DTU Vet is heading up a major project aimed at ensuring better treatment of chronic diseases caused by a breakdown of our immune system. Focus is on the signalling systems in the intestinal mucosa.
The Lundbeck Foundation has allocated DKK 45 million to a new major initiative which will examine the mucosa in our intestines and its interaction with our immune system. Because this plays a crucial role for our health.
"The intestinal mucosa is the largest surface in our body, and it is constantly exposed to foreign material from the food we eat and the billions and billions—or two kilos of—microorganisms living in our intestines. For this reason, we are totally dependent on the immune system's ability to handle this, and breakdowns in these mechanisms may result in chronic inflammatory diseases, such as inflammation in the small intestine (Crohn's) and the large intestine (ulcerative colitis), arthritis, psoriasis, and sclerosis," says William Agace Winston, Professor in Mucosal Immunology at DTU Vet.
He will be heading up the new project with special focus on the chronic intestinal diseases Crohn's and ulcerative colitis, which are caused by immune system defects. An increasing number of Danes suffer from these diseases, for which no safe and efficient treatment exists.
"The different factors in the local intestinal microenvironment are suspected of playing a significant role in regulating immune system responses—both successful and unsuccesful—but we hardly have any knowledge of the specific signals controlling intestinal regulation. In this project, we therefore want to draw on expertise in mucosal immunology, gastrointestinal diseases, proteins, and systems biology in our efforts to map the signals," says William Winston Agace and continues:
"We expect that we, through our studies, will be able to identify new points of attack for treating intestinal diseases, and that the new knowledge will help increase our understanding and improve the treatment of other chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases."
Anne-Marie Engel, Head of Research at the Lundbeck Foundation says:
"The Lundbeck Foundation is proud of being able to attract international resources to this field of research in Denmark. It is very important to strengthen immunological research, whether in the intestines or in the central nervous system, as it is becoming increasingly clear that immunological processes—besides playing a key role in allergic reactions—are essential in relation to a large number of serious diseases, such as cancer and Alzheimer's disease."
Professor William Winston Agace from the Section for Immunology and Vaccinology at DTU Vet will be heading up the project, and the project group furthermore consists of Associate Professor Bengt Johansson-Lindbom from DTU Vet and Lund University, Professor Ole Haagen Nielsen from Herlev Hospital, Professor Martin Røssel Larsen from the University of Southern Denmark, and Professor Søren Brunak from DTU Systems Biology.
The five-year project is entitled 'Regional immune-modulation of mucosal inflammation' (RIMMI).