The aim of this project is to evaluate pulmonary pattern recognition molecules and their downstream signaling pathways as potential target structures for therapeutic intervention in preclinical pneumonia/ARDS models.

The BREATH working group performs phenotypic analyses to study the role of C-type lectin receptor expression for the defense of pulmonary Gram-positive and negative pathogens in the wild-type mouse model. These investigations are carried out under basal conditions and after infection with S. pneumoniae. In addition to the analysis of the acute inflammatory response, the longitudinal survival of the mice is studied. Throughflow cytometry is used to reveal the specific expression pattern. Based on preliminary findings, further infection biological studies are being carried out to characterize C-type lectin receptor-deficient mice in pneumococcal pneumonia.

Cooperating Partners in DZL: Airway Research Center North (ARCN), Biomedical Research in Endstage And ObsTructive Lung Disease Hannover (BREATH), Universities of Giessen and Marburg Lung Center (UGMLC)