The communication between the central nervous and immune system has come to the fore over the last decades, because of its unique function in homeostasis in health and diseases. While classical resident macrophages of the CNS play an increasing role in regulating this equilibrium and the communication between different brain areas, the vertical transmission of maternal immune cell compartments gain more and more attention. It has been hypothesized that these immune cells play a pivotal role in the early prenatal phase of the developing brain and thus impact cognitive functions later in life. In order to investigate the interplay between both systems systematically, we use mouse models to identify immune cell subsets in the offspring and characterize the occurring deficits during brain maturation and behavior.
* in cooperation with Petra Arck (Department of Obstetrics and Fetal Medicine, Laboratory for Experimental Feto-Maternal Medicine).
Key Publications
Schepanski, S., Buss, C., Hanganu-Opatz, I., & Arck, P. C. (2018). Prenatal immune and endocrine modulators of offspring’s brain development and cognitive functions later in life. Frontiers in Immunology, 9, 2186.