SFB 1648:  Emerging Viruses: Pathogenesis, Structure, Immunity

• Subject Area: Medicine ; Biology ; Chemistry
• Term: since 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 512741711

Emerging viral infections represent a major threat to global health, exemplified by the recent Ebola, MERS and Mpox outbreaks, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic. These threats arise from a large number of potentially pathogenic viruses found in animal reservoirs and the associated potential of these viruses crossing over into humans in spillover events. The initial lack of human specific immunity against these viruses, the absence of antiviral treatment options, insufficient knowledge on replication, tropism and structural targets in host and virus, and the potential for a rapid spread result in their menace. In preparation for future outbreaks, the World Health Organization (WHO) has defined a list of priority diseases associated with specific viral infections, based on their epidemic potential and the lack of preventative and therapeutic countermeasures. The Collaborative Research Centre (CRC) will address knowledge gaps in four critical research areas for scientific preparedness against emerging virus infections: Pathogenesis (A), Target characterization (B), Immunity (C) and Intervention (D). Advanced cellular, structural, computational and chemical biology techniques will be used to identify critical interactions between viruses and host, and to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying infection processes. The consortium will dissect vital aspects of both immune defense and immune pathology, addressing open research questions in vaccine design that can be translated to other emerging viruses and may inform the research and clinical strategy for interventions against future outbreaks. This research consortium brings together a multidisciplinary team of basic and clinician scientists to tackle the grand challenge posed by emerging viruses. A particular strength of the collaborative initiative is how it synergizes and thereby integrates the whole spectrum of research approaches, in specific emerging viral infections, structural biology and biophysical characterization of biomolecules and their interactions, immune defense mechanisms underlying inflammation and immunopathology, and in early drug discovery and vaccine research. Molecular resources, workflows and innovative animal models that result in an extensive "technology toolkit" for rapid application to a future "Disease X" (defined by the WHO as caused by an unknown pathogen with epidemic potential) will be established. By tackling one of the most critical research challenges of our time, this novel "pipeline approach" will ensure a rapid and strategic response to a newly emerging viral threat.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• International Connection: Switzerland

Current projects

• A01 - Pathogenesis of emerging filoviruses in humanized mice (Project Head Munoz-Fontela, Cesar )
• A02 - Humanized mice to study the zoonotic potential and pathophysiology of hepatotropic emerging pathogens (Project Heads Dandri, Maura ;  Rodriguez, Estefania )
• A03 - Neuronal response to emerging viral infections (Project Head Friese, Manuel A. )
• A04 - Elucidating principles of kidney and organ involvement in emerging viral infections (Project Head Huber, Tobias B. )
• A05 - Pathophysiology of severe manifestations of Lassa fever (Project Heads Günther, Stephan ;  Omansen, Ph.D., Till ;  Ramharter, Michael )
• B01 - Integrating mass spectrometry, network and structure modelling to study virus-host interactions in Arenaviruses (Project Heads Topf, Ph.D., Maya ;  Uetrecht, Charlotte )
• B02 - Characterization of host factors as targets for the development of broadly acting therapeutics against emerging viruses (Project Heads Groseth, Ph.D., Allison ;  Hoenen, Thomas )
• B03 - Structural cell biology of Bunyaviruses (Project Heads Grünewald, Kay ;  Rosenthal, Maria )
• B04 - Determinants of heterospecific phase separation in negative-strand RNA viruses (Project Heads Bosse, Jens Bernhard ;  Meier, Chris )
• C01 - Protective early response patterns of innate cellular immune crosstalk in hemorrhagic fever virus infection (Project Head Hölzemer, Angelique )
• C02 - Characterisation of pathogen-specific T cells in viral haemorrhagic fever (Project Head Oestereich, Lisa )
• C03 - Tissue resident T cells and their functional plasticity in coronavirus infections (Project Head Gagliani, Ph.D., Nicola )
• C04 - Multidimensional analysis of protective and damaging adaptive immune responses in emerging viral infections (Project Heads Binder, Ph.D., Mascha ;  Schulze zur Wiesch, Julian )
• D01 - Characterization of host factors as targets for the development of broadly acting therapeutics against emerging viruses (Project Head Meier, Chris )
• D02 - Metagenomics in emerging viral infections – integrating non-host and host transcriptional responses (Project Head Fischer, Nicole Brigitte )
• D03 - Dissecting protective immunity to viral vector vaccines for emerging viruses (Project Head Addo, Marylyn Martina )
• MGK - Integrated Research Training Group “Understanding emerging and re-emerging viruses” (Project Heads Dandri, Maura ;  Schulze zur Wiesch, Julian )
• SP01 - Tools and techniques to establish tailored assays to study the biology of emerging viruses and identify their Achilles’ heels (Project Heads Fehse, Boris ;  Riecken, Kristoffer )
• Z - Management and Coordination of the CRC “Emerging Viruses” (Project Head Addo, Marylyn Martina )
• Ö - Public relations within the CRC “Emerging Viruses” (Project Heads Addo, Marylyn Martina ;  Lohse, Ansgar W. )

• Applicant Institution: Universität Hamburg
• Participating University: Medizinische Hochschule Hannover; Universität Basel
• Participating Institution: Bernhard-Nocht-Institut für Tropenmedizin (BNITM); Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut; Bundesforschungsinstitut für Tiergesundheit; Leibniz-Institut für Virologie (LIV)
• Spokesperson: Professorin Dr. Marylyn Martina Addo