INFINITE Research Projects
The six subprojects of the research consortium aim to better understand the function of immune cells in the testis and epididymis. All subprojects are represented by equal project leaders from two of the four partner universities. Projects P1 and P2 focus on epididymal macrophages (P1) and dendritic cells (P2, in the epididymis and testis). The immune pathology of acute bacterial epididymo-orchitis and the specific influence of each immune cell population are comprehensively investigated. Projects P4-6 focus on the influence of the gut microbiome (P4) and aging (P5) on testicular macrophages, as well as T-cells in human testicular cancer and non-neoplastic testicular inflammation in men (P6). The integrative bioinformatics support provided by the Z-Project for the analysis of large project-specific datasets (CODEX, scRNA-seq) represents a significant enhancement of the collaborative nature of this consortium.
Macrophage-epithelial cell interactions in the epididymis during homeostasis and inflammation
Principal investigators:
- Prof. Dr. Andreas Meinhardt (Gießen)
- Prof. Dr. Andreas Schlitzer (Bonn)
Project team members:
- Tiziana Grimaldini (Gießen)
- Julia König (Bonn)
Deciphering the region-specific distribution and function of dendritic cell populations along the epididymis
Principal Investigators:
- Dr. Christiane Pleuger (Gießen)
- Prof. Dr. Johannes Mayer (Mainz)
Project team members:
- Nesma Ismail (Gießen)
- Sunrito Mitra (Mainz)
The connection between the gut microbiome and testicular immune cells: implications for testicular diseases
Principal Investigators:
- Dr. Sudhanshu Bhushan (Gießen)
- Prof. Dr. Christoph Reinhardt (Mainz)
Project team members:
- Moumita Basak (Gießen)
- N.N. (Mainz)
Macrophage dependent inflammation in the ageing testis
Principal Investigators:
- Dr. Sudhanshu Bhushan (Gießen)
- Prof. Dr. Christian Schulz (Heidelberg)
Project team members:
- N.N. (Gießen)
- Jie Shi (Heidelberg)
Role of regulatory T cells and type 17 T cells in testicular germ cell cancer and testicular inflammation
Principal Investigators:
- Prof. Dr. Daniela Fietz, Prof. Dr. Hans-Christian Schuppe (Gießen)
- Prof. Dr. Magdalena Huber (Marburg)
Project team members:
- Pia Holtkamp (Gießen)
- Dr. Sonja Lieber (Marburg)
- Paulina Linke (Marburg)
Deciphering Immune Cell Function in the Testis and Epididymis by Single-Cell Transcriptomics, Spatial Proteomics and Integrative Bioinformatics
Principal Investigators:
- Prof. Dr. Marek Bartkuhn, Dr. Jochen Wilhelm (Gießen)
- Prof. Dr. Andreas Schlitzer (Bonn)
Project team members:
- Dr. Vishnu Kumar (Gießen)
- Dr. Naziha Mroueh (Bonn)