Würzburg Life Science Seminar: Veit Hornung

Prof Veit Hornung - "Recognition of nucleic acids by the mammalian immune system"

The Hornung lab tries to understand what mechanisms are employed by the innate immune system to distinguish self from non-self or harmless from dangerous, respectively. Central to this complex task is a repertoire of pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) that have evolved to detect the presence of microorganisms. At the same time, some PRRs can also be triggered by endogenous substances that are formed or released during cell stress, perturbation of tissue homeostasis, or metabolic imbalance. Most of Prof. Hornung’s research efforts focus on the interplay of the PRR system with its ligands. To this effect, (i) he is trying to decipher relevant molecules during infection or sterile inflammation, (ii) he aims at the identification of novel PRRs, signaling cascades, and their functional roles, and (iii) he develops strategies to manipulate this interface for therapeutic application.

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