Research

Funding: Drittmittelprojekt, gefördert durch die Fritz-Ahrberg-Stiftung., 100.000 EUR

Project Details:
(Deep)freezing is a process for preserving fat. Both the duration and the temperature of the freezing treatment influence the physicochemical and sensory quality of the fat and also the quality of the products made with this fat (Flavia et al. 2014). In our opinion, there have been no studies that have related the influence of the freezing duration and temperature of fat to the quality of the cooked sausage produced with it. For this reason, in the project pork and turkey fat will be stored after freezing for up to 24 weeks at -18 °C and approx. -80 °C. After 12 and 24 weeks, the fat will be processed to cooked cured sausages. The products will be directly characterised with regard to physicochemical (e.g. colour, pH value, aw value, antioxidative capacity), microbiological (e.g. total bacterial count) and sensory properties (following the DLG 5-point scheme). The products will then be cut, packaged in a protective gas atmosphere and stored according to the storage time, which is typical for the product in retail. The control products contain fat that was frozen overnight (for technological reasons).

Funding: Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt, 110.319 EUR

Project Details:
In der Nutztierhaltung insgesamt, aber auch in der Masthähnchenhaltung im Speziellen, besteht die dringende Notwendigkeit zur Reduktion des Arzneimitteleinsatzes vor dem Hintergrund der damit verbundenen Umweltbelastung. Durch den Einsatz von Mikroalgen soll eine präventive Förderung der Tiergesundheit erreicht werden. Mikroorganismen sind einzellige, pflanzliche Organismen, die über diverse phytogene Inhaltsstoffe mit antiinflammatorischen, immunstimulierenden oder antioxidativen Wirkungen verfügen. In diesem Projekt sollen die Effekte ausgewählter Mikroalgen auf Leistung und Tiergesundheit sowohl in der konventionellen als auch in der ökologischen Masthähnchenhaltung untersucht werden.

Cooperation Partners:

Microganic GmbH, Melle

Funding: Philipp Schwartz-Initiative, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, 38.600 EUR

Project Details:
The aim of project is to gain deeper insights into how altered FSH secretion due to GnRH agonist SRI treatment affects FSHR expression, but also how it affects SSC self-renewal, differentiation and proliferation using the dog as a model.
SSC are crucial for male fertility as they sustain spermatogenesis, the continuous process of sperm production, ensuring the maintenance of reproductive function and genetic diversity. Understanding their regulation is essential for addressing fertility issues and reproductive medicine. Besides, the aim is to investigate to what extent the SSC niche is altered, namely how RA and RA generating enzymes are affected by altered peripheral FSH secretion.
For the current project dogs were treated over 5 months with a GnRH slow release implant (SRI); after 5 months the SRI was removed and groups of dogs were surgically castrated at the time of implant removal (week 0) and 3, 6, 9, 12 and 24 weeks later, respectively representing either downregulated/arrested spermatogenesis or restart of spermatogenesis at various time points. Besides, untreated healthy male and 2 month-old juvenile dogs served as controls. All samples have been previously characterised in detail within earlier projects.
As FSH is significantly reduced during downregulation and fully restored rapidly after SRI removal, these testicular samples collected during downregulation and subsequent recovery seem to be a promisining model to study effects of altered FSH signaling on SSCs and their niche in a non-rodent model.

Results:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39631561/

Project Details:
The project "Phages in small animal medicine" is a cooperative project of the Clinic for Small Animals, the Institute for Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmacy, the Institute for Food Quality and Food Safety/Center for Translational Studies, the Institute for Microbiology and the Institute for Pathology. The project aims at gaining new insights into the effectiveness of bacteriophages (phages) that specifically infect Staphylococcus (S.) pseudintermedius, ESBL-producing E. coli, Acinetobacter baumanii and Pseudomonas aeruginosa as well as multi-resistant enterococci. The use of specific bacteriophages will be tested in ex-vivo models.

Funding: DZIF, BMBF, 115.000 EUR

Project Details:
The main protease 3CLpro is a prominent drug target to control corona virus (CoV) replication and associated disease. The target is structure-enabled, structurally conserved and believed to offer an opportunity for multi-/pan-CoV-inhibitor designs. Pfizer have received an Emergency Use Authorization for their first-generation 3CL inhibitor Paxlovid. This serves the important clinical target validation for Covid-19 but also demands a differentiation strategy for second generation drugs as outlined herein. We will be applying our University of Marburg (UMR) based mouse transduction CoV challenge model, optimized for SARS-CoV-2 variants-of-concern and the dosing of the herein pursued second generation 3CL inhibitors as designed and synthesized by the Lead Discovery Center (LDC). In addition, the frontrunner compound will be tested head-to-head against Paxlovid in the hamster SARS-CoV-2 disease model maintained at University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover. In so doing we contribute to the preclinical proof-of-concept and hopefully the nomination a lead compound of the second generation 3CLpro inhibitors by LDC.

Cooperation Partners:

Prof. Dr. Stephan Becker, Marburg

LDC

Funding: Milchwirtschaft Niedersachsen e.V. (LVN), 30.000 EUR

Project Details:
Klinische und subklinische Mastitiden führen zu Einbußen in der Qualität und Wirtschaftlichkeit der Milchwirtschaft. Häufig werden Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) und Streptococcus
uberis (S. uberis) als Erreger nachgewiesen, durch die Antibiogrammpflicht neuerdings vermehrt auch multiresistente Escherichia coli (E. coli). Der Einsatz von Antibiotika soll in
Hinblick auf die mögliche Verbreitung resistenter und ultiresistenter Erreger so weit wie möglich gesenkt werden. Es wird daher dringend nach alternativen Behandlungsmethoden
mit einer hohen antibakteriellen Wirksamkeit gesucht.
Die Ziele des Projektes sind:
a) Isolierung und Charakterisierung geeigneter Phagen
b) Auswahl von Phagen mit hoher Wirksamkeit gegenüber klinischen
Bakterienisolaten aus der Milchviehhaltung
c) Langfristig soll eine Erhöhung der Wirtschaftlichkeit der Milchviehhaltung dadurch erreicht werden, dass innovative und naturnahe Therapien ohne Wartezeiten entwickelt werden, die die Lieferfähigkeit der Milch nicht beeinträchtigen.
d) Zusätzlich wird mit dem Einsatz naturnaher Alternativen zur Antibiotikatherapie sowie der Verbesserung des Tierschutzes durch wirksame Behandlungsstrategien, dem Wunsch des Verbrauchers nach natürlichen Lebensmitteln Rechnung getragen. Damit liefert dieses Projekt durch Reduktion des Antibiotikaeinsatzes in der Milchproduktion neben der Verbesserung des Tierschutzes auch einen Beitrag zum gesundheitlichen Verbraucherschutz.

Funding: Deutsche Forschungsgesellschaft (DFG), 398.333 EUR

Project Details:
Virus emergence and re-emergence is an increasing public health
problem as globalization and climate change promote the spread of
infectious disease. This is particularly true for mosquito-borne
infections as mosquitoes continue to spread to new geographic
regions. Alphaviruses such as Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) and
Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV) belong to the group of
mosquito-borne viruses, which cause pathology in humans. The re-emerging CHIKV is causing long-lasting arthritis like symptoms, while
VEEV infection leads to encephalitis. Why the two viruses from the
same family cause pathologies in different tissues, i.e. joints versus
central nervous system (CNS), is unclear to date. This gap of
knowledge is reflected by the fact that few host factors for CHIKV and
VEEV are known. Here we capitalize on our findings that the
phosphatidylserine (PS) receptor T cell immunoglobulin mucin
receptor 1 (TIM-1) and a tetraspanin are host factors for CHIKV. We
hypothesize that (a) VEEV also hijacks PS receptors and tetraspanins
to infect human cells, (b) TIM-1 and the tetraspanin interact with
additional proteins to promote infection with CHIKV and possibly
VEEV and (c) that a subset of these host factors contribute to tissue
tropism of CHIKV and VEEV. To test our hypothesis we will initially
use unbiased state of the art quantitative proteomics methods to
identify entry factors and receptors of CHIKV and VEEV. Next we will
screen PS receptors and all 33 human tetraspanins for their role in
VEEV infection by RNA interference in human cells. TIM-1 and
Tetraspanin associated proteins will be identified by proximity labeling
in conjunction with high-resolution affinity enrichment mass
spectrometry. Finally we will investigate the contribution of the
identified host factors to tissue tropism of CHIKV and VEEV using
proteomics, single cell sequencing and virological methods.
Specifically, we will infect skin organotypic raft cultures and determine
the predominantly infected cell type as well as expression levels of
identified host factors in the susceptible versus refractory cells.
Additionally we will integrate expression data from online repositories
and measure proteomes of relevant cell types including fibroblasts
and neuronal cells. Using feature selection approaches, we will
identify host factors, which likely contribute to the distinct tissue
tropism and pathologies caused by CHIKV and VEEV. These host
factors will be systematically knocked out first in relevant cell types
and then in mice to delineate the contribution to disease manifestation
in vitro and in vivo. Taken together, this research program aims at
providing mechanistic insight into the infection processes caused by
two important human pathogens, CHIKV and VEEV. The results will
help understand disease mechanisms and may ultimately reveal drug
targets for therapeutic intervention with Chikungunya fever and
Venezuelan equine encephalitis.

Funding: COVID-19-Forschungsnetzwerkes COFONI vom Niedersächsischen Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kultur über die Universitätsmedizin Göttingen, 50.000 EUR

Project Details:
This project aims at
(1) Establish a database for BSL-3 sample biobanking from preclinical in vivo models of
COVID-19 disease within COFONI-network
(2) Initial review and meta-analysis of internationally available data on preclinical in vivo
models of COVID-19 disease

Funding: FAPESP DGHT, 37.713 EUR

Project Details:
The study of the evolutionary processes that originate phenotypic diversity can offer insights into the process of adaptation in natural populations. Coloration patterns variation have intrigued scientists for centuries, and among vertebrates amphibians are one of the most interesting groups, exhibiting a vast variation in coloration, whose function has been mainly associated with UV protection, interspecies communication, and predator avoidance. Despite significant advances made on this topic, the genetic basis of coloration in amphibians is still surprisingly unknown. Herein we propose to deepen in genomic bases of coloration in the genus Brachycephalus, using the aposematic and polymorphic species B. actaeus as model. We are going to use transcriptomic data to identify genes, which are differentially expressed as well as histological sample for gathering information about chromatophore abundance and distribution among colour morphs in this species.

Cooperation Partners:

Prof. Dr. Célio Haddad, UNESP (Brazil)

Dr. Mariana Lyra, New York University, Abu Dhabi

Dr. Andrés Brunetti, Max Plank Institute for Chemical Ecology

Funding: MWK, 75.880 EUR

Project Details:
Circular RNAs regulating the SARS-CoV-2 infection in the cardiovascular system.

Results:

https://www.umg.eu/forschung/corona/cofoni/