Group Leader Intestinal Stem Cell Research

+49 89 3187 43150 anika.boettcher@helmholtz-muenchen.de Website

Gebäude / Raum: Campus Neuherberg, building 3620, room 34b

Dr. Anika Böttcher

Group Leader Intestinal Stem Cell Research, Institute of Diabetes and Regeneration Research (IDR)

The main objective of Anika Böttcher and her team is to decipher the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying stem cell lineage decisions in the gut. In particular, they want to understand how biomechanical signals regulate stem cell fate and cellular function. The ultimate goal is to use the knowledge to manipulate stem cell lineage decisions for obesity and diabetes therapy.

Anika is a cell and developmental biologist. She obtained her Diploma in Biology from the University of Jena, Germany and University of Lund, Sweden. She then joined Reinhard Fässler´s group at the Max-Planck Institute for Molecular Medicine in Munich for her PhD and studied the role of integrin signaling in kidney morphogenesis. Afterwards, Anika joined Heiko Lickert´s lab at Helmholtz Munich as a postdoc fellow to study the role of Wnt/Planar Cell Polarity signaling in the gut. Since 2016, Anika has been leading the group of Intestinal Stem Cell Research at IDR with the research focus on the regulation of enteroendocrine lineage formation from intestinal stem cells and subset specification in homeostatic conditions and diseased state.

Cell Biology Developmental Biology Stem Cell Biology Diabetes Obesity Endocrine Cells Cell Polarity Single Cell Genomics

My group aims to elucidate the molecular mechanisms regulating stem cell lineage decisions in the gut in order to develop novel gut-based therapies for the prevention and/or treatment of obesity and type 2 diabetes. Therefore, we study the gut in homeostatic conditions in different model systems and upon diet-induced obesity

IDR_cross-section of the small intestine of the mouse with proliferating cells in crypt and villus.

From 2016

Institute of Diabetes and Regeneration Research, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Germany

2010 - 2016

Institute of Stem Cell Research and Institute of Diabetes and Regeneration Research, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Germany

2005 - 2010

Research Department “Molecular Medicine”, Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Germany

2020-2024 Transregional Collaborative Research Centre 127 “Biology of xenogeneic cell, tissue and organ transplantation” – from bench to bedside with Eckhard Wolf (LMU Munich)
2018-2019 Research fund from the German center for diabetes research (DZD)
2010 Max Planck Junior Research Award
2010 Rupert Timpl Award of the International Society for Matrix Biology

Uncovering Basic Mechanisms of Intestinal Stem Cell Self-Renewal and Differentiation Promises New Approaches to Treat Diseases

The gut plays a central role in the regulation of the body’s metabolism and its dysfunction is associated with a variety of diseases, such as obesity, diabetes, colitis and colorectal cancer that affect millions of people worldwide. Targeting endocrine dysfunction at an early stage by stimulating the formation of specific enteroendocrine cells from intestinal stem cells could be a promising regenerative approach for diabetes therapy. For this, however, a detailed understanding of the intestinal stem cell lineage hierarchy and the signals regulating the recruitment of the different intestinal cell types is critical.

Read the publication in Nature Cell Biology

Diet-induced alteration of intestinal stem cell function underlies obesity and prediabetes in mice

Excess nutrient uptake and altered hormone secretion in the gut contribute to a systemic energy imbalance, which causes obesity and an increased risk of type 2 diabetes and colorectal cancer. This functional maladaptation is thought to emerge at the level of the intestinal stem cells (ISCs). However, it is not clear how an obesogenic diet affects ISC identity and fate. Here we show that an obesogenic diet induces ISC and progenitor hyperproliferation, enhances ISC differentiation and cell turnover and changes the regional identities of ISCs and enterocytes in mice. Single-cell resolution of the enteroendocrine lineage reveals an increase in progenitors and peptidergic enteroendocrine cell types and a decrease in serotonergic enteroendocrine cell types. Mechanistically, we link increased fatty acid synthesis, Ppar signaling and the Insr–Igf1r–Akt pathway to mucosal changes. This study describes molecular mechanisms of diet-induced intestinal maladaptation that promote obesity and therefore underlie the pathogenesis of the metabolic syndrome and associated complications.

Read the publication on Nature Metabolism

Aliluev, A; Tritschler, S; Sterr, M; Oppenländer, L; Hinterdobler, J; Greisle, T; Irmler, M; Beckers, J; Sun, N; Walch, A; Stemmer, K; Kindt, A; Krumsiek, J; Tschöp, MH; Luecken, M; Theis, F; Lickert, H* and Böttcher, A*

Diet-induced alteration of intestinal stem cell identity and lineage allocation underlies obesity and pre-diabetes in mice

Böttcher, A; Büttner, M; Tritschler, S; Sterr, M; Aliluev, A; Oppenländer, L; Burtscher, I; Sass, S; Irmler, M; Beckers, J; Ziegenhain, C; Enard, W; Schamberger, AC; Verhamme, FN; Eickelberg, O; Theis, FJ*; Lickert, H*

Non-canonical Wnt/PCP signalling regulates intestinal stem cell lineage priming towards enteroendocrine and Paneth cell fates

Sachs, S., Bastidas-Ponce, A., Tritschler, S., Bakhti, M., Böttcher, A., Sánchez-Garrido, M.A., Tarquis-Medina, M., Kleinert, M., Fischer, K., Jall, S., Harger, A., Bader, E., Roscioni, S., Ussar, S., Feuchtinger, A., Yesildag, B., Neelakandhan, A., Jensen, C.B., Cornu, M., Yang, B., Finan, B., DiMarchi, R.D., Tschöp, M.H., Theis, F.J., Hofmann, S.M., Müller, T.D., Lickert, H

Targeted pharmacological therapy restores β-cell function for diabetes remission

Bakhti, M., Böttcher, A. & Lickert, H

Modelling the endocrine pancreas in health and disease

Tritschler, S., Theis, F.J., Lickert, H., Böttcher, A.

Systematic single-cell analysis provides new insights into heterogeneity and plasticity of the pancreas

Gegg, M., Böttcher, A., Burtscher, I., Hasenoeder, S., Van Campenhout, C., Aichler, M., Walch, A., Grant, S.G.N., Lickert, H

Flattop regulates basal body docking and positioning in mono- and multiciliated cells

Moik, D., Böttcher, A., Makhina, T., Grashoff, C., Bulus, N., Zent, R., Fässler, R

Mutations in the paxillin-binding site of Integrin-linked kinase (ILK) destabilize the pseudokinase domain and cause embryonic lethality in mice

Lange, A., Gegg, M., Burtscher, I., Bengel, D., Kremmer, E., Lickert, H

FltpT2AiCre: A new knock-in mouse line for conditional gene targeting in distinct mono- and multiciliated tissues

Wickström, S.A., Lange, A., Hess, M.W., Polleux, J., Spatz, J.P., Krüger, M., Pfaller, K., Lambacher, A., Bloch, W., Mann, M., Huber, L.A., Fässler, R

Integrin-linked kinase controls microtubule dynamics required for plasma membrane targeting of caveolae

Lange, A., Wickström, S.A., Jakobson, M., Zent, R., Sainio, K., Fässler, R

Integrin-linked kinase is an adaptor with essential functions during mouse development.

Dr. Anika Böttcher

Dr. Anika Böttcher

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Head of the Group Intestinal stem cells research

Postdoctoral Fellow

PhD Student

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Uncovering Basic Mechanisms of Intestinal Stem Cell Self-Renewal and Differentiation Promises New Approaches to Treat Diseases

Diet-induced alteration of intestinal stem cell function underlies obesity and prediabetes in mice

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