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Scope

Our fields of interest range from basic research to contract R&D for the diagnostic and vaccine industry.

  • Immunology and genetic/antigenetic diversity of old and new emerging viruses: relevance for detection, vaccination, pathogenicity, drug resistance, development of new treatment strategies
  • Development of immune-preventive strategies against infectious agents and against environmental risk factors, such as carcinogens.
  • Crosstalk between the immune system and the neuroendocrine system in particular under stress: gene structure, the transcriptional and translational regulation of nuclear receptors, such as the glucocorticoid receptor as the main stress response mediator.
  • Perinatal programming and epigenetics of the immune system.
  • Proteomics studies using 2D DIGE technology paired with MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry and LC-MS in the above areas and other fields in collaboration.

Contact

Department of Immunology
Head of Research Unit: Prof. Dr. Claude P. Muller
Laboratoire National de Santé
20A, rue Auguste Lumière, L-1950 Luxembourg
Tel.: +352 49 06 04 220
Fax: +352 49 06 86
E-mail: claude.muller@LNS.ETAT.LU

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Laboratory of Immunology

The Department of Immunology is an institution of the Centre de Recherche Public de la Santé (CRP-Santé) and the Laboratoire National de Santé (LNS). The department was de facto created in 1992. Since then it has gradually expanded its scientific activities with the support of competitive research grants from national (CRP-Santé, Ministère de la Recherche, Ministère de la Santé, Ministère de la Coopération, Fonds National de la Recherche, Foundations) and international (the European Union DGXII and DGXIII, the World Health Organisation, the Deutsche Forschungsgesellschaft DFG, diagnostic and vaccine industry) sources.
Academically, the department is affiliated with several universities of the Greater Region: the University of Homburg/Saarland, the University of Trier and the University of Nancy. The department is the WHO collaborating centre for reference and research on measles infections, a WHO regional reference laboratory for measles and rubella for 24 European countries and the National Reference Laboratory for Measles and Rubella.
Today, the department of Immunology has grown to a staff of about 35 scientists, engineers, technicians, PhD and MD students, as well as undergraduate students and support staff. The department is one of the most productive biomedical research groups in Luxembourg, with about 15-20 peer-reviewed international scientific publications per year, and 60-80 contributions to scientific conferences and invited oral presentations per year.
More than 50 PhD and MD students have been or are trained at the department of Immunology.
The department has a unique network of international collaborations in Europe and beyond. Our international scientific partners benefit from our training and capacity building program.

TECHNOLOGIES

New technologies are the driving engine of innovation and development. Top of the line equipment and a wide range of state-of-the-art technologies are available, providing an optimal environment for research and the training of students and visiting scientists.

Available techniques  at the Department of Immunology.

SPECIAL HIGHLIGHTS

COLLABORATIONS

The Department has many collaborations with academic and research institutions in Luxembourg , Europe and worldwide  and coordinates or is a member of several networks .

Centre de Recherche Public-Santé / Centre Hospitalier de Luxembourg:

•   Clinical and Epidemiological Investigation Center (CIEC), A Chioti 

Surveillance of infectious diseases caused by viruses
Hepatitis B virus, Human and Avian Influenza Viruses, Measles, Rubella, Parvovirus, Newcastle Disease Virus, other avian viruses, tick-borne pathogens

The main purpose of these studies is to contribute to the understanding of the geographic distribution, genetic variants (including new variants and genotypes), the variability and the natural history of viruses.

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Development of vaccination strategies
The experience acquired with the development of measles vaccine strategies has been further applied to explore immune-prophylactic strategies against carcinogens; the approach is based on innovative conjugate vaccines that induce antibodies to influence the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic of carcinogens.

Psychoendocrine immunology of stress
The department of Immunology is also a department of the Graduate School for Psychobiology of the University of Trier. Several departments collaborate to investigate stress related aspects from molecules to cognate functions. Within this academic collaboration, we contribute our expertise in immunology, molecular biology and cell biology, to investigate on a cellular level control mechanism of the main stress response system, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and nuclear receptor functions in immune cells and beyond. According to EU and WHO estimates, stress represents the single most important cause of disease, causing costs as high as 3-4 % of the European gross national product. Many of these diseases are related to infections and aberrant immune reactions.
In addition, stress affects social behavior, mood, learning and memory. In the framework of these collaborations, we are part of the International Research Training Group (IRTG) «Psychoneuroendocrinology of stress: from molecules and genes to affect and cognition » a partnership with the Leiden/Amsterdam Center for Drug Research and Leiden University Medical Center.

Proteomics
Current studies in proteomics include:

  • Proteomics combined with bioinformatic pathway analysis identified IFN type I and type II signalling pathways as principal targets of immunomodulatory effects of cortisol on LPS-activated macrophages. New isoforms of cortisol-sensitive IFN-inducible proteins were found such as for MX1 and SYWC.
  • Proteomic profiling of non-genomic effects of cortisol in a rat model for acute stress revealed new insights in the early stages of a stress response. Nuclear translocated proteins identified belong mainly to transcriptional control and mRNA splicing/processing suggesting the preparation of the cell for a forthcoming transcription.
  • Proteomics is also applied to investigate host virus interactions of strain variants; virus induced post translational modifications.

Perinatal programming and epigenetics of the immune system
Perinatal programming refers to the concept that fetal or early postnatal environmental factors, such as nutrition, stress or infectious disease, have a considerable long-term impact on adult phenotype and disease susceptibility. Although initial studies focused on perinatal programming in cardiovascular or nervous systems, it has become clear that early environment may influence a large range of diseases and conditions, including disorders of the immune system. Recent evidence indicates that epigenetic mechanisms, such as methylation of CpG dinucleotides, are involved in the memorization of early-life events. We study the role of DNA methylation in immune cells and animal models, and identify genes responsible for early programming of the immune system.

Teaching and training
Our department offers a teaching and training programme  for PhD students, undergraduate students (e.g. master students) and visiting scientists.

Head of Laboratory :

Claude Muller MD  

Professor : University of Trier - University of Homburg/Saarland - University of Nancy

Phone : +352 490604-220

Fax : +352 490686

Email : claude.muller@crp-sante.lu

Current Team Members :

Iris Andernach MS  

Function : PhD Student

Phone : +352 490604-261

Fax : +352 490686

Email : iris.andernach@crp-sante.lu

Claire Barra PhD  

Function : Post-doc Researcher

Phone : +352 490604-241

Fax : +352 490686

Email : claire.barra@crp-sante.lu

Regina Brunnhoefer  

Function : Technician

Phone : +352 490604-245

Fax : +352 490686

Email : regina.brunnhoefer@crp-sante.lu

Emilie Charpentier BS  

Function : Technician

Phone : +352 490604-245

Fax : +352 490686

Email : emilie.charpentier@crp-sante.lu

Axel Dubois  

Function : PhD Student

Phone : +352 490604-261

Fax : +352 490686

Email : axel.dubois@crp-sante.lu

Sophie Farinelle MS  

Function : Technician

Phone : +352 490604-233

Fax : +352 490686

Email : sophie.farinelle@crp-sante.lu

Sandra Gohrbandt PhD  

Function : Post-doc Researcher

Phone : +352 490604-241

Fax : +352 490686

Email : sandra.gohrbandt@crp-sante.lu

Oliver Hunewald  

Function : IT Specialist

Phone : +352 490604-235

Fax : +352 490686

Email : oliver.hunewald@crp-sante.lu

Monique Jacoby PhD  

Function : Researcher

Phone : +352 490604-236

Fax : +352 490686

Email : monique.jacoby@crp-sante.lu

Josiane Kirpach MS  

Function : PhD Student

Phone : +352 490604-261

Fax : +352 490686

Email : josiane.kirpach@crp-sante.lu

Sophie Kirschner  

Function : PhD Student

Phone : +352 490604-236

Fax : +352 490686

Email : sophie.kirschner@crp-sante.lu

Vitor Lopes  

Function : Logistics and Maintenance Assistant

Phone : +352 490604-224

Fax : +352 490686

Email : vitor.lopes@crp-sante.lu

Nina Lütteke PhD  

Function : Post-doc Researcher

Phone : +352 490604-241

Fax : +352 490686

Email : nina.luetteke@crp-sante.lu

Sophie Mériaux BS  

Function : Technician

Phone : +352 490604-223

Fax : +352 490686

Email : sophie.meriaux@crp-sante.lu

Ulla Muller  

Function : Administrative Assistant

Phone : +352 490604-220

Fax : +352 490686

Email : ulla.muller@crp-sante.lu

Simone Reuter PhD  

Function : Researcher

Phone : +352 490604-233

Fax : +352 490686

Email : simone.reuter@crp-sante.lu

Dominique Revets BS  

Function : Technician

Phone : +352 490604-225

Fax : +352 490686

Email : dominique.revets@crp-sante.lu

Anna Reye MS  

Function : PhD Student

Phone : +352 490604-

Fax : +352 490686

Email : anna.reye@crp-sante.lu

Nathalie Rodenbour  

Function : Logistics and Maintenance Assistant

Phone : +352 490604-228

Fax : +352 490686

Email : nathalie.rodenbour@crp-sante.lu

Aurélie Sausy BS  

Function : Technician

Phone : +352 490604-245

Fax : +352 490686

Email : aurelie.sausy@crp-sante.lu

Mario Schellenberger MS  

Function : Post-doc Researcher

Phone : +352 490604-234

Fax : +352 490686

Email : mario.schellenberger@crp-sante.lu

Stephanie Schmitz BS  

Function : Technician

Phone : +352 490604-222

Fax : +352 490686

Email : stephanie.schmitz@crp-sante.lu

Chantal Snoeck MS  

Function : PhD Student

Phone : +352 490604-251

Fax : +352 490686

Email : chantal.snoeck@crp-sante.lu

Linda Theisen MS  

Function : PhD Student

Phone : +352 490604-251

Fax : +352 490686

Email : linda.theisen@crp-sante.lu

Slavena Trifonova MS  

Function : PhD Student

Phone : +352 490604-238

Fax : +352 490686

Email : slavena.trifonova@crp-sante.lu

Jonathan Turner PhD  

Function : Researcher

Phone : +352 490604-223

Fax : +352 490686

Email : jonathan.turner@crp-sante.lu

Sara Vernocchi MS  

Function : PhD Student

Phone : +352 490604-222

Fax : +352 490686

Email : sara.vernocchi@crp-sante.lu

Carole Weis  

Function : Secretary

Phone : +352 490604-220

Fax : +352 490686

Email : carole.weis@crp-sante.lu

Stéphanie Willieme MS  

Function : Technician

Phone : +352 490604-233

Fax : +352 490686

Email : stephanie.willieme@crp-sante.lu

Stephanie Wolter  

Function : Technician

Fax : +352 490686

Email : stephanie.wolter@crp-sante.lu