Skip to main content
News Netea 10.2021
left: Prof. Dr. Mihai G. Netea; right: Prof. Dr. Andreas Schlitzer
© Mihai Netea / Uni Bonn

Publication

Epigenetics: Immunization is passed on to offspring

Adaptations to infection shown to be passed on over several generations in mice

Does an infection affect the immunity of subsequent generations? Prof. Andeas Schlitzer, member of ImmunoSensation2 and the Life & Medical Sciences Institute (LIMES) at the University of Bonn, Prof. Dr. Mihai G. Netea from Radboud University (Netherlands), together with researchers from Saarland University, Lausanne (Switzerland) and Athens (Greece), have investigated this. Mouse sires that either had previously overcome infection with fungi or were stimulated with fungal substances, passed on their improved protection over several generations. The team simultaneously demonstrated an improved immune response that was passed on to the offspring. The study has now been published in Nature Immunology.

The scientists infected male mice with thrush fungi (Candida albicans). After surviving the infection, the animals were mated with completely healthy females. The researchers compared the resulting children with offspring from pairs of mice that had not previously been infected with Candida. To experimentally examine the status of the immune system, the team infected the males of the subsequent generation of mice with coliform bacteria. The offspring of the male mice previously exposed to Candida were found to be significantly better protected from subsequent E. coli infection than the offspring of the uninfected male mice. This effect was still evident in the next generation.


Publication

Natalie Katzmarski, Jorge Domínguez-Andrés, Branko Cirovic, Georgios Renieris, Eleonora Ciarlo, Didier Le Roy, Konstantin Lepikhov, Kathrin Kattler, Gilles Gasparoni, Kristian Händler, Heidi Theis, Marc Beyer, Jos W. M. van der Meer, Leo A. B. Joosten, Jörn Walter, Joachim L. Schultze, Thierry Roger, Evangelos J. Giamarellos-Bourboulis, Andreas Schlitzer, Mihai G. Netea: Transmission of trained immunity and heterologous resistance to infections across generations, Nature Immunology, DOI: 10.1038/s41590-021-01052-7.


Contact

Prof. Dr. Andreas Schlitzer

Quantitative Systembiologie

LIMES-Institut (Life and Medical Sciences Bonn)

Universität Bonn

Tel. +49 2287362847

E-Mail: andreas.schlitzer(at)uni-bonn.de


Prof. Dr. Mihai G. Netea

Radboud university medical center und
LIMES-Institut der Universität Bonn

Tel. +31 243618819

E-Mail: Mihai.Netea(at)radboudumc.nl

Related news

18062025_Mass_Nature_Figure Hepatozyten

Publication

How obesity also affects the next generation

—Children born to obese mothers are at higher risk of developing metabolic disorders, even if they follow a healthy diet themselves. A new study from the group of Elvira Mass at the University of Bonn offers an explanation for this phenomenon. In obese mice, certain cells in the embryo’s liver are reprogrammed during pregnancy. This leads to long-term changes in the offspring’s metabolism. The researchers believe that these findings could also be relevant for humans. The study has now been published in the journal Nature.
View entry
Microglia interacting with T cells in the central nervous system of SPG15-deficient mice

Publication

Immune Cells Drive Congenital Paralysis Disease

—Patients with spastic paraplegia type 15 develop movement disorders during adolescence that may ultimately require the use of a wheelchair. In the early stages of this rare hereditary disease the brain appears to play a major role by over-activating the immune system, as shown by a recent study published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine. The study was led by researchers at the University of Bonn and the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE). These findings could also be relevant for Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative conditions.
View entry
Scientists that contributed to the study

Publication

New way to prevent duodenal cancer

—People with the hereditary disease familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) have a greatly increased risk of developing a malignant tumor of the duodenum. Researchers at the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) and the Cluster of Excellence ImmunoSensation2 at the University of Bonn have now discovered a mechanism in the local immune system that can drive the development of cancer. They see this as a promising new approach to preventing duodenal carcinoma in people with FAP. The results have now been published in the journal "Nature Communications".
View entry

Back to the news overview