Institute of Molecular Regenerative Medicine
Research Projects

Neuroinflammation is a common link between degeneration and regeneration in the brain and spinal cord. One of the most important questions in this field that still needs to be answered is how to control inflammation in a meaningful way, i.e. how to exploit its beneficial and control its detrimental aspects. In our research, we consider both the innate and the adaptive immune system, the local and the peripheral/systemic immune system. The experiments aim to modulate the activities of relevant cellular inflammatory mediators in the CNS. These primarily include microglia, macrophages, T lymphocytes, B lymphocytes, dendritic cells, neutrophils and NK cells. Depending on the objective, experiments and results, the results are used either as potential biomarkers or as proof of efficacy in the context of therapy development.

The vascular niche with its components such as blood vessels and blood components are important factors for any regenerative response to damage or injury. In addition, vascular dysfunction also plays a significant role in the development and progression of some neurodegenerative diseases and acute CNS lesions. Our aim is to reduce CNS damage and promote neuroregeneration by targeting the vascular niche in traumatic spinal cord injury, neurodegenerative diseases and brain ageing. In particular, our research focusses on the role of platelets, a circulating blood component, and pericytes, a cellular component of blood vessels, in the development of neurodegenerative diseases and their potential for regenerative therapy development. 

The urinary bladder is irreversibly damaged in the medium and long term in the event of a spinal cord injury - the result is a so-called ‘neurogenic bladder’, as there is no control by higher-level centres in the brain. The protection of the lower and upper urinary systems plays a very important role. Consequences of this bladder dysfunction (incontinence, shrunken bladder, constant urinary tract infections, very high bladder pressure and kidney failure) represent the greatest long-term risk of morbidity for spinal cord injury patients. Two therapeutic approaches must be pursued in parallel: the prevention of irreversible damage to the bladder and sphincter muscle and the maintenance of normal bladder function (urine storage and emptying function) as far as possible.