Jörg Renkawitz to investigate immune cell migration

Jörg Renkawitz has been awarded the prestigious Peter Hans Hofschneider professorship to head a research group at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München focusing on the molecular mechanisms and principles of immune cell migration. His new group is part of the Institute for Cardiovascular Physiology and Pathophysiology at the Biomedical Center Munich (BMC). He will be associated with SFB 914 "Trafficking of Immune Cells in Inflammation, Development and Disease".

Migration of immune cells

Cell migration is essential during physiological and pathological processes, such as organismal development, tissue homeostasis and immune reactions. As innate and adaptive immune responses critically dependent on the ability of immune cells to migrate through various microenvironments to patrol and engulf pathogens, immune cells are particularly efficient in cell migration. Thus, immune cells represent a highly attractive cellular model to unravel the basic molecular mechanisms and principles of cell migration.

Novel insight into the mechanistic principles of 3D migration

The newly established research group will employ immune cells such as dendritic cells, macrophages and neutrophils to discover novel cell biological principles in cell motility like cell migration, leukocyte trafficking and macropinocytosis. Specifically, the lab will interdisciplinary combine advanced live-cell microscopy (Renkawitz et al., Nature Cell Biology 2009; Hons et al., Nature Immunology, 2018), genetic-engineering (Leithner et al., European Journal of Immunology, 2018), unbiased system-wide approaches (Renkawitz et al., Molecular Cell, 2013), and custom-made micro-environments like microfluidics and 3D collagen matrices (Renkawitz et al., Methods in Cell Biology, 2018; Renkawitz et al., EMBO Reports, 2010). Thereby the group aims to identify fundamental molecular principles of immune cell motion and their misregulation in disease.

Interested candidates for a doctoral student position can contact Jörg Renkawitz directly.

Contact:

Prof. Dr. Jörg Renkawitz
Biomedical Center Munich (BMC)
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Großhaderner Str. 9
82152 Planegg-Martinsried
Joerg.Renkawitz@med.uni-muenchen.de

Homepage: www.renkawitz-lab.com