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InnateLab

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InnateLab

Immunopathology of Virus Infections
Institute of Virology
TUM School of Medicine
Technical University of Munich

Author: Yiqi Huang

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Goodbye Schnecke, hello TranslaTUM!

A bit over six years ago, the Innates moved from MPI to the lovely “Schneckebunker” in the city centre. Now, after years of planning and replanning, we have moved again to our new home in TranslaTUM! Leaving Schnecke was not easy – it contained so much of our memories, and a bit too much of stuff (or trash, the borderline was often unclear). After all, this building has been occupied by researchers for more than three decades! It took us a while to sort out the things to bring with us while admiring the design of some historical lab pieces…

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The big days came at the end of December – carton after carton, truck after truck, we were moving! There were unexpected challenges every day, and it was a stressful time for everyone. However, we managed it with an incredible team effort. 

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We had our last Christmas party in Schnecke and decorated the walls with colourful paintings. Many ex-Innates came to experience Schnecke one last time. In the upcoming years, it will be replaced by a brand-new building for multiple sclerosis research. 

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Goodbye Schnecke – thank you for hosting us with your special charm! Hello TranslaTUM – we’re ready for a fresh start!  

Text by Yiqi, photos by Dorsa, Lara and Virginie.

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Uncovering the importance of protein turnover regulation in IAV infection

Protein turnover is crucial to the cellular response to internal and external changes. In our publication in Cell Systems, we systematically profiled the protein turnover changes in cells infected by the influenza A virus (IAV). We identified more than a thousand virus-affected proteins with turnover changes (tVAPs) and demonstrated their important roles in IAV infection by intersecting them with published IAV interactome and genome-wide screens and performing additional functional analyses. We further investigated a splicing factor GPKOW, which we found to be an antiviral tVAP that modulates the host’s innate immune response. The data can be explored here: https://pulsechase.innatelab.org/

Congratulations to Yiqi, Chris, Philipp and Alexey – it was a successful collaboration across multiple generations of Innates!

Read more here: Protein turnover regulation is critical for influenza A virus infection

Text by Yiqi.

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Congratulations Dr Krey!

At the beginning of October, the world welcomed another fresh doctor – Karsten held a great defence on his thesis “Unveiling Antiviral Roles of Interferon-Stimulated Genes Through Time-Resolved CRISPR/Cas9 Screening”. Congratulations Dr Krey – you deserve an additional doctor title in engineering, for the amount of equipment you fixed in the lab!

With your dedication and creativity, we believe you’ll be accomplished in anything you do in your future endeavours! Dear Karsten, we are grateful to have a warm-hearted and resourceful colleague like you, and we wish you all the best in your new life in Vienna!

Read his first author papers here:

Text and photo by Yiqi.
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Goodbye Sabri!

At the end of summer, we had to part ways with our beloved data scientist Sabri. Once again, we had a farewell party, where we enjoyed an amazing homemade dinner by Sabri, trying to engrave the two most important teachings of Sabri in our mind – “Have you tried switching it off and on again?” and “GIGO – garbage in, garbage out”.

Dear Sabri, thank you for analysing our proteomics and Incucyte data and keeping our IT system in shape. You’re always approachable and ready to help, it was our pleasure working with you! We wish you all the best in your new career!  

Text by Yiqi.

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mRNA therapy as a potential treatment against SARS-CoV-2

In our publication in EMBO reports, we investigated the effectiveness of LNP-formulated IFNλ1  mRNA (ETH47) in treating SARS-CoV-2 infection. ETH47 successfully induced an ISG response without excessive inflammation and inhibited SARS-CoV-2 replication in our in vitro and in vivo models. These promising results highlighted the possibility of using mRNA therapy in treating virus infections and laid the foundations for the upcoming clinical trials of ETH47.

Congratulations to Yiqi, Vince, and our collaborators from ETHRIS and Aarhus University!

Read more here: Mucosal IFNλ1 mRNA-based immunomodulation effectively reduces SARS-CoV-2 induced mortality in mice

Text by Yiqi.

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Multiomics analysis of the monkeypox virus

The recent outbreaks of the monkeypox virus (MPXV) raised concerns about the impact of poxviruses on public health. In our publication in Nature Communications, we present a comprehensive analysis of the transcriptomic, proteomic and phosphoproteomic changes induced by MPXV infection in primary cells. In addition to identifying virus-perturbed pathways, such as innate immunity and TGF-β signalling, we revealed dynamic phosphorylation of both host and virus proteins and uncovered the role of MPXV H5 phosphorylation in its function. Leveraging our omics data, we predicted and validated several drugs that inhibit MPXV replication. We hope our research will deepen the understanding of MPXV biology and facilitate the development of novel therapeutics against MPXV!

Congratulations to Yiqi, Valter, Vince, Quirin, Sabri, Karsten, Alex, and all the collaborators involved in this study!

Read more here: Multi-omics characterization of the monkeypox virus infection

Text by Yiqi.

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Goodbye Lila!

Every year, we welcome new members and say goodbye to those moving on, but no farewell has been harder than Lila’s. We threw a big party in April for Lila and a few others leaving at similar times, revisiting all the good memories across generations of Innates.

Dear Lila, thank you for keeping the lab running all these years! Words cannot fully express our gratitude, for you’re not only a lab manager who helped with our scientific challenges but also a counsellor who guided us through our inner struggles. Your professional skills, in combination with your kindness and deep understanding of different cultures, have greatly shaped our lab. We will surely miss you a lot, and we wish you the best of luck with whatever lies ahead!

Lila and the classic InnateCup
Aleksandra receiving her goodbye gift
Karsten giving a goodbye speech
Speech time!

Update in March 2025 – congratulations to Lila on her new job at Institute Curie in Paris!

Text by Yiqi, photos by Melissa and Virginie. 

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Congratulations Dr Emslander!

Our 2024 has an exciting start already: at the end of February, Quirin successfully defended his thesis “Identification and characterization of restricting host factors for viral replication”. Congratulations Dr Emslander! Quirin efficiently finished several projects with us in just under four years. We wish you a relaxing and well-deserved holiday and a lot of success in your career ahead!

Read his first author papers here:

Text by Yiqi, photo by Melissa.

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A systematic survey of P2Y receptors

Line’s PhD research is now published in EMBO! In this study, we systematically investigated the responses of human macrophages to extracellular nucleotides and revealed that adenine- and uridine-based nucleotides induce a specific and transient cytokine response through activating MAPK signaling pathway. We further categorized the nucleotide sensing P2Ys into two subgroups: P2Y1/2/6/11 that govern inflammatory responses via cytokine induction, and P2Y4/11/12/13/14 that directly induce antiviral responses.

Congratulations to Line, Yiqi, Chris, Lila, and all the collaborators involved in this study!

Read more in the EMBO paper:
Systematic P2Y receptor survey identifies P2Y11 as modulator of immune responses and virus replication in macrophages

Text by Yiqi, illustration by Line.

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Goodbye Vince!

In early September, we waved goodbye to another dear member of the Innate Lab – Vince is moving back to Marseille for his new position at Beckman Coulter Diagnostics. We had a farewell party filled with lots of French wine and delicacies, lots of laughter and tears, plus one big French dance!

Dear Vince, thank you for being such an inspiration to the lab. You have been instrumental to our research in SARS-CoV-2 and beyond. Your energy and humour, and your extensive knowledge in virology, have a profound influence on all of us! We hope you’ll enjoy the sun and beach, as well as your new job in Marseille. Come back any time when you miss mountains and beer!

Here’s a selection of Vince’s work with us:

Text by Yiqi, photos by Anqi, Jyoti and Yiqi.

Find Us

Institute of Virology,
Immunopathology of viruses
Translatum (Bau 522), Room 22.1.31
Einsteinstr. 25, 81675 Munich

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Impressum

Prof. Dr. Andreas Pichlmair
Immunopathology of Virus Infections Laboratory, Institute of Virology, Technical University of Munich
Einsteinstr. 25, D-81675 Munich, Germany
tel: +49 (0) 89 4140 9270, email: andreas.pichlmair@tum.de

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