Host Determinants in Lung Infections
News
07.04.2025: New study reveals sex-specific role of B cell-derived IL-10 in tuberculosis
27.03.2025: Cover story: Loss of Adaptive Immunity Reverses Sex Differences in Tuberculosis
20.01.2025: Thesis defense Gishnu Harikumar Parvarthy at Lübeck University
16.12.2024: New research project: DFG extends funding for the research unit "Sex Differences in Immunity"
Tuberculosis (TB) caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) is one of the most deadly infectious diseases worldwide. The rate of progression to disease is driven by a complex interplay of pathogen and host-related factors. The current poor understanding of protective versus non-protective host responses hampers the development of new treatments, particularly those based on immunomodulatory strategies. The overall goal of our research is to understand how host-related factors regulate anti-tuberculosis defenses, focusing on two major aspects, which are likely to play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of TB: the biological sex and viral coinfections.
Vaccines:
- Molecular basis of sex-dependency in vaccine efficacy
B cells
- Elucidate the sex-specific role of B cells in TB
- B cell development in the bone-marrow during chronic infection
Myeloid cells
- Sex-specific regulation and function of monocytes and macrophages in TB
- Sex-specific regulation of immunoproteasome function in lung infection (Meiners/Schneider)
Coinfection
- Viral triggers of TB disease: Impact of influenza or MCMV on TB disease and Mtb-specific immunity
German Research Foundation (DFG)
- DFG SCHN 1150/7-1
Research Unit “Sex differences in immunity"; Sub-project 02 "Sex-specific responses of monocytes to infectious challenges" (Schneider/Lotter) - DFG SCHN 1150/6-1
Host determinants of susceptibility to Mycobacterium tuberculosis: the role of the biological sex (2024) - DFG SCHN 1150/4-1
Studying the protective efficacy of radiation-attenuated Plasmodium sporozoites as anti-infective malaria vaccine during concurrent infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (2015-2018) - COVSH-NET (experimental studies on COVID-19)
Leibniz Graduate School "Model Systems for Infectious Diseases"
- Hormonal effects on Mycobacterium tuberculosis-infected human macrophages (Schneider / Sellau; 2021-2024)
- Viral triggers of tuberculosis disease: a case for cytomegalovirus? Schneider / Brune; (2020-2023)
- Impact of an influenza virus infection on the outcome of experimental tuberculosis in mice; Schneider / Gabriel; (2015-2018)
- Malaria – Tuberculosis Co‐Infection: Dissecting the immunological interactions during concurrent Plasmodium and Mycobacterium infection; Schneider / Jacobs; (2012-2015)
Life Science-Stiftung München:
- The role of B cell/Plasma cell-derived IL-10 in tuberculosis
2025
Hertz, D, Eggers, L, von Borstel, L, Goldmann, T, Lotter, H & Schneider, BE 2025, 'Turning the tables: Loss of adaptive immunity reverses sex differences in tuberculosis', Immuno, Jg. 5, Nr. 1, S. 4. https://doi.org/10.3390/immuno5010004
Hertz, D, Marwitz, S, Eggers, L, von Borstel, L, Harikumar Parvathy, G, Behrends, J, Jonigk, DD, Manz, RA, Goldmann, T and Schneider, BE 2025, 'Sex-specific impact of B cell-derived IL-10 on tuberculosis resistance', FRONTIERS IN IMMUNOLOGY. Jg. 16, S. 1524500. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2025.1524500
2024
Hertz, D, Eggers, L, von Borstel, L, Goldmann, T, Lotter, H & Schneider, BE 2024, 'Turning the tables: Loss of adaptive immunity reverses sex differences in tuberculosis', Biorxiv, S. 2024.09.24.614709. https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.09.24.614709
Hertz, D, Marwitz, S, Eggers, L, von Borstel, L, Parvathy, GH, Behrends, J, Jonigk, DD, Manz, RA, Goldmann, T & Schneider, BE 2024, 'Ablation of B cell-derived IL-10 increases tuberculosis resistance', Biorxiv, S. 2024.07.17.603865. https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.07.17.603865
Parvathy, GH, Bhandiwad, D, Eggers, L, Borstel, LV, Behrends, J, Hein, M, Hertz, D, Marschner, J, Orinska, Z & Kaufmann, SHE et al. 2024, 'Sex differences in vaccine induced immunity and protection against Mycobacterium tuberculosis', Biorxiv, S. 2024.04.20.590403. https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.04.20.590403
2021
Henning J, Walendy-Gnirß K, Tekin-Bubenheim N, Kouassi NM, Ben-Batalla I, Berenbrok N, Wolff M, dos Reis VP, Zickler M, Scholl L, Gries A, Jania H, Kloetgen A, Düsedau A, Pilnitz-Stolze G, Jeridi A, Yildirim AÖ, Fuchs H, Gailus-Durner V, Stoeger C, de Angelis MH, Manuylova T, Klingel K, Culley FJ, Behrends J, Loges S, Schneider B, Krauss-Etschmann S, Openshaw P, Gabriel G. Offspring born to influenza A virus infected pregnant mice have increased susceptibility to viral and bacterial infections in early life. /Nat Commun/ *12, *4957 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-25220-3.
Klionsky, DJ, Abdel-Aziz, AK, Abdelfatah, S, Abdellatif, M, Abdoli, A, Abel, S, Abeliovich, H, Abildgaard, MH, Abudu, YP, Acevedo-Arozena, A, Adamopoulos, IE, Adeli, K, Adolph, TE, Adornetto, A, Aflaki, E, Agam, G, Agarwal, A, Aggarwal, BB, Agnello, M, Agostinis, P, Agrewala, JN, Agrotis, A, Aguilar, PV, Ahmad, ST, Ahmed, ZM, Ahumada-Castro, U, Aits, S, Aizawa, S, Akkoc, Y, Akoumianaki, T, Akpinar, HA, Al-Abd, AM, Al-Akra, L, Al-Gharaibeh, A, Alaoui-Jamali, MA, Alberti, S, Alcocer-Gómez, E, Alessandri, C, Ali, M, Alim Al-Bari, MA, Aliwaini, S, Alizadeh, J, Almacellas, E, Almasan, A, Alonso, A, Dallenga, T, Leschczyk, C, Schaible, UE, Schneider, BE & Sonawane, A 2021, 'Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (4th edition) 1, Autophagy, Jg. 17, Nr. 1, S. 1-382. https://doi.org/10.1080/15548627.2020.1797280
2020
Beer, AJ, Hertz, D, Seemann, E, Beretta, M, Westermann, M, Bauer, R, Bauer, M, Kessels, MM & Qualmann, B 2020, 'Reduced Mrp2 surface availability as PI3Kγ-mediated hepatocytic dysfunction reflecting a hallmark of cholestasis in sepsis', Scientific Reports, Jg. 10, Nr. 1, 13110. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-69901-3
Dutta, NK & Schneider, B 2020, 'Are There Sex-Specific Differences in Response to Adjunctive Host-Directed Therapies for Tuberculosis?', FRONTIERS IN IMMUNOLOGY, Jg. 11, S. 1465. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2020.01465
Hertz D, Dibbern J, Eggers L, von Borstel L, Schneider BE. Increased male susceptibility to Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection is associated with smaller B cell follicles in the lungs. Scientific Reports 2020; 10: 5142
Witschkowski J, Behrends J, Frank R, Eggers L, von Borstel L, Hertz D, Mueller A.-K, Schneider BE. BCG Provides Short-Term Protection from Experimental Cerebral Malaria in Mice. Vaccines 2020, 8, 745.
Head
Scientific staff
Technical staff
Alumni
- Maja Grote
- Laura Knüppel
- Gishnu Harikumar Parvathy
We congratulate Gishnu Harikumar Parvathy on an outstanding PhD thesis defense.
In his PhD thesis entitled "Sex differences in vaccine induced immunity and protection against Mycobacterium tuberculosis" Gish explored the impact of sex on immune responses to TB vaccines in a mouse model. He found that while BCG vaccine had poor efficacy in male mice, next-generation vaccines like VPM1002 and BCGΔBCG1419c provided improved protection specifically in males. The study revealed sex-specific differences in CD8 and CD4 T cell responses, highlighting the need for further research on how these responses influence vaccine efficacy.
