Team - University Hospital Aachen, RWTH Aachen
About Us
The Lehr- und Forschungsgebiet Virologie is responsible for virus diagnostics in the Aachen university hospital (UK Aachen) and the education of medical students in virology and infectiology. The research focusses on investigations on prevention, therapy and pathogenesis of Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) associated diseases.
Objectives
The group in Aachen deals with investigations on the relevance of herpesviruses for atypical respiratory infections in the elderly, development of an EBV-vaccine, and establishment of an animal model for herpesvirus-triggered respiratory infections.
The Epstein-Barr virus causes infectious mononucleosis and is associated with several malignancies. Primary infection is associated with mild pneumonitis in 5-10% of the cases but can develop into severe pneumonitis. Co-infection with EBV and respiratory viruses leads to an increased severity of the symptoms. A correlation has been shown between EBV-activity an respiratory infection in adults as EBV seropositive individuals are more susceptible to respiratory disease compared to seronegatives. Knowledge of the immunological response of the elderly towards EBV as well as strategies for therapy and prevention of EBV infections are of significant importance. So far, there is little knowledge of EBV-activity in the elderly and EBV-specific immune responses as well as of correlation between EBV and respiratory disease. There is neither a suitable model system established for an in vivo approach, nor a specific therapy or a prevention for EBV-associated disease available. We want to address these problems by clinical investigations, use of a small animal model based on the MHV-68/mouse system, which was already adapted for EBV associated neurological disease by us, improvement of a candidate life vaccine aiming at sterile immunity, and the development of therapeutical strategies based on RNAi technology.
Our team
The Lehr- und Forschungsgebiet Virologie is responsible for virus diagnostics in the Aachen university hospital (UK Aachen) and the education of medical students in virology and infectiology. The research focusses on investigations on prevention, therapy and pathogenesis of Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) associated diseases.
Objectives
- Study of the effect of aging on respiratory infections in mouse models
- Investigation of the impact of EBV-infections on the clinical outcome of respiratory infections focussing on the respiratory tract.
- Evaluation of antiviral strategies using different antisense like molecules in aged infected mice
The group in Aachen deals with investigations on the relevance of herpesviruses for atypical respiratory infections in the elderly, development of an EBV-vaccine, and establishment of an animal model for herpesvirus-triggered respiratory infections.
The Epstein-Barr virus causes infectious mononucleosis and is associated with several malignancies. Primary infection is associated with mild pneumonitis in 5-10% of the cases but can develop into severe pneumonitis. Co-infection with EBV and respiratory viruses leads to an increased severity of the symptoms. A correlation has been shown between EBV-activity an respiratory infection in adults as EBV seropositive individuals are more susceptible to respiratory disease compared to seronegatives. Knowledge of the immunological response of the elderly towards EBV as well as strategies for therapy and prevention of EBV infections are of significant importance. So far, there is little knowledge of EBV-activity in the elderly and EBV-specific immune responses as well as of correlation between EBV and respiratory disease. There is neither a suitable model system established for an in vivo approach, nor a specific therapy or a prevention for EBV-associated disease available. We want to address these problems by clinical investigations, use of a small animal model based on the MHV-68/mouse system, which was already adapted for EBV associated neurological disease by us, improvement of a candidate life vaccine aiming at sterile immunity, and the development of therapeutical strategies based on RNAi technology.
Our team
Dr. Michael Kleines
- coordination of the project parts based in Aachen
- coordination of the project parts based in Aachen
