Center for Pathophysiology, Infectiology and Immunology (Institute of Immunology)
Position: Associate Professor
ORCID: 0000-0003-0430-4952
T +43 1 40160 33245
winfried.pickl@meduniwien.ac.at
Keywords
Allergy and Immunology; Antigen Presentation; T Cells
Research group(s)
- Cellular Immunology and Immunohematology
Research Area: T cell activation and differentiation, antigen presentation, allergic immune responses, immunodeficiencies, immunohematology.
Members:
Research interests
Winfried Pickl is M.D. and board certified specialist in immunology with 2 ½ years of international research experience at the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Harvard Medical School. He is principal investigator and head of the Division of Cellular Immunology and Immunohematology and oversees the cellular diagnostics at the Institute of Immunology. Dr. Pickl has professional skills in molecular and cellular immunology, hematology as well as blood group serology and tissue typing. Moreover, he has extensive experience in project development and management, and extended academic teaching experience. He is the Speaker of the Doctoral Program Molecular, Cellular and Clinical Allergology, MCCA and Deputy Speaker. His research focuses on the specific interaction between professional antigen presenting cells and T cells. He and his group have rebuilt the allergen-specific immunological synapse with receptors relevant for the human disease. Along those lines human allergen-specific T cell receptors from mugwort and birch pollen allergic individuals have been cloned, characterized in vitro and introduced as trangens into HLA-expressing mice to create allergy-mice which react to the human relevant allergens of mugwort and birch pollen. Currently, in such mice, novel allergy vaccines, immunomodulatory drugs and state-of-the-art immunotherapies (CAR cells) are being evaluated.
Techniques, methods & infrastructure
Retroviral gene transfer, state- of-the-art molecular and cellular biology techniques, human cell culture, magnetic cell sorting, FACS, intracellular cytokine detection, real-time PCR, generation of allergen-specific model systems, virus-like nanoparticle technology
Grants
- Rebuliding the allergen specific synapse (2015)
Source of Funding: FWF (Austrian Science Fund), Special Research Program
Principal Investigator - Doctoral Program: Molecular, Cellular and Clinical Allergology, MCCA (2013)
Source of Funding: FWF (Austrian Science Fund), Doctoral Programme (DK)
Coordinator of the collaborative project
Selected publications
- Neunkirchner, A. et al., 2018. Genetic restriction of antigen-presentation dictates allergic sensitization and disease in humanized mice. EBioMedicine, 31, pp.66-78. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ebiom.2018.04.001.
- Schmetterer, K.G. et al., 2015. STAT3 governs hyporesponsiveness and granzyme B-dependent suppressive capacity in human CD4+ T cells. The FASEB Journal, 29(3), pp.759-771. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1096/fj.14-257584.
- Kueng, H.J. et al., 2007. General Strategy for Decoration of Enveloped Viruses with Functionally Active Lipid-Modified Cytokines. Journal of Virology, 81(16), pp.8666-8676. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/JVI.00682-07.
- Derdak, S.V. et al., 2006. Direct stimulation of T lymphocytes by immunosomes: Virus-like particles decorated with T cell receptor/CD3 ligands plus costimulatory molecules. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 103(35), pp.13144-13149. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0602283103.
- Pickl, W.F. et al. 1996. Molecular and functional characteristics of dendritic cells generated from highly purified CD14+ peripheral blood monocytes. J Immunol. 1996 Nov 1;157(9):3850-9