Effects of environmental toxins and allergens on respiratory epithelial cells

In the case of respiratory type I allergies in particular, there appears to be a direct correlation between the occurrence of various environmental factors and the increase in illnesses. Environmental toxins contribute to climate change, which can cause vegetation shifts. This exposes allergic individuals to new allergen sources. In addition, environmental toxins can alter pollen production and allergen expression in pollen. They also have a direct influence on the mucous membranes and the epithelial cells that line the mucous membranes.

One focus of the Immunology research group in the specialist area of Molecular Biotechnology is to investigate the reactions of respiratory allergens on nasal and bronchial epithelial cells.

In this project, the researchers are not only looking at already known respiratory allergen sources, such as grass pollen, weed pollen and moulds, but also at a still little-researched allergen source that is becoming increasingly important, namely nettle pollen.