Project management: Dr. med. Stephan Halle, PhD
halle.stephan@mh-hannover.de

Research concept:

Every person has numerous experiences with viral diseases during childhood. Most children have an intact immune system and recover completely. In children and adults with immunodeficiency, however, otherwise harmless viruses can trigger very serious illnesses. How exactly does the immune system protect people from viral diseases? Do the T cells or the natural killer cells (NK cells) play the biggest role? What mechanisms do the various immune cells use to control the infection? How efficiently does a single immune cell protect the host organism? To answer these questions, we use in vivo infection models. These allow us to visualize the mechanisms of antiviral immunity in real time in the infected tissue. With the help of 2-photon microscopy, for example, individual virus-infected cells and immune cells can be observed directly (Figure). We are working in close collaboration with virologists to learn more about the in vivo dynamics of antiviral immunity.

Funding in recent years:

SFB900, Project B3
For 2830, Project 06

Selected original work

Fleig S, Kapanadze T, Bernier-Latmani J, Lill JK, Wyss T, Gamrekelashvili J, Kijas D, Liu B, Hüsing AM, Bovay E, Jirmo AC, Halle S, Ricke-Hoch M, Adams RH, Engel DR, von Vietinghoff S, Förster R, Hilfiker-Kleiner D, Haller H, Petrova TV, Limbourg FP. Loss of vascular endothelial notch signaling promotes spontaneous formation of tertiary lymphoid structures. Nat Commun. 2022 Apr 19;13(1):2022.

Rastogi A, Robert PA*, Halle S*, Meyer-Hermann M*. Evaluation of CD8 T cell killing models with computer simulations of 2-photon imaging experiments. PLoS Comput Biol. 2020 Dec 28;16(12):e1008428.

Bickes MS, Pirr S, Heinemann AS, Fehlhaber B, Halle S, Völlger L, Willers M, Richter M, Böhne C, Albrecht M, Langer M, Pfeifer S, Jonigk D, Vieten G, Ure B, von Kaisenberg C, Förster R, von Köckritz-Blickwede M, Hansen G, Viemann Constitutive TNF-α signaling in neonates is essential for the development of tissue-resident leukocyte profiles at barrier sites. D. FASEB J. 2019 Oct;33(10):10633-10647.

Pägelow D, Chhatbar C, Beineke A, Liu X, Nerlich A, van Vorst K, Rohde M, Kalinke U, Förster R, Halle S, Valentin-Weigand P, Hornef MW, Fulde M. The olfactory epithelium as a port of entry in neonatal neurolisteriosis. Nat Commun. 2018 Oct 15;9(1):4269.

Stahl FR, Jung R, Jazbutyte V, Ostermann E, Tödter S, Brixel R, Kemmer A, Halle S, Rose-John S, Messerle M, Arck PC, Brune W, Renné T. Laboratory diagnostics of murine blood for detection of mouse cytomegalovirus (MCMV)-induced hepatitis. Sci Rep. 2018 Oct 4;8(1):14823.

Lueder Y, Heller K, Ritter C, Keyser KA, Wagner K, Liu X, Messerle M, Stahl FR*, Halle S*, Förster R*. Control of primary mouse cytomegalovirus infection in lung nodular inflammatory foci by cooperation of interferon-gamma expressing CD4 and CD8 T cells. PLoS Pathog. 2018 Aug 28;14(8):e1007252.

Halle S, Keyser KA, Stahl FR, Busche A, Marquardt A, Zheng X, Galla M, Heissmeyer V, Heller K, Boelter J, Wagner K, Bischoff Y, Martens R, Braun A, Werth K, Uvarovskii A, Kempf H, Meyer-Hermann M, Arens R, Kremer M, Sutter G, Messerle M, Förster R.In Vivo Killing Capacity of Cytotoxic T Cells Is Limited and Involves Dynamic Interactions and T Cell Cooperativity. Immunity. 2016 Feb 16;44(2):233-45.

Halle S, Dujardin HC, Bakocevic N, Fleige H, Danzer H, Willenzon S, Suezer Y, Hämmerling G, Garbi N, Sutter G, Worbs T, Förster R. Induced bronchus-associated lymphoid tissue serves as a general priming site for T cells and is maintained by dendritic cells. J Exp Med. 2009 Nov 23;206(12):2593-601.