Thursday, 27-11-2025
Research
New MI-VascAD focus programme launched
Interdisciplinary consortium established to investigate autoantibody-mediated vascular damage in autoimmune diseases
In autumn, a new research consortium was founded at the University of Lübeck. The interdisciplinary consortium ‘Methods to Investigate the Vasculature in Systemic Autoimmune Diseases’ (MI-VascAD) will receive funding for three years as part of the university's focus programme. The funding will also enable the training of four PhD students, who will conduct research in various clinics and institutes.
Under the coordination of spokesperson PD Dr Jan Wenzel (Institute of Experimental Pharmacology and Toxicology) and co-spokesperson Dr Hanna Grasshoff (Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology), the team is investigating how autoantibodies alter the vascular system and what diagnostic and therapeutic approaches can be derived from this. Systemic sclerosis (SSc), a rare but serious rheumatic disease for which the consortium has particular expertise, serves as the model disease. The aim of the consortium is to precisely determine the effect of SSc-associated autoantibodies (against the angiotensin II type 1 receptor, AT1R) using new analytical methods and to lay the foundation for future diagnostic and therapeutic approaches.
MI-VascAD uses state-of-the-art imaging techniques, including optical coherence tomography (OCT), two-photon microscopy and magnetic particle imaging (MPI). The methods are being tested in cell cultures, mouse models and clinical applications. The newly opened Small Animal Imaging Lübeck (SAIL) at CBBM plays a central role, providing state-of-the-art infrastructure for preclinical imaging.
The university's funding programme aims to link the major scientific focus areas on campus even more closely. MI-VascAD brings together researchers from all three profile areas: biomedical engineering, infection and inflammation (ZIEL), and brain and metabolism (CBBM). The close collaboration between physics, medical technology, preclinical research and clinical application creates an environment in which innovative research approaches emerge, and young scientists are introduced to interdisciplinary project work at an early stage.
In addition to funding from the university, the consortium has already successfully raised further funding: the Schleswig-Holstein Idea Fund is supporting the planned submission of a DFG research group, which is to emerge directly from MI-VascAD.
The participating projects and scientists are:
- Project 1 – Central effects of AT1R autoantibodies in mice
PD Dr. Jan Wenzel, PD Dr. Helge Müller-Fielitz
Develops a mouse model and uses high-resolution microscopy to visualise the effect of AT1R autoantibodies on the brain vessels and the blood-brain barrier.
- Project 2 – Advanced imaging and in vitro models to investigate autoantibody-driven cerebrovascular dysfunction in systemic sclerosis
Dr. Anja Stähle, Dr. Susanne Schinke, Dr. Hanna Grasshoff
Investigates vascular damage in SSc patients and develops the central methodology for coupling autoantibodies to magnetic nanoparticles as well as a vessel-on-a-chip model of the blood-brain barrier.
- Project 3 – In vitro and in vivo imaging of nanoparticle-conjugated antibodies with magnetic particle imaging
PD Dr. Franz Wegner, Dr. Mandy Ahlborg
Establishes Magnetic Particle Imaging (MPI) to make magnetically labelled autoantibodies visible and quantifiable in real time in living organisms.
- Project 4 – OCT-A-based evaluation of retinal vasculature in mouse and human
Prof. Dr. Yoko Miura, Prof. Dr. Gereon Hüttmann
Use OCT and OCT angiography to detect vascular changes in the retina in mouse models and in patients and link them to systemic and neurological symptoms.
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