Bleich working group
Main research areas
The research focus of the working group is on the pathophysiology of the intestinal mucosa, in particular chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in animal models, infection models and gnotobiology as well as experimental animal projects. In the latter, the focus is particularly on the influence of murine pathogens on animal models and sanitation procedures (e.g. murine parvoviruses and the recently discovered murine norovirus) as well as the establishment of innovative methods for the stress assessment of laboratory animals.
In our experimental work on CED, we are interested in how genetic and microbial factors influence inflammatory reactions and tolerance development in animal models.
The genetic analyses are based on the different CED susceptibility of different mouse strains and linkage analyses based on this. The focus is on the identification of susceptibility genes and their function using congenic and transgenic mouse strains as well as candidate gene analyses. Using this approach, we have already been able to substantiate the importance of a factor(Cd14) that has so far received little attention in the context of intestinal inflammation and to characterize a main factor for murine colitis susceptibility(Cdcs1).
Regarding microbial factors, our studies showed that strain-specific loss of tolerance is not only determined by specific opportunists (e.g. Helicobacter spp. or murine norovirus), but by a complex genetics-X-microbiome interaction. Thus, the analysis of these microbial factors, which determine whether a genetically potentially susceptible host phenotypically expresses susceptibility, is a focus of the research group. This work requires the use of imaging techniques such as bioluminescence or MRI, work with infection models and work on germ-free and gnotobiotic animals.
(Prof. André Bleich, head of the working group)
- DFG-SFB621, Pathobiology of the intestinal mucosa (until 2013)
- Rebirth
- Priority program 1656, INTESTINAL MICROBIOTA - a microbial ecosystem at the edge between immune homeostasis and inflammation
- ERDF, Use of information and communication technologies to optimize biomedical research in southeast Lower Saxony
- Selected publications
Originals
Basic M, Keubler L M, Achard M, Breves G, Schröder B, Smoczek A, Jörns A, Wedekind D, Zschemisch N, Neumann D, Lienenklaus S, Weiss S, Hornef M, Mähler M, Bleich A.
Norovirus triggered microbiota-driven mucosal inflammation in interleukin 10-deficient mice.
Inflamm Bowel Dis, in press.
Michael S, Keubler LM, Smoczek A, Meier M, Gunzer F, Pöhlmann C, Krause-Buchholz U, Hedrich HJ, Bleich A.
Quantitative phenotyping of inflammatory bowel disease in the IL10-deficient mouse by use of non-invasive magnetic resonance imaging.
Inflamm Bowel Dis, 19,185-93.
Büchler G, Wos-Oxley ML, Smoczek A, Zschemisch NH, Neumann D, Pieper DH, Hedrich HJ, Bleich A.
Strain specific colitis susceptibility in IL10-deficient mice depends on complex gut microbiota-host interactions.
Inflamm Bowel Dis, 18:943-54, 2012.
Bleich A, Janus LM, Smoczek A, Westendorf AM, Strauch U, Mähler M, Hedrich HJ, Fichtner-Feigl S, Schölmerich J, Falk W, Hofmann C, Obermeier F.
CpG motifs of bacterial DNA exert protective effects in mouse models of IBD by antigen-independent tolerance induction.
Gastroenterology, 136:278-287, 2009.
Reviews
Janus LM, Bleich A.
Coping with parvovirus infections in mice: health surveillance and control.
Lab Anim, 46:14-23, 2012.
Bleich A, Hansen AK.
Time to include the gut microbiota in the hygienic standardization of laboratory rodents.
Comp Immunol Microbiol Infect Dis, 35:81-92, 2012.