Prof. Dr. Friedemann Kiefer
Morphogenesis and function of lymph vessels
Vascular biology / Angiogenesis
Imaging Technology
Inflammation
Lymphatic Vessels
Hypoxia
Two intricately interwoven vascular systems, blood and lymph vessels, are indispensable for the growth, function and survival of all vertebrate tissues. Circulatory blood vessels transport oxygen, nutrients, and cellular components and remove metabolites. The dendriform lymph vessels form an easy entrance system for interstitial fluid, extracellular solutes and immune cells, collectively called the lymph, which lymph vessels return into the venous circulation. We investigate the morphogenetic processes that shape and maintain the vascular systems, especially lymph vessels, during development but also in healthy and diseased adult life. In particular, we are interested in the function of lymphatic vessels how they influence immune function and how inflammation and hypoxia influence lymph vessels. Using advanced microscopy techniques, we aim to understand the relevance of each of these questions in developmental and pathological settings. To image developing or diseased vessels, tissue oxygenation and inflammatory cells, we use light sheet microscopy, which allows 3 dimensional imaging of large tissue volumes, or 2 photon laser scanning microscopy via optical windows, which allows us to study processes longitudinally.
Vita
- 1981-88: Studies in Biochemistry & Physiological Chemistry, University of Tübingen
- 1989-93: I.M.P., Vienna
- 1993-98: Ontario Cancer Institute and Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute, Toronto, Canada
- 1998-2002: Max Planck Institute for Physiological and Clinical Research, Bad Nauheim
- 2002-2017: Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine, Münster
- Since 2017: Professor of Intravital Molecular Imaging, European Institute for Molecular Imaging, Münster
Selected references
Hagerling R, Hoppe E, Dierkes C, Stehling M, Makinen T, Butz S, Vestweber D and Kiefer, F. (2018). Distinct roles of VE-cadherin for development and maintenance of specific lymph vessel beds. EMBO J.
Erapaneedi R, Belousov VV, Schaefers M and Kiefer F (2016). A novel family of fluorescent hypoxia sensors reveal strong heterogeneity in tumor hypoxia at the cellular level. EMBO J 35, 102-113.
Hagerling R, Pollmann C, Andreas M, Schmidt C, Nurmi H, Adams RH, Alitalo K, Andresen V, Schulte-Merker S and Kiefer F (2013). A novel multistep mechanism for initial lymphangiogenesis in mouse embryos based on ultramicroscopy. EMBO J 32, 629-644.
Konigsberger S, Prodohl J, Stegner D, Weis V, Andreas M, Stehling M, Schumacher T, Bohmer R, Thielmann I, van Eeuwijk JM et al. (2012). Altered BCR signalling quality predisposes to autoimmune disease and a pre-diabetic state. EMBO J 31, 3363-3374.
Bohmer R, Neuhaus B, Buhren S, Zhang D, Stehling M, Bock B and Kiefer F (2010). Regulation of developmental lymphangiogenesis by Syk(+) leukocytes. Dev Cell 18, 437-449.
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