Characterization and interaction of immunosuppressive cells in burn and sepsis

• Applicant: Dr. Christian Bergmann
• Subject Area: Anaesthesiology ; Immunology
• Term: from 2019 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 423969360

Persistent Inflammation, Immune Suppression and Catabolism Syndrome (PICS) is a state in which mainly ICU patients fail to regain health after sepsis or trauma. Until today this syndrome is poorly described and can only be treated symptomatically. One of its clinical determinants is prolonged immunosuppression. To gain further understanding of PICS the workgroup of professor Caldwell at the University of Cincinnati developed a murine PICS model. Based on this work I will further characterize the behavior of immunosuppression in burn and sepsis leading to PICS. Relevant immunosuppressive functions are described in Neutrophils, MDSCs, Tregs, Tr1 T cells and DN T cells. These cells are able to secrete the immunosuppressive cytokines IL-10 and TGF-β. Partially knowledge about the interaction between these cells exist. However, this is fragmentary and its relevance concerning the development of prolonged immunosuppression is not well elucidated. In this work I will test the hypothesis that Neutrophils, MDSCs, Tregs, Tr1 T cells and DN T cells contribute significantly to the development of post-traumatic and -septic development of immunosuppression and interact in an IL-10 and TGF-β dependent manner.

• DFG Programme: Research Fellowships
• International Connection: USA
• Host: Professor Dr. Charles C. Caldwell