PRINCIPAL
INVESTIGATORS
Principal Investigator
Jeannette Werner
Background
I studied medical biotechnology at the Technical University of Berlin. I took my first scientific steps in immunology, but quickly became interested in molecular biology. During my PhD in Manfred Gossen's group at the Berlin Brandenburg Center of Regenerative Therapies, I worked on transcription regulation and its manipulation using the TAL Effector and Cas/Crispr systems.
I then deepened my knowledge of epigenetics and combined immunology with molecular biology. At Epiontis, I supervised various research projects in which the quantification of immune cells played a central role. Since 2018, I have been working at Epimune to establish this epigenetic method of immune cell quantification as a diagnostic product.
Research
s a company, we specialize in the epigenetic quantification of immune cells. This alternative approach enables the examination of archived blood samples, as well as dried blood cards, throat swabs, and tissues.
To do this, we use cell type-specific DNA methylation, which makes the method highly reproducible and robust. Immune cells play a central role in a variety of clinical applications, such as primary immunodeficiencies, infections, and autoimmune diseases, to name a few. Our goal is to provide scientists with immunological questions with an option where standard methods cannot be used.
Publications
Baron U, Werner J, Schildknecht K, Schulze JJ, Mulu A, Liebert UG, Sack U, Speckmann C, Gossen M, Wong RJ, Stevenson DK, Babel N, Schürmann D, Baldinger T, Bacchetta R, Grützkau A, Borte S, Olek S. Epigenetic immune cell counting in human blood samples for immunodiagnostics. Sci Transl Med. 2018 Aug 1;10(452):eaan3508.
Garcia-Gomez, A., Li, T., de la Calle-Fabregat, C., Rodríguez-Ubreva, J., Ciudad, L., Català-Moll, F., Godoy-Tena, G., Martín-Sánchez, M., San-Segundo, L., Muntión, S., Morales, X., Ortiz de Solórzano, C., Oyarzabal, J., San-José Enériz, E., Esteller, M., Agirre, X., Prosper, F., Garayoa, M. and Ballestar, E. (2021) Targeting aberrant DNA methylation in mesenchymal stromal cells as a treatment for myeloma bone disease. Nature Communications 12, 421.
Schoenaker MHD, Zuiderwijk MO, Bekker V, Bredius RGM, Werner J, Schulze JJ, van der Burg M, Blom M. Epigenetic Immune Cell Counting to Analyze Potential Biomarkers in Preterm Infants: A Proof of Principle in Necrotizing Enterocolitis. Int J Mol Sci. 2023 Jan 25;24(3):2372
Ramirez NJ, Schulze JJ, Walter S, Werner J, Mrovecova P, Olek S, Sachsenmaier C, Grimbacher B, Salzer U. Epigenetic immune cell quantification for diagnostic evaluation and monitoring of patients with inborn errors of immunity and secondary immune deficiencies. Clin Immunol. 2024 Mar;260:109920
Blom M, Pico-Knijnenburg I, Imholz S, Vissers L, Schulze J, Werner J, Bredius R, van der Burg M. Second Tier Testing to Reduce the Number of Non-actionable Secondary Findings and False-Positive Referrals in Newborn Screening for Severe Combined Immunodeficiency. J Clin Immunol. 2021 Nov;41(8):1762-1773