23 million euros: FAU successful with three Collaborative Research Centers

DFG funding for research into autoimmune diseases, 3D-engineered tissue and stem cell transplantation

Major success for FAU: The German Research Foundation (DFG) is funding a new Collaborative Research Center at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) to investigate autoimmune diseases. The DFG has approved a further funding period for two Transregio projects with FAU participation. A total of 23.4 million euros in funding will flow to FAU.

New treatment methods for autoimmune diseases

In the new Collaborative Research Center (CRC) 1755 "Cellular and Systems Control of Autoimmune Disease" (CASCAID), researchers at FAU want to develop strategies for sustainable, drug-free remission in autoimmune diseases and chronic inflammatory diseases. Autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis pose a significant clinical challenge because they are characterized by recurring inflammatory flare-ups. These relapses lead to tissue damage and loss of organ function. The aim of the CRC is to gain a better understanding of these processes and to develop sustainable therapies. The spokesperson of the SFB 1755 is Prof. Dr. Georg Schett from the Chair of Internal Medicine III. The SFB 1755 is funded with 15 million euros.

Current treatment approaches control the inflammation, but do not lead to a permanent stop of the disease. These therapeutic limitations point to misdirected immune cell networks in the tissue. CASCAID aims to identify and characterize these networks. The Collaborative Research Centre will build a bridge between translational preclinical and clinical research by using molecularly characterized large patient cohorts, human tissue samples and state-of-the-art tissue profiling techniques. Through therapeutic approaches already tested in clinical trials, such as the use of CD19 CAR-T cells in autoimmune diseases, the researchers hope to better understand the cellular and systemic mechanisms in tissues and identify new pathways to sustained drug-free remission.

Producing replacement tissue with the 3D printer

The DFG-funded CRC/Transregio 225 "From the fundamentals of biofabrication to functional tissue models" with locations in Würzburg (host university), Bayreuth and Erlangen will continue until 2029. The consortium is further developing automated 3D printing processes to produce human tissue models with clearly defined biological functions. Based on intensive interdisciplinary cooperation, an internationally leading competence cluster for biofabrication has been created in northern Bavaria. The site spokesperson for FAU is Prof. Dr. Aldo Boccaccini from the Chair of Materials Science (Biomaterials). FAU will receive a share of 4.7 million euros in funding.

In the third funding period, the network is concentrating on specifically expanding the biological functions of the tissue models, better understanding complex cell interactions and developing new biofabricated model systems for preclinical applications. TRR 225 thus builds on previous successes and opens up new long-term perspectives for animal-free test systems, pharmaceutical research and regenerative therapies.

Third funding period for improving stem cell transplantation

The DFG has approved a third funding period for the SFB/Transregio 221 (TRR) 221 "Control of graft-versus-host and graft-versus-leukemia immune responses after allogeneic stem cell transplantation". The TRR is a research network of the University of Regensburg (speaker university), the Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, the FAU and the university hospitals there. The site spokesperson for FAU is Prof. Dr. Andreas Mackensen, Director of the Medical Clinic 5 - Hematology & Internal Oncology at Erlangen University Hospital. FAU will receive 3.7 million euros in funding.

The transfer of blood stem cells from a healthy donor is a possible cure if leukemia does not regress despite chemotherapy. However, this so-called GvL effect (graft-versus-leukemia effect) is not strong enough in all patients to prevent a relapse of the leukemia disease and in special cases can even attack healthy body tissue (graft-versus-host disease). The aim of the CRC/Transregio is therefore to better understand the immunological mechanisms of blood stem cell transplantation in order to make this therapeutic procedure even safer and more effective. In the third funding period, the researchers want to prepare the strategies already developed for clinical testing.

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