Prof. Dr. Martin A. med. Kriegel
"No positions via CiM-IMPRS in 2024"

Host immune-microbiota interactions in autoimmune diseases

Enterococcus galinarum and Limosilactobacillus reuteri have been shown to translocate across the small intestinal gut barrier to internal organs and induce autoimmune reactions in mouse models and human tissues. These and other pathobionts impair the gut barrier integrity in genetically prone hosts and promote various autoimmune and inflammatory processes that are the focus of our research efforts.
© Kriegel

Autoimmune Diseases
Cell Biology / Molecular Biology
Immune-Microbiota Interaction
Inflammation
Microbiology / Virology / Infectiology

Our laboratory aims to uncover fundamental principles of host-microbiota interactions in autoimmune diseases such as lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, and autoimmune liver diseases. The onset and progression of these diseases is thought to be partly driven by the translocation of gut microbial species from the small intestine to secondary lymphoid organs and liver. The goal of our research is to identify human translocating pathobionts and dissect the cellular and molecular mechanisms of how these commensal bacteria break immunologic tolerance and instigate systemic inflammation and autoimmune pathology. This line of research might lead to news ways to prevent or treat immune-mediated diseases in the future.  

The bed-to-benchside approach we take is based on patient sample collections (skin, oral cavity, blood, tissues and stool) with detailed dietary and clinical metadata. We then study these samples in gnotobiotic animal models (germfree and antibiotic-treated mice) and apply metagenomics (16S rDNA sequencing and WGS), culturomics (aerobic and anaerobic cultivation and sequencing), cellular immunology (FACS, ELISA, proliferation assays), cell culture (primary immune cells, intestinal cell lines, reporter cell lines, organoids) and imaging (fluorescently labelled bacteria and host cells) in a highly interdisciplinary team together with regional and global collaborators (USA, Israel, Switzerland, Netherlands).

 

 

Prof. Dr. med. Martin A. Kriegel
© UKM
Prof. Dr. med. Martin A. Kriegel
University Hospital Münster
Department of Translational Rheumatology and Immunology with Institute of Musculoskeletal Medicine
Röntgenstr. 21
48149 Münster
T: +49 (0) 251- 83 - 52949
martin.kriegel@ukmuenster.de

Vita

  • 1994 - 2000       Studies in Medicine, Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen, Germany
  • 2001                    Graduation Dr. med., Friedrich-Alexander University,  Erlangen, Germany

  • 2001 - 2003       Medicine Intern/Fellow, University Hospital,
                                  Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen, Germany

  • 2003 - 2006       Fellow, Flavell Lab, Department of Immunobiology, HHMI, Yale School of Medicine,
                                  New Haven, CT, USA

  • 2006 - 2008       Medicine Resident, ABIM Research Track, BIDMC, Harvard Medical School,
                                  Boston, MA, USA

  • 2008 - 2012       Rheumatology Fellow, ABIM Research Track, BWH/BIDMC, Harvard Medical School,
                                  Boston, MA, USA

  • 2009 - 2012       Research Fellow, Benoist/Mathis Lab, Department of Immunology,
                                  Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

  • 2012 - 2017       Assistant Professor, Department of Immunology and Department of Medicine
                                 (Rheumatology), Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA

  • 2017 - 2018       Assistant Professor Adjunct, Department of Immunobiology, 
                                  Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA

  • 2017 - 2020       Senior Principal Scientist/Senior Principal Medical Director, Roche,
                                   Basel, Switzerland       

  • 2019 - 2020       Visiting Physician, Section of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine,
                                  University Hospital Basel, Switzerland

  • Since 2018        Associate Professor Adjunct, Department of Immunobiology and Department
                                  of Medicine (Rheumatology), Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA

  • Since 2020        University Professor and Head, Translational Rheumatology and Immunology,
                                  University of Münster, Germany

  • Since 2020       Chief, Section of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Department of Medicine,
                                 University Hospital Münster, Germany

Selected references

Within-host evolution of a gut pathobiont facilitates liver translocation.
Yang Y, Nguyen M, Khetrapal V, Sonnert ND, Martin AL, Chen H, Kriegel MA, Palm NW. Nature. 2022 Jul;607(7919):563-570. doi: 10.1038/s41586-022-04949-x. Epub 2022 Jul 13. PMID: 35831502 Free PMC article.

Structural host immune-microbiota interactions.
Brito IL, Kriegel MA. Curr Opin Struct Biol. 2022 Oct;76:102445. doi: 10.1016/j.sbi.2022.102445. Epub 2022 Sep 2. PMID: 36063760 No abstract available.

Evolving concepts of host-pathobiont interactions in autoimmunity.
Pereira MS, Kriegel MA. Curr Opin Immunol. 2023 Feb;80:102265. doi: 10.1016/j.coi.2022.102265. Epub 2022 Nov 25. PMID: 36444784 Review.

Translocating Lactobacillus torments tumors via tryptophan catabolism.
Pereira MS, Kriegel MA. Cell. 2023 Apr 27;186(9):1821-1823. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2023.03.022. PMID: 37116468

Host-microbiota interactions in immune-mediated diseases.
Ruff WE, Greiling TM, Kriegel MA. Nat Rev Microbiol. 2020 Sep;18(9):521-538. doi: 10.1038/s41579-020-0367-2. Epub 2020 May 26. PMID: 32457482 Review.

Links

Kriegel Lab

  •