Department of Environmental Immunology
The incidence of allergies and other chronic inflammatory diseases has increased dramatically over recent decades. This is attributed to environmental factors mediated by epigenetic mechanisms which contribute to defective regulation of important signal pathways and thus cause illness, particularly, it seems, during pre-natal and early post-natal development. Which damaging factors are critical for whom and at which stage of life? What are the molecular mechanisms underlying them?
Comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms and sensitive timeframes involved when environmental factors contribute to disease pathology is crucial to the development of suitable strategies for diagnosis and therapy, particularly for the prevention of environmental diseases on an individual level.
It is important to consider the whole chain of events: from complex individual exposure to many different environment contaminants, their impact on molecular signal paths and cell functions to the effect on the whole organism that results.
Our immune system is particularly sensitive to environmental pollution as it matures in the pre-natal period and in early childhood. Our research in the Department of Environmental Immunology therefore focuses on this period. We use the population-based LISAplus study, a multicentre German birth cohort, and our mother-child cohort LINA to investigate how environmental pollution, and chemicals in particular, during the pre and early post-natal phase affect the immune system as it matures and the consequences of changes to the immune regulation on diseases later in the life of the child. Risk factors associated with certain chemicals or harmful substances indicated by the cohort studies are subsequently analysed in cell-based in-vitro models to identify underlying molecular mechanisms and perturbed regulatory pathways. Murine disease models are applied to research the trans-generational risk of environmental pollution and to test options for prevention and therapy through the identification of molecular mechanisms.
The identification of harmful environmental pollution and the clarification of the underlying molecular mechanisms will provide the scientific basis for the development of new, more efficient methods of diagnosis and therapy as well as individualised prevention strategies. By focussing in particular on the effects on health of chemical exposure, our research supports the UFZ's strategy for an integrated assessment of the toxicological risk posed by chemicals to humans and the environment.
Recent Publications
Leppert, B., Strunz, S., Seiwert, B., Schlittenbauer, L., Schlichting, R., Pfeiffer, C., Röder, S., Bauer, M., Borte, M., Stangl, G.I., Schöneberg, T., Schulz, A., Karkossa, I., Rolle-Kampczyk, U.E., Thürmann, L., von Bergen, M., Escher, B.I., Junge, K.M., Reemtsma, T., Lehmann, I., Polte, T. Maternal paraben exposure triggers childhood overweight development Nature Communications 2020
Abstract
press release
Krause, J.L., Schaepe, S.S., Fritz-Wallace, K., Engelmann, B., Rolle-Kampczyk, U., Kleinsteuber, S., Schattenberg, F., Liu, Z., Müller, S., Jehmlich, N., von Bergen, M., Herberth, G. Following the community development of SIHUMIx – a new intestinal in vitro model for bioreactor use Gut Microbes 2020
Abstract
Junge, K.M., Leppert, B., Jahreis, S., Wissenbach, D.K., Feltens, R., Grützmann, K., Thürmann, L., Bauer, T., Ishaque, N., Schick, M., Bewerunge-Hudler, M., Röder, S., Bauer, M., Schulz, A., Borte, M., Landgraf, K., Körner, A., Kiess, W., von Bergen, M., Stangl, G.I., Trump, S., Eils, R., Polte, T., Lehmann, I. MEST mediates the impact of prenatal bisphenol A exposure on long-term body weight development Clinical Epigenetics 2018
Abstract
Bauer, M. Cell-type-specific disturbance of DNA methylation pattern: a chance to get more benefit from and to minimize cohorts for epigenome-wide association studies International Journal of Epidemiology 2018
Abstract
Thürmann, L., Grützmann, K., Klös, M., Bieg, M., Winter, M., Polte, T., Bauer, T., Schick, M., Bewerunge-Hudler, M., Röder, S., Bauer, M., Wissenbach, D.K., Sack, U., Weichenhan, D., Mücke, O., Plass, C., Borte, M., von Bergen, M., Lehmann, I., Eils, R., Trump, S. Early-onset childhood atopic dermatitis is related to NLRP2 repression J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 2018
Abstract
Jahreis S, Trump S, Bauer M, Bauer T, Thürmann L, Feltens R, Wang Q, Gu L, Grützmann K, Röder S, Averbeck M, Weichenhahn D, Plass C, Sack U, Borte M, G. Schüürmann, Simon JC, von Bergen, Hackermüller J, Eils R, Lehmann I, Polte T Maternal phthalate exposure promotes allergic airway inflammation over two generations via epigenetic modifications J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 2017
Abstract
M. Winter, L. Thürmann, Z. Gu, G. Schüürmann, G. Herberth, D. Hinz, M. von Bergen, H. Harms, S. Olek, S. Röder, M. Borte, R. Eils, I. Lehmann, S. Trump The benzene metabolite 1,4-benzochinone reduces Treg function – a potential mechanism for tobacco smoke-associated atopic dermatitis J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 2017
Abstract
Herberth G, Pierzchalski A, Feltens R, Bauer M, Röder S, Olek S, Hinz D, Borte M, von Bergen M, Lehmann I for the LINA study group Prenatal phthalate exposure associates with low regulatory T cell numbers and atopic dermatitis in early childhood – results from the LINA mother-child study J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 2016, 139(4):1376-1379
Abstract