In our next NSI Rising Star Seminar, we will be hosting Annika Hausmann (PhD, SNSF Ambizione Group Leader at ETH Zürich, Switzerland) with a talk on “Intestinal mucosal crosstalk in health and disease”. Look forward to seeing you there!
Meeting details:
Speaker: Annika Hausmann
Title: Intestinal mucosal crosstalk in health and disease
Time and date: Thursday, October 23 at 14.00
Meeting link: https://nmbu.zoom.us/j/64750670957?pwd=hTwb6wMcWKqlHbbJetlhSSuT97WGWH.1
Talk abstract:
The intestinal mucosa forms an integral barrier between our bodies and the outside world. Being exposed to a huge variety of metabolites and microbes taken up with our food or stably colonizing the intestine, it is permeable for essential nutrients while serving as a protective barrier to prevent microbial translocation. A tight balance between the intestinal epithelium, immune cells in the underlying tissue and the intestinal microbiota present in the lumen maintains intestinal homeostasis. The impairment of this balance can trigger disease, such as infection, metabolic disorders, and chronic inflammation (e.g. inflammatory bowel disease). Our work focuses on understanding how these key players interact to maintain intestinal homeostasis, with a special interest in the intestinal epithelium. The intestinal epithelium is in direct contact with the microbiota colonizing the intestinal lumen (e.g. sensing via pattern recognition receptors, uptake of metabolites), yet we know little about the molecular basis of epithelium-microbiota crosstalk and the impact of commensal bacteria on epithelial barrier function. We make use of state-of-the-art in vivo and advanced organoid-based in vitro models, (single cell) omics techniques and bioengineering approaches, to map mucosal cellular crosstalk and dissect the underlying molecular mechanisms in mouse and human.
More information about Annika Hausmann:
Annika studied Molecular Medicine in Bonn and Freiburg (DE). She trained in Zurich (CH) and Copenhagen (DK) in mucosal immunology, host-microbe interactions and epithelial repair mechanisms in intestinal inflammation.
Google scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=_mySy_0AAAAJ&hl=eng
Key papers:
1. Intercrypt sentinel macrophages tune antibacterial NF-κB responses in gut epithelial cells via TNF
2. Sublethal systemic LPS in mice enables gut-luminal pathogens to bloom through oxygen species-mediated microbiota inhibition