Platform 4

Immunomodulation and Phenotyping

Platform IV is responsible for the phenotyping of organs and tissue and the characterization of the potential immune response after optogene transfer. First, we will carefully look for any changes in tissue histology and if so, identify infiltrating immune cells and screen for upregulated cytokines. Second, we will process and analyze isolated sera from the different animal species and identify antibodies targeting adeno-associated viruses (AAV) vectors and the individual parts of the optogene transfer as well as analyze peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). This information will allow us to identify the main triggers potentially leading to an immune response and work on strategies to prevent it. This platform combines the expertise of several labs and principal investigators: Kathrin Kusch at the German Primate Centre, Tobias Brügmann at the Institute for Cardiovascular Physiology, Christine Stadelmann-Nessler at the Institute for Neuropathology and Phillip Ströbel at the Institute of Pathology at the University Medical Center Göttingen as well as Hildegard Büning from the Institute of Experimental Hematology and Christine Falk from the Institute of Transplant Immunology at the Hannover Medical School.