
The DFG has approved a third funding period for the CRC/Transregio 221 (TRR) 221 “Controlling graft-versus-host and graft-versus-leukemia immune reactions after allogenic stem cell transplants”. The TRR is a research network of the University of Regensburg (coordinating university), Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg and FAU and the university hospitals located there. Speaker for FAU is Prof. Dr. Andreas Mackensen, Head of Department of Medicine 5 – Hematology and Oncology at Universitätsklinikum Erlangen.
Transferring blood stem cells from a healthy donor is one treatment option when leukemia does not go into remission after chemotherapy. This treatment, known as the GvL effect (graft-versus-leukemia effect), is not strong enough in all patients to stop the leukemia from returning and can attack healthy tissue in some cases (graft-versus-host disease). The aim of this CRC/Transregio is to understand the immunological mechanisms involved in the transplant of blood stem cells in order to make this treatment safer and more effective. In the third funding period, the researchers aim to prepare the already developed strategies for clinical testing.
More information:
Communications and Press
Phone +49 9131 85-70229
presse@fau.de
Prof. Dr. med. Georg Schett
Chair of Internal Medicine 3
georg.schett@uk-erlangen.de
Prof. Dr. Andreas Mackensen
Department of Medicine 5 – Hematology and Oncology
andreas.mackensen@uk-erlangen.de
Prof. Dr. Aldo Boccaccini
Chair of Materials Science (Biomaterials)
aldo.boccaccini@fau.de