Infectious Triggers of Chronic Autoimmunity

The main objective of the project is to find out the links between infections and autoimmune diseases. INTRICATE examines the connection between specific bacterial infections and the autoimmune disease “Systemic Vasculitis”. DTU Food contributes to the part of the project where it is investigated whether genetic variation in the bacterial Type 1 fimbrial adhesin FimH influences bacterial uptake and pathogenesis. We are specifically working on making mutations in FimH and on creating fusion proteins, which by means of fluorescent markers will make it possible to detect invading bacteria in mammalian cell lines.
Project financing:
INTRICATE is funded by the European Commission under the 7th Framework Programme.