Leading PI: Olga Kalinina (HIPS) & Robert Bals (Saarland University Hospital)
During the first phase of the LifeMat project, researchers focused on lung infections such as pneumonia, tuberculosis, and COVID-19, which are major causes of illness and death. Traditional treatments using antibiotics can be limited by toxicity and resistance, and changes in the lung microbiome are linked to chronic diseases like COPD, asthma, and lung cancer. To address this, the team developed metagenomic analysis pipelines and applied them to samples from COPD patients and healthy individuals.
Preliminary experiments showed that L. plantarum is well tolerated by bronchial cells and may reduce inflammation when co-administered with pathogens. The team also developed bioprinting and encapsulation techniques to deliver engineered microbial communities to lung cells.
Building on this, the next phase of the project aims to actively manipulate the lung microbiome to counteract disease-related changes and reduce inflammation. Researchers will create in vitro models of lung microbiomes from COPD patients and test therapeutic interventions, including antibiotics, beneficial microbes from healthy individuals, and bacteria engineered to produce specific metabolites. These microbes will be encapsulated in novel materials, and the effects on inflammation and cell behavior will be monitored using advanced molecular techniques.