Project area A: immune cell targeting

In this project area, we will develop chemical, biochemical and bioorthogonal targeting strategies to label innate immune cells for image-based tracking and analyses of their activation and functional state and to image bacteria. Novel versatile labels for multiscale imaging will uniquely allow detection of identical target moieties in different imaging modalities, thereby providing chemical bridging for multiscale imaging. Furthermore, mathematical modelling will allow optimised motion compensation during intravital imaging of moving organs (e.g. cardiac and respiratory motion) and a quantitative description of immune cell dynamics from multiscale imaging data. Data from all modalities will be integrated into multiscale datasets.

Projects

  • PI-2023-02: Photoproximity labeling catalysts as signal amplification tools for in vivo labeling of immune cells
    Project leaders: Nadine Heiden (European Institute for Molecular Imaging) and Jonas Schöning (Institute of Biochemistry)
    Project term: 01/2024 - 12/2024
  • PEP-2023-03: Cell-cell collisions augment collective swarm dynamics in immune cells
    Principal investigator: Milos Galic (Institute of Medical Physics and Biophysics)
    Project term: 07/2023–06/2024
  • PEP-2022-12 – Chemiluminescent activation of optogenetic proteins for the targeting sites of inflammation
    Principal investigator: Seraphine Wegner (Institute of Physiological Chemistry and Pathobiochemistry)
    Project term: 01/2023–12/2023
  • PEP-2022-09 – All-in-one cell therapy of tumors combining antigen-specific T cell activation with local depletion of immunosuppressive macrophages: Visualization of local CSF1R antagonist secretion in tumors
    Principal investigator: Claudia Rössig (Department of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology)
    Project term: 01/2023–12/2023
  • ST-2022-03 – A 18F-labeled derivative of dibenzocylcooctyne (DBCO) to label artificial cholesterol analogs in cell membranes
    Project leader: Christian Paul Konken (Department of Nuclear Medicine)
    Project term: 01/2023 - 12/2023

  • ST-2022-05 – Evaluation of immunogenicity of chemo-enzymatically modified Cap 1 mRNAs
    Project leader: Melissa van Dülmen (Institute of Biochemistry)
    Project term: 01/2023 - 12/2023