Autonomic nervous system
The laboratory of Cell Biology and Histology studies the peripheral autonomic nervous system and neuro-immune interactions in the gastro-instestinal tract and in the lung.
Gastro-instestinal tract:
Morphofunctional research of the enteric nervous system focusses on neurotransmitters and their receptors involved in the intrinsic and extrinsic innervation of the gastro-intestinal tract in different animals and knock-out models under normal circumstances and in inflammatory models. Other research projects investigate neuro-immunological interactions between mast cells, macrophages and enteric neurons of animals infected with Schistosoma mansoni.
Lung research:
Functional morphology of intrapulmonary lung receptors, such as pulmonary neuroepithelial bodies (NEBs) and their innervation in studied in different animals and different (knock-out) models. Furthermore, confocal live cell imaging on lung slices is used to reveal the influence of hypoxia and other physiological stimuli on NEBs.