Nina Babel

Our group has a long-term expertise in conducting national and international multicentre studies on efficacy and safety of different immunosuppressive protocols and monitoring of immunity and infection markers as a reference laboratory. Studying the mechanisms underlying unwanted immune reaction (allograft rejection) as well immunopathogenesis of viral diseases our group established new parameters for monitoring the individual immunity and risk for infection and transplant rejection. Thus, we have a long-term expertise in characterizing the interplay between virus reactivation (CMV, EBV, Polyoma virus BKV) and the corresponding T cell response/reactivity and allo(auto)bystander activation by T-cells. We identified new markers of cellular immunity for some latent viral infections (EBV, CMV, BKV) and demonstrated the involvement of virus-specific T-cells (e.g. CMV/BKV) in kidney graft impairment/loss. Combining our previous experience of the T-cell receptor analysis with the new developments in new generation sequencing we established and patented a method for the analysis of T-cell receptor repertoire in T cells. This method allows tracking different T-cell clones from various patient samples (blood, urine, kidney biopsy) at different time points, and following virus-specific T-cell immunity at single cell clones during the clinical course of disease.