Appel Group
Silke Appel leads the Appel group. She did her PhD at the Max-Delbr眉ck Center for Molecular Medicine, Germany followed by post-doctoral work at the Universit盲tsklinikum T眉bingen, Germany and the University of Bergen. She was awarded the Trond Mohn Starting Grant 2007, She was appointed professor at the University of Bergen in 2012. She is head of the Department of Clinical Science at the University of Bergen
Main content
The Appel group currently focuses on three different lines of research:
Stratification of patients with Sj枚gren鈥檚 disease
Single cell network profiling of distinct immune cells allows analyzing pathway specific activity of patient samples at the single cell level. This will enable us to stratify different categories of patients and develop personalized therapies. The overall aim of our research is to further unravel the mechanisms by which dendritic cells modulate T- and B cell responses in Sj枚gren鈥檚 disease. This will lead to a better understanding of the cellular mechanisms involved in antigen presentation, T- and B cell stimulation and tolerance induction, thereby revealing new tools for diagnosis and targets for therapy of patients, leading to a better quality of life for patients.
Novel natural compounds to treat COVID-19
At the end of 2022, COVID-19 has caused 6.65 million deaths since its outbreak at the end of December 2019. Treatment for patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 includes antiviral therapy. We are testing natural products isolated from land plants for SARS-CoV-2 antiviral effects. We utilize cell-based assays to investigate the neutralizing effects of the natural products on the entry of the virus via the host receptors ACE2 and TMPRSS2. In addition, we investigate the effects natural products have on the virus's replication cycle in host cells.
Cellular composition of intestines of IBS patients
With a worldwide prevalence of 3.8%, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) has a considerable negative impact on both society and millions of individuals. The pathophysiology of IBS is multifactorial and incompletely understood, involving low-grade intestinal inflammation, visceral hypersensitivity, increased epithelial barrier permeability, altered gut-brain interactions, and an unfavorable composition of intestinal microbiota. In this project we investigate the cellular composition of intestinal tissue using imaging mass cytometry prior and after a strict diet and correlate these measures to clinical data.
GROUP LEADER
Professor Silke Appel, PhD
Head of Department, Department of Clinical Science
GROUP MEMBERS
- Dorentina Osmani, PhD fellow
- , PhD fellow
- Hilde Marie Skogly, Pharmacy master student
- , PhD student
- Valentyn Oksenych, Researcher
- Roland Jonsson, DMD, PhD (prof emeritus)
