Immunology of Aging
Prof. Claudia Waskow
Group Leader
We are dedicated to understand immune cell generation and function in the elderly to prolong the healthy life span of humans in the near future.
Overview
Regeneration in Hematopoiesis
Stem cell maintenance is essential for continuous tissue formation during steady-state and under stress conditions such as aging. The constant supply of de novo generated mature cells from adult stem cells is pivotal for the lifelong function of many organs, in particular for tissues with high turn-over rates such as the gut, skin and blood. Understanding the mechanisms of fate choice in stem and progenitor cells holds the promise of replacement of tissues that lost their functionality during aging by engineered tissues in the future.
One of the most thoroughly studied adult stem cell types is the hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) that gives rise to all blood cells through a process called hematopoiesis. Continuous hematopoiesis is fundamental for a functional immune system that prevents the outbreak of infections and cancer formation. HSCs can be prospectively isolated to very high purity, and after bone marrow transplantation the infused donor HSCs disclose their amazing regenerative potential and continuously generate blood cells over long periods of time in the recipients.
Despite the precise phenotypic description of HSCs the molecular mechanisms, including signaling pathways and receptor interplay, underlying fate-choice decisions are not resolved. Failure of hematopoiesis can lead to life-threatening blood disorders disclosing the need for a tight regulation of fate choices in HSCs to ensure the welfare of the organism. Further, during aging, loss of HSC functionality leads to the weakening of immune system. We focus on cell-intrinsic and extrinsic niche-mediated signals that regulate HSC fate.
More About Us
Cooperations
Lab News
New groundbreaking Leibniz Lab for pandemic preparedness: “Pandemic Preparedness: One Health, One Future”
The Leibniz Lab “Pandemic Preparedness: One Health, One Future” connects excellent interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research. The Leibniz Institute on Aging - Fritz Lipmann Institute (FLI) in Jena is involved by sending three renowned researchers for this purpose. The common goal: to better protect society in future pandemics.
Embryonic macrophages in the bone marrow: regulators for normal hematopoietic stem cell numbers
Scientists at the Leibniz Institute on Aging - Fritz Lipmann Institute (FLI) in Jena discovered a previously unknown function of immune cells in the bone marrow. Embryonic macrophages - specialized phagocytes of the immune system - regulate the formation of blood stem cells and therefore the lifelong production of blood cells. They play a crucial role in the regulation of the size of the hematopoietic stem cell pool, which is essential for the continuous production of blood cells and the maintenance of a healthy immune system.
