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Stöger Lab

Dynamics of Pulmonary Inflammation

We want to understand the circumstances that impair pulmonary inflammation in a way to cause a long-term damage of the lung. Our goals are therapeutic nanoparticles for pulmonary application and the respiratory safety of engineered nanoparticles.

We want to understand the circumstances that impair pulmonary inflammation in a way to cause a long-term damage of the lung. Our goals are therapeutic nanoparticles for pulmonary application and the respiratory safety of engineered nanoparticles.

Our Key Questions

 

  • Which circumstances impair pulmonary inflammation in a way to cause a long-term damage of the lung?
  • Which factors determine the transition from acute to chronic inflammation. How are alveolar macrophages involved?
  • What makes some environmental stimuli cause a persistent, non resolving inflammtion while other stimuli only initiate a transient irritation?
  • Particularly, which material properties of inhaled particles determine the particle-triggered course of inflammation?

Image: human lung organoids grown from induced stem cells

     

     

     

    Inflammation - blessing and curse

    Inflammation is a very dynamic biological reaction of the tissues in response to any stimuli that is harmful to the body. To prevent unnecessary tissue damage, the acute inflammatory response must be actively terminated and resolved when no longer needed. When the inflammation lasts much longer than normal or even becomes chronic, it is usually a major destruction and replacement of the cells within the tissue suffering the inflammation. Persistent or chronic inflammation might thus been seen as a failure of resolution, and often present in patients with chronic lung diseases such as COPD. It may also lead to an imbalance in production of cytokines and growth factors and thereby trigger abnormal wound-healing responses characteristic for the fatal disorder: pulmonary fibrosis.

    Image: Human iPSC generated lung organoid (nuclei in cyan) and fibroblasts (red) in co-culture

     

    Scientists at Stöger Lab

    Camille Barro

    PhD Student

    Phoebe Cabanis

    PhD Student

    Verena Häfner

    Doctoral Student (PhD)

    Lianyong Han

    Postdoc

    David Kutschke

    Technical Assistant

    Hongyu Ren

    PhD Student

    Yasmin Shaalan

    PhD Student

    Dr. Carola Voss

    Postdoctoral Fellow

    Haiyun Zhang

    PhD Student

    Publications

    Contact

    Dr. Tobias Stöger

    Team Leader