- AGHAZARIAN Artin
- BAUER David
- BEGHINI Marianna
- BEIGLBÖCK Hannes
- BERNER Carolin
- BRUSILOVSKAYA Ksenia
- CHROMY David
- DEISCHINGER Carola
- DIXON Emmanuel Dauda
- EPPEL Daniel
- FALCONE Veronica
- FEHER Balazs
- FELLINGER Paul
- FISCHER Arabella
- FÖSSLEITNER Philipp
- GERNER Marlene
- GISINGER Teresa
- HAGER Marlene
- HASENÖHRL Timothy
- HEDESAN Oana
- HEINZL Matthias
- HEROLD Alexander
- HERZ Carsten
- HOFER Benedikt
- KALTENECKER Christopher
- KOGLER Hubert
- KÖNIGSHOFER Philipp
- LEITNER Miriam Kristin
- METZ Matthäus
- PALMA Stefano
- PATEISKY Petra
- PAUNKOV Ana
- PERRICOS Alexandra
- PFISTERER Nikolaus
- POGLITSCH Marcus
- RANZENBERGER-HAIDER Tamara
- REISCHER Theresa
- ROZMARIC Tomaz
- SCHÄFER Bhavapriya
- SCHAUER Ingrid
- SCHEINER Bernhard
- SCHERR Stefan
- SCHMIDBAUER Caroline
- SIMBRUNNER Benedikt
- STAUFER Katharina
- STEINACHER Daniel
- THANHÄUSER Margarita
- Former Students
GERNER Marlene
Supervisor: Rudolf Oehler
Committee: Klaus Schmetterer, Peter Steinberger
Department: Department of Laboratory Medicine
E-mail: marlene.gerner@meduniwien.ac.at
Tel: +43 (0)1 40400 - 67530
Current academic degree: M.Sc.
Previous University and Subject: Biomedical Sciences, University of Applied Sciences Vienna
Thesis since: February 2016
Molecular and Functional Analysis of CD39 Expression in CD4+ T-Cells
CD39 is an ectoenzyme expressed on various cells including endothelia, macrophages, B-cells and a subset of regulatory T-cells (Treg). CD39+ Treg show an enhanced suppressive potential in comparison to CD39- Treg. This is due to the fact that adenosine, generated by hydrolysis of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) from CD39 and CD73 on Treg, binds the A2A-receptor on effector T-cells leading to a suppression of effector-functions. A multitude of studies shows a correlation between CD39-expression on Treg in various diseases. For example, Loza et al. demonstrated that in Lupus erythematosus, CD39 on Treg was almost absent. The authors supposed that this functional defect of Treg could be important for the loss of peripheral tolerance which leads to the development of this autoimmune disease. In contrast, Huang et al. demonstrated that high-levels of CD39+ Treg significantly correlated with a poor prognosis in sepsis patients. Schuler et al. showed that CD4+CD39+ T-cells seem to be accumulated in blood and tumor tissue of cancer patients. Our preliminary data also showed a strongly increased number of CD39 expressing Tregs in tumor tissue compared to healthy tissue in three colon carcinoma patients. We also observed a decreased CD39-expression on regulatory T-cells in blood of patients with Takayasu-arteritis. Taken together, these studies and our preliminary data highlight the importance to understand the regulation mechanism of CD39 for a better comprehension of immunosuppressive mechanisms. This knowledge could lead to improved treatment strategies for various diseases such as autoimmune-diseases, infections and cancer.
The aims of the project are
- Identification of factors which regulate CD39-expression in CD4+ T-cells, especially in regulatory T-cells.
- Analysis of CD39-expression and regulation factors in blood of healthy donors in comparison to various diseases including vasculitis (Takayashu arteritis and giant cell arteritis) and in tissue of colon carcinoma patients.
Methods and Skills:
cell culture; FACS; real time PCR; quantitative PCR; cloning; ELISA
Publications:
Muqaku B, Tahir A, Klepeisz P, Bileck A, Kreutz D, Mayer RL, Meier SM, Gerner M, Schmetterer K, Gerner C. Coffee consumption modulates inflammatory processes in an individual fashion. Mol Nutr Food Res 60: 2529-2541, 2016
