Education and Training
Alexander Dalpke studied Human Medicine in Göttingen, where he received his PhD in Medical Microbiology. After completing his habilitation at Marburg University Hospital, he moved to Heidelberg University Hospital in 2005, where he led a research group in the Department of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene and held a professorship from 2006 to 2018. During this time, he worked on subprojects in the Collaborative Research Centers 405 "Immune tolerance and its disorders" and 938 "Milieu-specific control of immunological reactivity". In 2022, he was appointed Medical Director of the Dept. of Med. Microbiology and Hygiene in the Center for Infectiology at Heidelberg University Hospital. Alexander Dalpke is subproject leader in a Collaborative Research Center RMaP (TRR 319): "RNA Modification and Processing".
Expertise
Dalpke's scientific focus is on infection immunology: His research group is particularly interested in the RNA of bacteria and how this is recognized by the innate immune system and distinguished from the body's own RNA. A second focus is the microbiome, i.e. the bacterial colonization of body organs, especially the lungs. The Dalpke group is investigating how the composition of the microbiome changes in chronic lung diseases such as cystic fibrosis, COPD or asthma. Unlike previously thought, it is not a single pathogenic germ that causes the frequently occurring inflammations, but the dysregulated composition, e.g. the overall higher colonization density or the prevalence of certain bacterial species. The interaction of commensal and pathogenic pathogens is the subject of current research.
- Polymicrobial infections in patients with cystic fibrosis
- Infektion & Immunity, nucleic acid recognition in innate immunity
- Cystic Fibrosis (Mucoviscidosis)
- Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
- Working group Microbiome & Metagenome
1. Tony-Odigie A, Dalpke1 AH, Boutin S, Yi B (2024): Airway commensal bacteria in cystic fibrosis inhibit the growth of P. aeruginosa via a released metabolite. Microbiol. Res., 283:127680,
doi.org/10.1016/j.micres.2024.127680
2. Frey DL, Bridson C, Dittrich S, Graeber SY, Stahl M, Wege S, Herth F, Sommerburg O, Schultz C, Dalpke A*, Mall M*, Boutin S* (2022): Changes in microbiome dominance are associated with declining lung function and fluctuating inflammation in people with Cystic Fibrosis. Front Microbiol, 13:885822, doi:10.3389/fmicb.2022.885822
3. Tony-Odigie A, Wilke L, Boutin S, Dalpke AH and Yi B (2022): Commensal bacteria in the cystic fibrosis airway microbiome reduce P. aeruginosa induced inflammation. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 12:824101, doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2022.824101
4. Metzger M, Gräber S, Stahl M, Sommerburg O, Mall M, Dalpke A and Boutin S. A volatile and dynamic longitudinal microbiome is associated with less reduction in lung function in adolescents with cystic fibrosis. Front Cell Infect Microbiol, 2021, 11:763121. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2021.763121.
5. Frey DL*, Boutin S*, Dittrich S*, Graeber SY, Stahl M, Wege S, Herth F, Sommerburg O, Schultz C, Mall M, Dalpke A. Relationship between airway dysbiosis, inflammation and lung function in adults with cystic fibrosis. J Cyst Fibr, 2021, S1569-1993(20):30954-1
6. Boutin S, Graeber SY, Stahl M, Dittrich SA, Mall MA and Dalpke AH. Chronic but not intermittent infection with Pseudomonas aeruginosa is associated with global changes of the lung microbiome in cystic fibrosis. Eur Respir J, 2017, 50 (4): 1701086, doi: 10.1183/13993003.01086-2017
Andrew Tony-Odigie | Post-Doc | ||||
Lienhardt Leibolt | Technician | ||||
Mai Wang | PhD Student | ||||
Selina Mayer | Technician |
Lung Research - Projects
Microbiome analysis in cystic fibrosis.
Interactions between bacteria and their host represent a full continuum from pathogenicity to mutualism. From an evolutionary perspective, host-bacteria relationships are no longer considered a two-component ecological system but rather a complex interactive network. Cystic fibrosis (CF) is characterized by defective mucociliary clearance associated with polymicrobial chronic airway infections. Those infections, leading to persistent inflammation and periodic episodes of acute pulmonary exacerbation, contribute to an irreversible decline in CF lung function. However, the link between bacterial infections and decline in CF lung function is not yet understood. We study CF lung microbiome aiming to answer different questions about CF microbiome resilience, antibiotic treatment effect and possible dysbiosis induced by exacerbation. In a recent project we address the hypothesis that certain airway commensal bacteria might interfere with CF pathogens and thus exert rather beneficial effects. This work focuses on interactions of commensal bacteria with pseudomonas aeruginosa within in vitro systems as well as microbiome and metagenomics studies of patients-derived biomaterials.
