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Porträt Anika Boettcher
Helmholtz Munich | Mara Catani
+49 89 3187 43150VisitE-MailGebäude/Raum: Campus Neuherberg, building 3620, room 34b

Dr. Anika Böttcher

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

 

Dr. Anika Böttcher

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

 

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Research focus and Academic Career

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.

Expertise

Cell BiologyDevelopmental BiologyStem Cell BiologyDiabetesObesityEndocrine CellsCell PolaritySingle Cell Genomics

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

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

Professional Career

From 2016

Head of the Group Intestinal stem cells research

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

2010 - 2016

Postdoctoral Fellow

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

2005 - 2010

PhD Student

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

Honors and Awards

  • 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

Porträt Anika Boettcher
Helmholtz Munich | Mara Catani
IDR_Cover_Nature Cell Biology
nature cell biology | Alexandra Aliluev, Heiko Lickert. Cover Design: Lauren Heslop.

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
nature metabolism

 

 

 

 

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

Most important publications

PubMed

2020 Nat Metab

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

Networks and Affiliations

Logo Deutsches Zentrum für Diabetesforschung e.V.

DZD

DFG logo blau PNG

DFG