Research

Funding: MELUND, 56.077 EUR

Project Details:
Research on marine mammals started in Büsum after the first seal mortality in 1988/89. The aim of the scientists is to study the biology and ecology of marine mammals and to assess the impact of humans on the animals, their health and their population. The scientific focus is on studies of health (exposure to pollutants, underwater noise, stress, immune system, infectious diseases, etc.) as well as behaviour, habitat use, population densities and impacts of anthropogenic interventions. Among other lines of research, the scientists are currently investigating the effects of underwater noise (e.g. from explosions, offshore wind turbines, shipping) on the behaviour and health of seals and harbour porpoises, chemical pollution and waste, disturbances and fishing on marine mammals. The stranding network ensures that whales and seals found on the coasts of Schleswig-Holstein can be reported, recovered and necropsied. The state of health is determined by means of further histological, microbiological and parasitological examinations. In this project, the tissues of porpoises found dead in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea will be examined for specific pollutants and the auditory apparatus will be analysed.
The following pollutants will be investigated in the liver and fat of harbour porpoises from waters in Schleswig-Holstein: polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and derivatives, dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and mercury (Hg). The results of the toxicological investigation will be combined with the data on health status from the autopsies and an ecotoxicological assessment will be made. The results will be used for the development of further investigations for the various agreements, such as HELCOM, OSPAR, MSRL, and development of indicators.
For investigations of the auditory apparatus, dead harbour porpoises recovered within the framework of the small cetacean monitoring programme of the Land of Schleswig-Holstein should be collected immediately after reporting in order to remove and preserve the ears as fresh as possible for the investigation. In particular, harbour porpoises found dead after blasting and other impulse sound events as well as by-catches and live strandings shall be included. High-resolution computed tomography scans of the ear bones will be performed as well as confocal microscopic and histological examinations.
The studies on the auditory apparatus of harbour porpoises carried out in this project will be considered in the context of ongoing or completed studies at ITAW with similar questions. The results of this project will be used to assess whether changes in various structures of the auditory pathways may have been caused by exposure of harbour porpoises to explosions or other impulsive sound events.

Results:

Bericht an das Ministerium für Energiewende, Klimaschutz, Umwelt und Natur des Landes Schleswig-Holstein

https://www.schleswig-holstein.de/DE/fachinhalte/A/artenschutz/Downloads/untersuchungSchweinswale2021.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=1

Funding: EU Commission, Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety, 724.000 EUR

Project Details:
Finanzielle Zuwendung für die Arbeiten am EU Referenzlabor für Klassische Schweinepest
(Work program according to Annex IV of the Council Directive 2001/89/EC)

Cooperation Partners:

Dr. Christoph Staubach (FLI Riems)

Funding: MWK Niedersachsen, 69.925 EUR

Project Details:
Since the first description of SARS-CoV2 and the related disease COVID-19 in December 2019 various in vitro and in vivo models were utilized to investigate viral life cycle and pathophysiology as basis for effective treatment strategies. In vivo models used to investigate SARS-CoV2 or respiratory viral infections in general range from small animals models to non-human primate models (Munoz-Fontela et al., 2020). But next to the ethical questions accompanying animal models in scientific research also not all questions related to human respiratory epithelium can be examined with (small) animal models. Immortalized human cell lines like Caco-2, Calu-3 or HEK293T which are regularly used to investigate respiratory viruses like influenza or Human Respiratory Syncytial virus (RSV) and also Corona Virus infections (SARS, MERS) are frequently applied to investigate infection and replication of SARS-CoV2; however, although these cell lines are comparatively easy and cost effective to grow, they only poorly recapitulate physiological conditions of the respiratory epithelium. Even cell lines such as A549 cells barely reflect the phenotype of lung epithelium. Human primary bronchial epithelial cells (hBECs) represent a more physiological in vitro model and are also utilized in SARS-CoV2 research (Hoffmann et al., 2020). These cells can be isolated from donor lung tissue, expanded in vitro and matured in Air-Liquid-Interface (ALI) cultures (Hoffmann et al., 2020). While the main focus of our group is scalable generation and utilization of cardiovascular and respiratory derivatives from induced pluripotent stem cells for disease modelling, drug screening and cellular therapies (Merkert et al., 2019; Katsirntaki et al., 2015; Kempf et al., 2014; Schmeckebier et al., 2013; Zweigert et al., 2011), we have recently also established isolation of primary human airway cells of consistent high quality: Hannover Medical School is the leading German lung transplantation center with about 100 lung transplantation per year. In close collaboration with our transplant surgeons and the group of Prof. Danny Jonigk (Pathology, MHH), we are routinely preparing hBECs from bronchial tissue that can be culture-expanded and cryopreserved for later applications. Also maturation of these hBECs is already well established in our group and matured proximal epithelial cells are already provided to partners for investigation of SARS-CoV2 as well as other respiratory viral infections (e.g. RSV). While these primary hBECs represent a superior in vitro model for SARS-CoV2 infection studies and COVID disease modelling, they do represent only one respiratory compartment. Infection by SARS-CoV2 not only occurs in the upper throat and nasal tract, trachea and bronchi, but also in the alveolar epithelium. Therefore also organotypic in vitro models that reflect the distal lung compartment are urgently required. While maintenance and expansion of isolated type II alveolar epithelial cells (AT2 cells) was so far impossible, substantial progress was very recently made, and protocols that enable production of such cells in larger numbers have been developed. So called Alveolospheres, organoids consisting of alveolar type 1 and 2 cells, allow expansion and maturation of isolated distal epithelial cell in vitro and were recently used to model SARS-CoV2 infection (Karsura et al., 2020; Salahudeen et al., 2020). Although organoid cultures enabled in vitro culture of AT1 and AT2 cells, we believe ALI cultures would represent a more physiological system with air exposure of the epithelial cells and could subsequently allow co-culture systems with endothelial cells as well as macrophages to create more complex organotypic in vitro models of the alveolar lung compartment. By utilizing our experience from differentiation of induced pluripotent stem cells (Katsirntaki et al., 2015; Schmeckebier et al., 2013) we aim to establish isolation, 2D expansion and cryopreservation of human AT2 cells, and further maturation and differentiation in type I alveolar epithelial (AT1) cells in an ALI culture system for in vitro modelling of SARS-CoV-2 infections.

Cooperation Partners:

Prof. Dr. Ulrich Martin, Dr. rer. nat. Ruth Olmer

Leibniz-Forschungslaboratorien für Biotechnologie und künstliche Organe, Klinik für Herz-, Thorax-, Transplantations- und Gefäßchirurgie - Medizinische Hochschule Hannover

Funding: SprinD, 684.523 EUR

Project Details:
Current antiviral agents mainly target stages in the viral life cycle such as viral attachment to host cell or replication of viral RNA and DNA. Most of the available antiviral agents are effective against replicating viruses only, and due to the lack of specificity, many have adverse side effects. Particularly in endemic and pandemic disease outbreaks, there is additional challenge through virus mutagenesis and the development of viral variants. Therefore, approaches, which target various virus variants are urgently needed. Current paradigms in antiviral treatment involve usage of small molecules and/or therapeutic antibodies. Small molecules often have secondary targets and thus can cause side effects. Antibodies are expensive, their administration is mostly limited to clinical settings, and also they are affected by mutations. In an endemic or pandemic situation, therapies which have broad coverage within virus families, prevent transmission, and can be safely applied during mild and moderate illness are especially valuable.

Our novel approach aims to fill this need through the use of CRISPR/Cas13, an enzyme from bacteria, which cleaves RNA, including the viral genome (of RNA viruses) and of viral mRNA, thereby blocking viral replication and generation of viral proteins. Our therapeutic strategy has no secondary targets, and can be produced at GMP level at low cost. Through a specific combination of so-called crRNAs, Cas13 is directed to different viral mRNAs and to different sites within the viral genome. The crRNAs are selected such that no human RNA is targeted, and therefore no adverse side effects can be expected. This technology can easily be adapted for any single stranded RNA virus. Through targeting different and highly conserved regions, this approach antagonizes also emerging variants of the original virus.

Cooperation Partners:

Prof. Dr. Elisabeth Zeisberg, Universitätsmedizin Göttingen

Funding: Leibniz-Informationszentrum, Technik und Naturwissenschaften, Technische Universitätsbibliothek (TIB), Hannover, 3.560 EUR

Project Details:
In order to enable the students to think outside the box, the already existing offer at the TiHo is to
Instructional/learning videos are expanded. Film sequences are planned that contain basic information on the aquatic and terrestrial animal species researched at ITAW, with learning units on their anatomical and physiological aspects
Particularities. Film sequences on autopsies of the respective animal species are intended to further deepen the learning content and illustrate the fields of activity of the veterinarians at the ITAW. The approach is interdisciplinary
and can offer veterinary medicine and biology students as well as other interested parties insights into anatomical, physiological and pathological contexts. The basics are available and can be processed by a technically experienced assistant into an online module lasting about 90 minutes.

Funding: MWK über UMG Göttingen, 29.847 EUR

Project Details:
SARS-CoV-2 (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Type 2) is the causative agent of COVID-19. The course of the COVID-19 pandemic so far has emphatically shown that a coordinated bundling of interdisciplinary and complementary expertise is necessary in order to decode the diverse aspects of the biology, pathology and epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 and to use the knowledge gained clinically for the treatment of patients as well as for modeling the course of infection in the population. In order to be able to provide and implement such a holistic approach, the federal state of Lower Saxony offers ideal conditions with its internationally renowned science locations. We are therefore applying for financial support for collaborative research to set up a COVID-19 research network in the state of Lower Saxony (COFONI).

Funding: MWK über UMG Göttingen, 34.750 EUR

Project Details:
SARS-CoV-2 (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Type 2) is the causative agent of COVID-19. The course of the COVID-19 pandemic so far has emphatically shown that a coordinated bundling of interdisciplinary and complementary expertise is necessary in order to decode the diverse aspects of the biology, pathology and epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 and to use the knowledge gained clinically for the treatment of patients as well as for modeling the course of infection in the population. In order to be able to provide and implement such a holistic approach, the federal state of Lower Saxony offers ideal conditions with its internationally renowned science locations. We are therefore applying for financial support for collaborative research to set up a COVID-19 research network in the state of Lower Saxony (COFONI).

Funding: MWK über UMG Göttingen, 41.000 EUR

Project Details:
SARS-CoV-2 (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Type 2) is the causative agent of COVID-19. The course of the COVID-19 pandemic so far has emphatically shown that a coordinated bundling of interdisciplinary and complementary expertise is necessary in order to decode the diverse aspects of the biology, pathology and epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 and to use the knowledge gained clinically for the treatment of patients as well as for modeling the course of infection in the population. In order to be able to provide and implement such a holistic approach, the federal state of Lower Saxony offers ideal conditions with its internationally renowned science locations. We are therefore applying for financial support for collaborative research to set up a COVID-19 research network in the state of Lower Saxony (COFONI).

Funding: MWK über UMG Göttingen, 44.446 EUR

Project Details:
SARS-CoV-2 (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Type 2) is the causative agent of COVID-19. The course of the COVID-19 pandemic so far has emphatically shown that a coordinated bundling of interdisciplinary and complementary expertise is necessary in order to decode the diverse aspects of the biology, pathology and epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 and to use the knowledge gained clinically for the treatment of patients as well as for modeling the course of infection in the population. In order to be able to provide and implement such a holistic approach, the federal state of Lower Saxony offers ideal conditions with its internationally renowned science locations. We are therefore applying for financial support for collaborative research to set up a COVID-19 research network in the state of Lower Saxony (COFONI).

Funding: Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kultur, 119.900 EUR

Project Details:
Im Rahmen dieses Projektes werden Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftler mit verschiedenen Interessensgruppen in den Diskurs treten, um die Akzeptanz potentieller Alternativen zu herkömmlichen Proteinquellen zu erfragen, da diese für den späteren Einsatz als Lebensmittel von entscheidender Bedeutung ist. Der Fokus wird hierbei auf Insekten liegen, da deren Verzehr wahrscheinlich eine größere Herausforderung darstellt als der pflanzlicher Proteine. Ziel des Projekts ist es, die Verbraucherwünsche und -erwartungen sowie die Einstellungen gegenüber neuartigen Lebensmitteln besser zu verstehen und einzuordnen.