DFG Funds New Research Unit to Study Chronic Skin Inflammation in Cutaneous Lupus

Cutaneous lupus erythematosus (CLE) is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease that primarily targets the skin. Those affected experience pain, visible skin changes, and a significant reduction in quality of life. Despite intensive research, the causes of the disease and the mechanisms driving the chronic inflammation remain unclear. The new DFG Research Unit “LuCID – Investigation of the Immunopathogenesis of Cutaneous Lupus Erythematosus” aims to address these questions. The German Research Foundation (DFG) will fund the Research Unit over the next four years.

Led by Prof. Claudia Günther of the Department of Dermatology at Tübingen University Hospital, scientists from six locations throughout Germany are teaming up to investigate the development of cutaneous lupus. The research consortium aims to improve our understanding of the genetic, molecular, and immunological causes of the disease and lay the groundwork for more personalized and effective therapies.

The TUD Faculty of Medicine and the Center for Molecular and Cellular Bioengineering (CMCB) are contributing their expertise in nucleic acid immunity and advanced genomic technologies to three subprojects. In particular, they are investigating how genetic alterations along with impaired processing and recognition of the body’s own DNA and RNA, trigger chronic inflammatory processes in the skin.

Prof. Min Ae Lee-Kirsch’s research group is investigating the genetic causes of cutaneous lupus and searching for previously unknown genetic alterations that cause the disease. Dr. Christine Wolf’s team is investigating how inadequately degraded endogenous genetic material triggers and exacerbates inflammatory reactions in the skin. The research group is supported by the DRESDEN-concept Genome Center (DcGC) at the CMCB who will provide high-resolution genomic analyses. In collaboration with partners from Tübingen, Dr. Maximilian Krause and his team at the DcGC are analyzing individual cells and their spatial organization within diseased skin tissue. Their goal is to create a shared dataset that maps disease-relevant processes with unprecedented resolution.

“With LuCID, we can expand our long-standing research on genetically determined disorders of nucleic acid immunity to include the intricate processes of cutaneous lupus,” says Prof. Min Ae Lee-Kirsch. “In the long term, these findings should help us develop more targeted treatments based on the underlying molecular disease mechanisms of each patient.”

“For the first time, we are a core part of a DFG Research Unit. This is a major step for the DRESDEN-concept Genome Center and shows that we are ready to join research consortia as an infrastructure co-applicant and make a central contribution to their results, in Dresden and beyond,” adds Dr. Maximilian Krause. “We are continuously expanding our expertise in next-generation sequencing, spatial transcriptomics, and data analysis, and we are excited to bring it to this project.”

The LuCID Research Unit highlights the interdisciplinary research landscape in Dresden and the close collaboration among experts in clinical medicine, immunology, human genetics, and genomics. Together, the participating researchers aim to improve our understanding of the molecular mechanisms driving cutaneous lupus and pave the way for more personalized treatment strategies.

Background

The DFG Research Unit “LuCID – Investigation of the Immunopathogenesis of Cutaneous Lupus Erythematosus” will receive funding from 2026 to 2030 and bring together research sites in Tübingen, Dresden, Leipzig, Berlin, Bonn, and Mainz under the leadership of Prof. Claudia Günther at Tübingen University Hospital. Dresden researchers are involved in three subprojects: Prof. Min Ae Lee-Kirsch will investigate the genetic causes of cutaneous lupus (P4), Dr. Christine Wolf will examine the role of extracellular DNA in triggering skin inflammation (P5), and Dr. Maximilian Krause from the DRESDEN-concept Genome Center, together with Dr. Nicolas Casadei from Tübingen, will analyze disease-relevant processes in skin tissue using genomic and spatial single-cell methods (PS).

DFG Research Units allow scientists to explore pressing questions in their fields and to establish innovative lines of research. They receive funding for up to eight years. Currently, the DFG funds a total of 191 Research Units, seven Clinical Research Units, and 15 Centers for Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences. Clinical Research Units are additionally characterized by the close integration of scientific and clinical work.

DFG press release

Scientific Contact:
Prof. Min Ae Lee-Kirsch
Molecular Pediatrics
Department of Pediatrics
University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus and
Faculty of Medicine of TUD Dresden University of Technology

Dr. Maximilian Krause
DRESDEN-concept Genome Center