IFN-gamma orchestrates a potent antimicrobial host response. However, the underlying molecular basis for this immunological defense system is largely unknown. A systematic approach to identify IFN-gamma-regulated host effector molecules revealed novel family members of murine guanylate-binding proteins (mGBPs). mGBPs are selectively up-regulated in vitro by a set of proinflammatory cytokines and TLR agonists as well as in vivo after Listeria monocytogenes and Toxoplasma gondii infection. After IFN-gamma stimulation, some mGBPs are associated with intracellular Toxoplasma parasites and, interestingly, virulent Toxoplasma interfere with mGBP recruitment. Taken together, mGBPs comprise an important set of host defense molecules.
Professor Dr. Klaus Pfeffer studied medicine at the University of Ulm from 1981 to 1987. After gaining his doctorate, he took up a post as an assistant at the Technical University of Munich, followed by two years at the Ontario Cancer Institute in Toronto. From 1994 to 1997 he worked as a group leader at the Technical University of Munich, where he gained his habilitation in 1996. In 1997, he accepted a C3 professorship, and since 2002 he has been the director of the Institute for Medical Microbiology at the University of Düsseldorf. In 2004, Professor Pfeffer was awarded with the Gottfried-Wilhelm-Leibniz-Prize of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG).
Moderation: Professor Dr. Barbara M. Bröker