Team - Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research

Team Environmental Immunology

Head
Zenclussen, Prof. Ana ClaudiaZenclussen, Prof. Ana Claudia ana.zenclussen@ufz.de

Deputy
Schumacher, PD Dr. rer. nat. AnneSchumacher, PD Dr. rer. nat. Anne 0341 6025 2800 0341 6025 2800 anne.schumacher@ufz.de
Polte, PD Dr. rer. nat. habil TobiasPolte, PD Dr. rer. nat. habil Tobias 0341 6025 1545 0341 6025 1545 tobias.polte@ufz.de

Secretariat
Gutknecht, SteffiGutknecht, Steffi 0341 6025 1265 0341 6025 1265 steffi.gutknecht@ufz.de

Academic Staff
Bauer, PD Dr. med. habil. MarioBauer, PD Dr. med. habil. Mario 0341 6025 1552 0341 235 1552 0341 6025 1552 0341 235 1552 mario.bauer@ufz.de
Hähnel, Dr. rer. med. SusannHähnel, Dr. rer. med. Susann 0341 6025 2526 0341 235 482526 0341 6025 2526 0341 235 482526 susann.haehnel@ufz.de
Herberth, Dr. rer. nat. GundaHerberth, Dr. rer. nat. Gunda 0341 6025 1547 0341 6025 1547 gunda.herberth@ufz.de
Kretschmer, Dr. nat. med. TobiasKretschmer, Dr. nat. med. Tobias 0341 6025 2401 0341 235 482401 0341 6025 2401 0341 235 482401 tobias.kretschmer@ufz.de
Meyer, Dr. rer. nat. NicoleMeyer, Dr. rer. nat. Nicole 0341 6025 1542 0341 6025 1542 nicole.meyer@ufz.de
Pierzchalski, Dr. ArkadiuszPierzchalski, Dr. Arkadiusz 0341 6025 1548 0341 6025 1548 arkadiusz.pierzchalski@ufz.de
Röder, Dr. rer. pol. StefanRöder, Dr. rer. pol. Stefan 0341 6025 1556 0341 235 1556 0341 6025 1556 0341 235 1556 stefan.roeder@ufz.de
Stojanovska, Dr. VioletaStojanovska, Dr. Violeta 0341 6025 1540 0341 235 1540 0341 6025 1540 0341 235 1540 violeta.stojanovska@ufz.de

Guest Scientists
Fest, PD Dr. StefanFest, PD Dr. Stefan stefan.fest@ufz.de
Junge, Dr. troph. KristinJunge, Dr. troph. Kristin kristin.junge@ufz.de

PhD Students
Ayuk, Humblenoble StembridgeAyuk, Humblenoble Stembridge 0341 6025 2496 0341 235 482496 0341 6025 2496 0341 235 482496 humblenoble-stembridge.ayuk@ufz.de
Krieger, ElisabethKrieger, Elisabeth elisabeth.krieger@ufz.de
Raticova, KristinaRaticova, Kristina kristina.raticova@ufz.de
Rödiger, JonasRödiger, Jonas jonas.roediger@ufz.de
Röhrig, Lukas KarlRöhrig, Lukas Karl 0341 6025 2795 0341 6025 2795 lukas-karl.roehrig@ufz.de
Romanelli, FedericaRomanelli, Federica 0341 6025 2507 0341 235 482507 0341 6025 2507 0341 235 482507 federica.romanelli@ufz.de
Wang, BingyuWang, Bingyu bingyu.wang@ufz.de
Xia, YuXia, Yu yu.xia@ufz.de
Yin, ZiranYin, Ziran ziran.yin@ufz.de

Technicians
Arnold, SusanneArnold, Susanne 0341 6025 1516 0341 235 1516 0341 6025 1516 0341 235 1516 susanne.arnold@ufz.de
Fink, BeateFink, Beate 0341 6025 1572 0341 6025 1572 beate.fink@ufz.de
Howanski, JuliaHowanski, Julia 0341 6025 2420 0341 235 482420 0341 9739655 0341 6025 2420 0341 235 482420 0341 9739655 julia.howanski@ufz.de
Schilde, MaikSchilde, Maik 0341 6025 1539 0341 235 1539 0341 6025 1539 0341 235 1539 maik.schilde@ufz.de
Wagner, MaritaWagner, Marita 0341 6025 2511 0341 235 482511 0341 9722162 0341 6025 2511 0341 235 482511 0341 9722162 marita.wagner@ufz.de
Zantop Linares, StefanZantop Linares, Stefan 0341 6025 1100 0341 6025 1100 stefan.zantop-linares@ufz.de

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Department News

We cordially invite all interested scientists on 29.11.2023 to the Collaborating Intensive Programme on “Environment, Climate Change and Health” organised by the University of Leipzig, Charité Berlin and Chiba University, Japan. Colleagues from the UFZ will also give exciting lectures. Free registration is possible until 22.11.2023.

We warmly welcome Xiaoya He and Bingyu Wang as new PhD student to our team!

We are very proud of our PhD student Stembridge Ayuk, who won the New Investigator Travel Award at the IFPA meeting 2023 in New Zealand for his excellent abstract. Congratulations!

Stembridge Ayuk with his New Investigator Travel Award at the IFPA meeting 2023. Photo: private.

The annual IFPA meeting 2023 took place from 5th to 8th September in Rotorua, New Zealand. Prof. Ana Zenclussen gave an invited talk about B cell-mediated mechanisms underlying pregnancy complications.

Prof. Ana Zenclussen giving her talk at the IFPA meeting 2023. Photo: private.

Our German-Italian cooperation project reveals the potential harmful effects of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). They are present in our everyday life and will continue to do so for further decades due to their extreme longevity. Here, you can read more about the PFAS-mediated reduction in immune cell activity and its impact on our health.

New publication about the detrimental effects of daily life chemicals on health, especially during pregnancy. The article shows results of a survey among 289 women between the ages of 18 and 45 about their environmental chemical education requirements.

The 72nd Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting took place 26th to 30th of June. Our team member Dr. Violeta Stojanovska got invited as one of 600 international researchers to meet 39 Nobel laureates.

Dr. Violeta Stojanovska at the 72nd Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting 2023. Photo: private

On Friday, June 23rd, the Long Night of Sciences in Leipzig took place. Many interested visitors wanted to learn more about environmental chemicals and their effects on health, placenta, pregnancy, and child development and tested their knowledge in our quiz. It was a succesful evening!

Our team at the Long Night of Sciences 2023. Photo: private

On June 22nd, we welcomed Dr. Rosanna Ramhorst as our guest, who presented her research on immunoregulation of the decidualization program and spent two days with us. Thank you for being here, it was a pleasure!

Dr. Rosanna Ramhorst. Photo: Ana Zenclussen/UFZ

The annual meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Immunology (ASRI) took place May 21st to 25th in Santa Fe, NM, USA. Our team members Dr. Anne Schumacher and Dr. Tobias Kretschmer attended the meeting and presented their research.

Dr. Anne Schumacher at the ASRI meeting 2023. Photo: private

We congratulate Prof. Ana Zenclussen on her appointment as a member of the BfR Commission on Contaminants in the Food Chain for the session period 2022 to 2025 and wish her every success!

We may present: the Helmholtz portrait of Prof. Ana Zenclussen.

Latest publications

2023

You could use our publication index for further requests.

2024 (1)

Maddalon, A., Pierzchalski, A., Krause, J.L., Bauer, M., Finckh, S., Brack, W., Zenclussen, A.C., Marinovich, M., Corsini, E., Krauss, M., Herberth, G. (2024):
Impact of chemical mixtures from wastewater treatment plant effluents on human immune cell activation: An effect-based analysis
Sci. Total Environ. 906 , art. 167495
full text (doi)

to index

2023 (31)

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)
Choudhary, P., Monasso, G.S., Karhunen, V., Ronkainen, J., Mancano, G., Howe, C.G., Niu, Z., Zeng, X., Dou, J., Feinberg, J.I., Mordaunt, C., Pesce, G., Baïz, N., Alfano, R., Martens, D.S., Wang, C., Isaevska, E., Keikkala, E., Mustaniemi, S., Thio, C.H.L., Fraszczyk, E., Tobi, E.W., Starling, A.P., Cosin-Tomas, M., Urquiza, J., Röder, S., Hoang, T.T., Page, C., Jima, D.D., House, J., Maguire, R.L., Ott, R., Pawlow, X., Sirignano, L., Zillich, L., Malmberg, A., Rauschert, S., Melton, P., Gong, T., Karlsson, R., Fore, R., Perng, W., Laubach, Z.M., Czamara, D., Sharp, G., Breton, C.V., Schisterman, E., Yeung, E., Mumford, S.L., Fallin, M.D., LaSalle, J.M., Schmidt, R.J., Bakulski, K.M., Annesi-Maesano, I., Heude, B., Nawrot, T.S., Plusquin, M., Ghantous, A., Herceg, Z., Nisticò, L., Vafeiadi, M., Kogevinas, M., Vääräsmäki, M., Kajantie, E., Snieder, H., Corpeleijn, E., Steegers-Theunissen, R.P.M., Yang, I.V., Dabelea, D., Fossati, S., Zenclussen, A.C., Herberth, G., Magnus, M., Håberg, S.E., Hummel, S., Witt, S.H., Streit, F., Frank, J., Räikkönen, K., Lahti, J., Huang, R.-C., Almqvist, C., Hivert, M.-F., Jaddoe, V.W.V., Järvelin, M.-R., Kantomaa, M., Felix, J.F., Sebert, S. (2023):
Maternal educational attainment in pregnancy and epigenome-wide DNA methylation changes in the offspring from birth until adolescence
Mol. Psychiatr.
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)
Polte, T. (2023):
Early-live exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals affects the development of asthma or overweight in the offspring: role of epigenetic alterations
Toxicol. Lett. 384 (Suppl. 1), S42 - S42
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. 18 (1), 76 - 80
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 80 (11), 2425 - 2436
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)
Uehre, G.M., Tchaikovski, S., Ignatov, A., Zenclussen, A.C., Busse, M. (2023):
B cells induce early-onset maternal inflammation to protect against LPS-induced fetal rejection
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 24 (22), art. 16091
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)
Zenclussen, A. (2023):
Understanding B cell-mediated immune mechanisms underlying pre-term birth (or pregnancy complications) and their relevance for intervention strategies
Placenta 140 , e20 - e21
full text (doi)

to index

Projects

We participate in the joint research project SaxoChiLD.

@SaxoChiLD

We participate in the joint research project
CoViPa.

@CoViPa