
Department of Environmental Immunology
The incidence of allergies and other chronic inflammatory diseases has increased dramatically over the last years. This is attributed at least in part to environmental factors which contribute to defective regulation of important signal pathways and may thereby contribute to disease. The pre- and perinatal period is extremely sensitive for environmental cues. The identification of potentially dangerous environmental factors, the window of exposure related to disease outcome, the extent of their impact and the underlying mechanisms are not well understood. In our Department, we seek to find answers to these highly relevant question with special focus in immune cells.
The time in the maternal womb is a critical stage for the development of an individuum and the placenta plays a superordinate role during this period. This unique organ of fetal origin represents the feto-maternal symbiosis. It transports blood and nutrients from the mother to the fetus and secretes hormones that support pregnancy and modulate the maternal immune system to tolerate the semiallogeneic fetus and support fetal well-being. The maternal adaptive immune system is essential for the development of tolerance towards the fetus during pregnancy and for maintaining the immunological balance between mother and child. The maternal innate immune system primarily overtakes tasks in the tissue remodelling and angiogenesis so that the placenta can work at its maximal potential and thus supply the fetus with sufficient nutrients. Not only the placenta is a target for environmental chemicals acting as a depot for substances that can be further passed through the fetus but also both arms of the immune system can be negatively affected by environmental chemicals, further leading to dysregulations and deviations of normal development. The effects of these dysregulations can be seen years later, even in adulthood. We address the impact of environmental stressors including environmental chemicals in sensitive time windows by means of population-based cohort studies, in vitro and in vivo models. Our population-based cohort studies are LISAplus Study, a multicentric German birth cohort, and the LINA Study, our own Mother-Child-cohort. Using samples and information obtained from these cohorts, we establish associations between environmental exposure and disease outcomes. If there are indications from the cohort studies of disease risks caused by certain chemicals or pollutants, cell-based, complex vitro models are further designed and employed to confirm the association, elucidate the underlying molecular mechanisms and to identify dysregulated signal pathways. In addition, we use state-of-the-art ´in vivo models to investigate the effects of environmental factors alone and in combination with other stressors and how they contribute to disease pathogenesis.
The identification of unhealthy environmental impacts and the understanding of the underlying molecular mechanisms that contribute to disease onset or perpetuation build the scientific basis for the development of new, more efficient diagnostic and therapeutic approaches as well as individual based prevention strategies. Our focus on how environmental chemicals affect health, we support the UFZ strategy of an integrated chemical risk assessment regarding risks for humans and the ecosystem.
Latest publications
Index:
You could use our publication index for further requests.
2023 (27)
- Ayuk, H.S., Arnold, S., Bauer, M., Stadtmüller, M., Lindemann, D., Stojanovska, V., Zenclussen, A. (2023):
Entry points for SARS-CoV-2 in trophoblast cells and possible mechanisms of resistance
Placenta 140 , e53
full text (doi) - Bauer, M. (2023):
Editorial: Interplay between toxicants, natural toxins, and the immune system in animal models
Front. Immunol. 14 , art. 1186300
full text (doi) - Buchenauer, L., Haange, S.-B., Bauer, M., Rolle-Kampczyk, U.E., Wagner, M., Stucke, J., Elter, E., Fink, B., Vass, M., von Bergen, M., Schulz, A., Zenclussen, A.C., Junge, K.M., Stangl, G.I., Polte, T. (2023):
Maternal exposure of mice to glyphosate induces depression- and anxiety-like behavior in the offspring via alterations of the gut-brain axis
Sci. Total Environ. 905 , art. 167034
full text (doi) - Fischer, F., Ermer, M.R., Howanski, J., Zenclussen, A.C., Schumacher, A. (2023):
Bisphenol A and benzophenone-3, two ubiquitous endocrine disruptors, may interfere with tolerance pathways by disturbing the T cell equilibrium
Am. J. Reprod. Immunol. 89 (S1), 83 - 83
full text (doi) - Fischer, F., Zenclussen, A.C., Meyer, N. (2023):
Gefährdung durch Alltagschemikalien: Ein Impuls für die Schwangerschaftsvorsorge. Hazards due to everyday chemicals: An impulse for prenatal care
Gynäkologie 56 (9), 633 - 640
full text (doi) - Hofsink, N., Dijkstra, D.J., Stojanovska, V., Scherjon, S.A., Plösch, T. (2023):
Preeclampsia-induced alterations in brain and liver gene expression and DNA methylation patterns in fetal mice
J. Dev. Orig. Health Dis. 14 (1), 146 - 151
full text (doi) - Junge, K.M., Zenclussen, A.C., Desoye, G. (2023):
(Über‑)Ernährung und Einfluss auf die Funktion der Plazenta
Diabetologie 19 (6), 747 - 757
full text (doi) - Kadalayil, L., Alam, M., White, C.H., Ghantous, A., Walton, E., Gruzieva, O., Merid, S.K., Kumar, A., Roy, R., Solomon, O., Huen, K., Eskenazi, B., Rzehak, P., Grote, V., Langhendries, J.-P., Verduci, E., Ferre, N., Gruszfeld, D., Gao, L., Guan, W., Zeng, X., Schisterman, E.F., Dou, J., Bakulski, K.M., Feinberg, J.I., Soomro, M.H., Pesce, G., Baiz, N., Isaevska, E., Plusquin, M., Vafeiadi, M., Roumeliotaki, T., Langie, S.A.S., Standaert, A., Allard, C., Perron, P., Bouchard, L., van Meel, E.R., Felix, J.F., Jaddoe, V.W.V., Yousefi, P.D., Ramlau‑Hansen, C.H., Relton, C.L., Tobi, E.W., Starling, A.P., Yang, I.V., Llambrich, M., Santorelli, G., Lepeule, J., Salas, L.A., Bustamante, M., Ewart, S.L., Zhang, H., Karmaus, W., Röder, S., Zenclussen, A.C., Jin, J., Nystad, W., Page, C.M., Magnus, M., Jima, D.D., Hoyo, C., Maguire, R.L., Kvist, T., Czamara, D., Räikkönen, K., Gong, T., Ullemar, V., Rifas‐Shiman, S.L., Oken, E., Almqvist, C., Karlsson, R., Lahti, J., Murphy, S.K., Håberg, S.E., London, S., Herberth, G., Arshad, H., Sunyer, J., Grazuleviciene, R., Dabelea, D., Steegers‑Theunissen, R.P.M., Nohr, E.A., Sørensen, T.I.A., Duijts, L., Hivert, M.-F., Nelen, V., Popovic, M., Kogevinas, M., Nawrot, T.S., Herceg, Z., Annesi‑Maesano, I., Fallin, M.D., Yeung, E., Breton, C.V., Koletzko, B., Holland, N., Melén, E., Sharp, G.C., Silver, M.J., Rezwan, F.I., Holloway, J.H. (2023):
Analysis of DNA methylation at birth and in childhood reveals changes associated with season of birth and latitude
Clin. Epigenetics 15 , 148
full text (doi) - Kilanowski, A., Thiering, E., Wang, G., Kumar, A., Kress, S., Flexeder, C., Bauer, C.-P., Berdel, D., von Berg, A., Bergström, A., Gappa, M., Heinrich, J., Herberth, G., Koletzko, S., Kull, I., Melen, E., Schikowski, T., Peters, A., Standl, M. (2023):
Allergic disease trajectories up to adolescence: Characteristics, early-life, and genetic determinants
Allergy 78 (3), 836 - 850
full text (doi) - Kotsakis Ruehlmann, A., Sammallahti, S., Cortés Hidalgo, A.P., Bakulski, K.M., Binder, E.B., Campbell, M.L., Caramaschi, D., Cecil, C., Colicino, E., Cruceanu, C., Czamara, D., Dieckmann, L., Dou, J., Felix, J.F., Frank, J., Håberg, S.E., Herberth, G., Hoang, T.T., Houtepen, L.C., Hüls, A., Koen, N., London, S.J., Magnus, M.C., Mancano, G., Mulder, R.H., Page, C.M., Räikkönen, K., Röder, S., Schmidt, R.J., Send, T.S., Sharp, G., Stein, D.J., Streit, F., Tuhkanen, J., Witt, S.H., Zar, H.J., Zenclussen, A.C., Zhang, Y., Zillich, L., Wright, R., Lahti, J., Brunst, K.J. (2023):
Epigenome-wide meta-analysis of prenatal maternal stressful life events and newborn DNA methylation
Mol. Psychiatr.
full text (doi) - Krause, J.L., Pierzchalski, A., Chang, H.D., Zenclussen, A.C., Bauer, M., Herberth, G. (2023):
Bisphenols, but not phthalate esters, modulate gene expression in activated human MAIT cells in vitro
Toxicol. Rep. 10 , 348 - 356
full text (doi) - Kretschmer, T., Fischer, F., Seifert, P., Schumacher, A., Kass, L., Rodríguez, H.A., Zenclussen, M.L., Zenclussen, A.C. (2023):
Intrauterine exposure to bisphenol A and benzophenone-3 affects fetal growth and impacts on uterine innate immune cells supporting pregnancy
Am. J. Reprod. Immunol. 89 (S1), 82 - 83
full text (doi) - Maddalon, A., Pierzchalski, A., Kretschmer, T., Bauer, M., Zenclussen, A.C., Marinovich, M., Corsini, E., Herberth, G. (2023):
Mixtures of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) reduce the in vitro activation of human T cells and basophils
Chemosphere 336 , art. 139204
full text (doi) - Meyer, N., Hinz, N., Schumacher, A., Weißenborn, C., Fink, B., Bauer, M., von Lenthe, S., Ignatov, A., Fest, S., Zenclussen, A.C. (2023):
Mast cells retard tumor growth in ovarian cancer: insights from a mouse model
Cancers 15 (17), art. 4278
full text (doi) - Musiol, S., Harris, C.P., Karlina, R., Gostner, J.M., Rathkolb, B., Schnautz, B., Schneider, E., Mair, L., Elorduy Vergara, E., Flexeder, C., Koletzko, S., Bauer, C.-P., Schikowski, T., Berdel, D., von Berg, A., Herberth, G., Rozman, J., Hrabe de Angelis, M., Standl, M., Schmidt-Weber, C.B.., Ussar, S., Alessandrini, F. (2023):
Dietary digestible carbohydrates are associated with higher prevalence of asthma in humans and with aggravated lung allergic inflammation in mice
Allergy 78 (5), 1218 - 1233
full text (doi) - Pfannes, R., Pierzchalski, A., Maddalon, A., Simion, A., Zouboulis, C.C., Behre, G., Zenclussen, A.C., Westphal, S., Fest, S., Herberth, G. (2023):
Characterization of post-vaccination SARS-CoV-2 T cell subtypes in patients with different hematologic malignancies and treatments
Front. Immunol. 14 , art. 1087996
full text (doi) - Pierzchalski, A., Zenclussen, A.C., Herberth, G. (2023):
OMIP-94: Twenty-four-color (thirty-marker) panel for deep immunophenotyping of immune cells in human peripheral blood
Cytom. Part A 103 (9), 695 - 702
full text (doi) - Prokopciuk, N., Juskiene, I., Tarasiuk, N., Franck, U., Kostiuk, O., Valiulis, A., Taminskiene, V., Valiulis, A. (2023):
On the additional risk for human health in the use of sandblasting of building walls
Environ. Sci. Pollut. Res. 30 (19), 56558 - 56568
full text (doi) - Raab, J., Fink, B., Bauer, M. (2023):
Appearance of ghost bands in gel electrophoresis depending on agarose concentration
Electrophoresis 44 (15-16), 1206 - 1209
full text (doi) - Röder, S. (2023):
PatternMatchR: a tool for matching and visualiszation of omics patterns
Version: v0.2.3 ZENODO 10.5281/zenodo.8138916 - Romanelli, F., Zenclussen, M.L., Zenclussen, A.C., Meyer, N. (2023):
Carbon monoxide exposure does not improve the in vitro fertilization rate of oocytes obtained from heterozygous Hmox1 knockout mice
Int. J. Fertil. Steril.
full text (doi) - Schulz, J., Schilling, E., Fabian, C., Zenclussen, A.C., Stojanovska, V., Claus, C. (2023):
Dissecting rubella placental infection in an in vitro trophoblast model
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 24 (9), art. 7894
full text (doi) - Thiering, E., Markevych, I., Kress, S., Astell-Burt, T., Feng, X., Altug, H., Koletzko, S., Bauer, C.-P., von Berg, A., Berdel, D., Herberth, G., Schikowski, T., Heinrich, J., Standl, M. (2023):
Gene-environment interaction in the association of residential greenness and 25(OH) vitamin D
Environ. Pollut. 327 , art. 121519
full text (doi) - Thürmann, L., Bauer, M., Ferland, M., Messingschlager, M., Schikowski, T., von Berg, A., Heinrich, J., Herberth, G., Lehmann, I., Standl, M., Trump, S. (2023):
Undiagnosed pediatric elevated blood pressure is characterized by induction of proinflammatory and cytotoxic mediators
Hypertension
full text (doi) - Thürmann, L., Klös, M., Mackowiak, S.D., Bieg, M., Bauer, T., Ishaque, N., Messingschlager, M., Herrmann, C., Röder, S., Bauer, M., Schäuble, S., Faessler, E., Hahn, U., Weichenhan, D., Mücke, O., Plass, C., Borte, M., von Mutius, E., Stangl, G.I., Lauener, R., Karvonen, A.M., Divaret-Chauveau, A., Riedler, J., Heinrich, J., Standl, M., von Berg, A., Schaaf, B., Herberth, G., Kabesch, M., Eils, R., Trump, S., Lehmann, I. (2023):
Global hypomethylation in childhood asthma identified by genome-wide DNA-methylation sequencing preferentially affects enhancer regions
Allergy 78 (6), 1489 - 1506
full text (doi) - Wang, M., Flexeder, C., Kilanowski, A., Kress, S., Herberth, G., Schikowski, T., Peters, A., Standl, M. (2023):
Changes in sleep duration and sleep difficulties from adolescence to young adulthood and the risk of obesity: Bidirectional evidence in the GINIplus and LISA studies
Sleep Med. 101 , 401 - 410
full text (doi) - Yin, Z., Schumacher, A., Zenclussen, A.C. (2023):
Sex-specific effect of bisphenol A, its substitutes and benzophenone-3 on T helper 1 cell differentiation
Am. J. Reprod. Immunol. 89 (S1), 83 - 84
full text (doi)