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Group: Department of Dermatology, University Hospital Heidelberg, Germany

Key members: Florian Kurschus

Contact: Florian.Kurschus@med.uni-heidelberg.de

 

Research activities: One of our major projects in the lab is to define the impact of the G-protein coupled receptor Epstein-Barr virus-induced gene 2 (EBI2 aka GPR183) in inflammation and its implications for the human immune system especially in psoriasis and MS. The major ligand of EBI2 is the 7α,25-dihydroxycholesterol (7α,25-OHC) which is generated by sequential hydroxylation of cholesterol via the enzymes cholesterol 25-hydroxylase (CH25H) and 25-hydroxycholesterol 7-alpha-hydroxylase (CYP7B1). We found that EBI2 confers an advantage to encephalitogenic T cells in migration into the inflamed brain in a mouse model for multiple sclerosis. We now want to focus on the role of EBI2 and of the ligand generating enzymes in T cell migration in different models of skin inflammation.

 

Key papers related to ENOR:

 

Wanke F, Moos S, Croxford AL, Heinen AP, Gräf S, Kalt B, Tischner D, Zhang J, Christen I, Bruttger J, Yogev N, Tang Y, Zayoud M, Israel N, Karram K, Reißig S, Lacher SM, Reichhold C, Mufazalov IA, Ben-Nun A, Kuhlmann T, Wettschureck N, Sailer AW, Rajewsky K, Casola S, Waisman A, and Kurschus FC. EBI2 is highly expressed in multiple sclerosis lesions and promotes early CNS migration of encephalitogenic CD4 T cells. Cell Reports. 2017 Jan 31;18(5):1270-1284.

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