Research on horses

Severe Equine Asthma (also called recurrent airway obstruction, RAO) is an immune-mediated and therapeutically challenging disease in adult horses. In affected horses, hay dust triggers respiratory symptoms. Recurrent episodes of coughing, dyspnoea and/or nasal discharge and performance insufficiency occur. Due to the lack of knowledge of the exact triggering molecules and the immune response of horses in the pathogenesis of severe equine asthma, no causal therapy is currently available (1-3).

In our research project ‘Antigen identification and characterization of adaptive immune responses in severe Equine Asthma’ we analyze which molecules provoke it and how the immune system reacts in affected horses to lead to the disease.

References:

(1) Couëtil, L L, J. Vet. Intern. Med. 2016; 30: 503–514

(2) Pirie R S, Equine Vet. J. 2014; 46: 276–288

(3) Bullone M, Mol. Immunol. 2015; 66: 97–105

 

 

Research Project: Antigen identification and characterization of adaptive immune responses in severe Equine Asthma

 

A better understanding of critical B and T cell immunity is required, and causative antigens need to be identified on a molecular basis to elucidate the pathogenesis of severe Equine Asthma (sEA).
Accordingly, our first aim is to define disease-relevant antigens. These will be analysed by immune proteomics. Antibody (immunoglobulin, Ig) isotype binding patterns on two-dimensional immunoblots will be compared between samples (serum, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, BALF) from asthmatic horses and healthy controls.
Furthermore, we aim to characterize adaptive immunity in sEA. As indicators of the horses’ B cell responses antigen-specific Ig isotypes will be analysed. Moreover, new assays of the cellular immune response will be developed.
The attempted characterization of specific immune responses can enable future immunotherapies of sEA.

 

Proposed and approved projects:

DFG:

• "Antigen identification and charakterization of adaptive immunity in severe equine asthma" (Projekt: SCHN 1602/1-1)

Publications:

 

Cooperations:

VMF

• Prof. Katharina Lohmann (Leipzig, Deutschland)
• Prof. Walter Brehm (Leipzig, Deutschland)
• Prof. Wieland Schrödl (Leipzig, Deutschland)
• Prof. Arwid Daugschies (Leipzig, Deutschland)
• Prof. Getu Abraham (Leipzig, Deutschland)
• Prof. Ingrid Vervuert (Leipzig, Deutschland)

BBZ

• Prof. Ralf Hoffmann (Leipzig, Deutschland)
• Prof. Norbert Sträter (Leipzig, Deutschland)

external

• Prof. Bettina Wagner (Ithaca, NY, USA)
• Prof. Eliane Marti (Bern, Schweiz)
• Prof. Vinzenz Gerber (Bern, Schweiz)
• Prof. Kerstin Fey (Gießen, Deutschland)
• Dr. Claudio Rhyner, PhD (Davos, Schweiz)
• Prof. Matthias Brock (Nottingham, UK)
• Dr. Sigurbjörg Þorsteinsdóttir (Keldur, Island)

 

Persons involved:

Dr. Christiane Schnabel

Maria-Christin Jentsch

Sabrina Lübke

Alumni:

 

 

• Jentsch MC, Lübke S, Schrödl W, Volke D, Krizsan A, Hoffmann R, Kaiser-Thom S, Gerber V, Marti E, Wagner B, Schnabel CL.
  Immunoproteomics enable broad identification of new Aspergillus fumigatus antigens in severe equine asthma
  Front Immunol. 2024 Feb 29:15:1347164. doi:10.3389/fimmu.2024.1347164 . eCollection 2024. Abstract
• Schnabel CL, Jentsch MC, Lübke S, Kaiser-Thom S, Gerber V, Vrtala S, Huang HJ, Rhyner C, Wagner B, Hoffmann R, Volke D.
  Immunoproteomics reveal increased serum IgG3/5 binding to Dermatophagoides and yeast protein antigens in severe equine asthma in a preliminary study
  Front Immunol. 2023 Dec 15:14:1293684. doi:10.3389/fimmu.2023.1293684 . eCollection 2023. Abstract
• Gressler, A. E. Lübke, S., Wagner, B., Arnold, C., Lohmann, K. L. & Schnabel, C. L.
  Comprehensive flow cytometric characterization of bronchoalveolar lavage cells indicates comparable phenotypes between asthma and healthy horses but functional lymphocyte differences.
  Frontiers in Immunology (2022), doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.896255. Abstract 
• Schnabel. C.L., Fletemeyer, B., Lübke, S., Marti, E., Wagner, B. & Aber, G.
  CD154 expression indicates T cell activation following tetanus toxoid vaccination of horses.
  Frontiers in Immunology (2022), 13:805026. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.805026 Abstract
• Raza, F., Babasyan, S., Larson, E. M., Freer, H. S., Schnabel, C. L., Wagner, B. 
  Peripheral blood basophils are the main source for early interleukin-4 secretion upon in vitro stimulation with Culicoides allergen in allergic horses.
  PLoS One. 2021 May 26;16(5):e0252243. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0252243. Abstract
• Hagen, A., Lehmann, H., Aurich, S., Bauer, N., Melzer, M., Moellerberndt, J., Patané, V., Schnabel, C. L., Burk, J. 
  Scalable Production of Equine Platelet Lysate for Multipotent Mesenchymal Stromal Cell Culture.
  Front Bioeng Biotechnol. 2021 Jan 21;8:613621. doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2020.613621. Abstract