Schwiete Lab for Microbiota and inflammation

To gain a better understanding of the composition, functionality and dynamics of the microbiota we use high-resolution microbiota cytometry. We developed this method in collaboration with the Gastroenterology Department of Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Campus Benjamin Franklin and the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research in Leipzig. We visualize bacteria using staining reagents, such as the DNA and light scattering profile to generate “microbial community fingerprints”. In addition, we characterize the labeling of bacteria with endogenous antibodies and their metabolic activity or sugar residues on the surface to study the composition of the microbiota and its changes in disease and under therapy precisely. With microbiota cytometry, we can rapidly compare the microbiota from stool samples of healthy and diseased individuals to identify bacterial communities associated with different disease symptoms and to determine causal relationships. A major advantage of microbiota cytometry is the ability to analyze in realtime and sort bacteria directly from stool samples.

We have recently identified bacteria of the genus Anaeroplasma that have the potential to inhibit inflammation by promoting the expression of the anti-inflammatory cytokine TGF-β. This in turn enhances the production of so-called IgA antibodies. These “mucosal antibodies,” are part of the intestinal barrier that, among other things, prevents bacteria from uncontrolled passage through the intestinal mucosa and initiating inflammation. We are in the process of deciphering the molecular mechanisms of how Anaeroplasma modulates the immune system. Furthermore, we are investigating whether and how Anaeroplasma can be used as an anti-inflammatory “probiotic” in chronic inflammatory diseases.

We are investigating the hypothesis that the autoimmune responses, for example those that target the joint in rheumatoid examples, originate in the gut. The intestinal microbiome in its entirety is estimated to comprise over 3 million genes, an immense source of potential antigens, some of which could resemble endogenous antigens that have the potential to trigger an autoimmune response. As part of the EU-funded project RTCure, we are collaborating with partners at the University of Birmingham, UK, the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden, and Leiden University, the Netherlands, to investigate the extent to which antibodies isolated from patients with rheumatoid arthritis bind bacteria from the intestinal flora and to identify these bacteria. Such bacteria could induce and drive rheumatoid inflammation.

We are developing two- and three-dimensional intestinal models to study the impact of intestinal microbial stimuli on intestinal epithelial cells in vitro. Furthermore, we are developing cultivation methods that will allow us to also maintain the intestinal microbiota in its original composition in vitro to study effects of environmental stimuli on the microbial community structure. Such in vitro models will enable us to reduce and perhaps even completely avoid animal experiments in the sense of the 3R concept (Replace, Reduce, Refine).

Group leader
Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Hyun-Dong Chang

Scientists
Amro Abbas
Vera Bockhorn
Vinod Devaraj
Sebastian Ferrara
Axel Schulz

Ph.D. students
Adrian Barreno Sanchez
Lisa Budzinski
Anna Casanovas
Qing Hu
Gi-Ung Kang
Robin Kempkens
Yannik Goerkis
Toni Sempert
Aayushi Shah
Leo Fiebig

Bachelor/Diploma/Master students
Josephine Münch
Alissa Karina Yudiputri

Technician
Heike Hirseland
René Maier

Student assistant
Quoc Viet Hoang

Tobias Alexander, Britta Siegmund, Tilmann Kallinich, Adrian Schreiber, Gonza Ngoumou, Arne Schäfer, Francesca Ronchi

Charlotte Esser (IUF)

Kai Hildner (Erlangen), Martin Kriegel (Münster), Martin von Bergen (Leipzig)

Dagmar Scheel-Toellner (Birmingham, UK), Marta Alarcon-Riquelme (Granada, Spain), Guy Boeckxstaens/Hind Hussein (Leuven, Belgium), René Toes/Diana van der Woude (Leiden, Netherlands)