The bacteriological research groups

are focussing on topics of bacterial pathomechanisms/molecular infection biology, establishing suitable in vivo and in vitro infection models, bacterial modulation of the innate immune response, development of live vaccine carrier strain and pathogenicity of Aspergillus fumigatus.

Main issues are:

1. bacterial pathogens of the gastrointestinal tract (Helicobacter pylori, Yersinia enterocolitica, Salmonella enterica),
2. pathogens of the respiratory tract (Legionella pneumophila, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Aspergillus fumigatus)
3. bacterial pathogens of the urogenital tract (Escherichia coli, pathotype UPEC/ExPEC)
4. live vaccine carrier strains, injecting antigens of interest into antigen presenting cells by type 3 protein secretion system (T3SS, Yersinia enterocolitica, Salmonella enterica)
5. analysis of the molecular mechanism of protein secretion/translocation by type 3- and type 4 secretion system (T3SS, T4SS)
6. development of diagnostic tools for infectious diseases and molecular epidemiology 

The virological research groups

are located at two different sites:
•  main building in the city center of Munich  near 'Sendlinger Tor'
•  Gene centre at the LMU Campus Großhadern.

Main issues are:

1. cloning and mutagenesis of herpes virus genomes
2. production and characterization of dominant-negative mutants of essential proteins of cytomegalo viruses
3. investigation of modulation, activiation and inhibition of cellular genes by cytomegalo viruses in vitro and in vivo
4. tropism of cytomegalo viruses
5. establishment of novel RNA marking- and isolating techniques for high-throughput analysis (microarrays and high-throughput RNA-sequencing)
6. biology and function of viral miRNAs in herpes viruses
7. protein-protein interaction between viral and cellular proteins
8. nucleo-cytoplasmatic transport during the herpes virus infection
9. membrane-associated processes of herpes virus egress
10. systematic recombinant expression of varizella zoster proteoms to develop protein biochips
11. non-viral episomal vector systems
12. development of improved hybrid vectors for gene therapy
13. influence of RNA interference mechanisms on gene transfer vectors