LMU obtains funding for new Collaborative Research Centre

In the latest approval round of the German Research Foundation (DFG), LMU has secured funding for a major research consortium together with its partner institutions. LMU will serve as the lead institution for a new Collaborative Research Centre (CRC) on the reciprocal interplay between thrombosis and inflammation. Meanwhile, three other large consortia have received funding extensions for the next period.

Interplay between thrombosis and inflammation

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Thrombosis is the central pathogenic mechanism driving heart attacks, strokes, and venous thromboembolism, which together represent the most common cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). Despite clinically established preventive measures targeting platelets and coagulation, thrombotic CVDs remain the leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Moreover, thrombosis can influence the course of infections and other inflammatory disorders, as its presence often critically determines disease severity. Scientists therefore believe that there is an urgent need to better understand the mechanisms that initiate and amplify thrombosis in different disease settings.

The approach of the new Collaborative Research Centre located at LMU marks a paradigm shift in this regard. CRC 1784 InTraC (The Interplay of Thrombosis and Inflammation – Translating Molecular Mechanisms Into Clinical Applications) views thrombosis not just as a matter of platelets and coagulation, but as a process that is tightly linked to the immune system and vice-versa. “We need to improve our mechanistic understanding of the intimate connection between thrombosis and inflammation to enable targeted intervention,” says LMU Professor Steffen Massberg, spokesperson of the CRC and Director of the Medical Clinic and Polyclinic I at LMU University Hospital.

This interplay constitutes an evolutionarily conserved emergency strategy termed immunothrombosis, which is critical for host defense against infections by limiting pathogen entry and spread. When dysregulated, however, this protective response transitions into thromboinflammation, whereby inflammation and coagulation mutually amplify each other and ultimately result in severe tissue damage. Typical examples include severe Covid-19 and certain autoimmune diseases leading to organ damage.

This is precisely where InTraC comes in. Teams at LMU and national and international partner institutions are pooling their expertise to advance our mechanistic understanding of the reciprocal interplay between thrombosis and inflammation. To this end, they are combining systems biology analyses with animal models and modern imaging technologies. In addition, they are developing advanced therapeutics – from small molecule inhibitors to RNA, gene, and cell therapies. “The goal is to pioneer precise diagnostics and targeted therapeutics for thromboinflammatory diseases,” explains LMU Professor Konstantin Stark from the Medical Clinic and Polyclinic I at LMU University Hospital, co-spokesperson of the research alliance.

In addition to LMU, other project partners include the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Munich, the Helmholtz Center Munich, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, and Charité university hospital in Berlin.

Extended funding

LMU is also the lead university of CRC 1309 Chemical Biology of Epigenetic Modifications, which has been renewed for another funding period.

Another project to receive extended funding is CRC-Transregio 237 Nucleic Acid Immunity. LMU currently serves as the lead institution, while Dresden University of Technology will take over this role in the next funding period.

A renewal proposal was also approved for CRC-Transregio 332 Neutrophils: Origin, fate, and function. LMU is participating with co-speaker status, with the University of Münster as the lead institution.