Research Laboratory

The focus of our research laboratory is on investigating signaling cascades mediated by death receptors (e.g., TNF-R1, TRAIL-R1/2). Particularly interesting is the crosstalk with and modulation by human pathogenic germs.

Our goal is to study the regulation of subcellular compartmentalization of signaling pathways through post-translational modifications (e.g., palmitoylation and ubiquitination). These modifications influence the localization of signaling cascade components and determine whether a cell survives or undergoes different forms of programmed cell death.

Another research focus is on examining how pathogens from the ESKAPE bacteria group modify these regulatory mechanisms to evade the host immune system. These pathogens include Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Enterobacter species, which are of great clinical interest due to their increasing antibiotic resistance.

We primarily use biochemical and cell biological techniques, including subcellular fractionation, Western blot, flow cytometry, analysis of cell death and proliferation, and microscopy.

Our research is supported by the Medical Faculty of the University of Regensburg and the German Research Foundation (DFG).

For questions or interest in internships, master’s, or doctoral theses, please contact PD Dr. Jürgen Fritsch via email at juergen.fritsch@ukr.de.

Selected Publications