Martin Direder awarded the Anton Luger Prize of the Austrian Society of Dermatology
Martin Direder, a graduate of the Vascular Biology PhD program at MedUni Vienna, has been awarded the Anton Luger Prize by the Austrian Society of Dermatology and Venereology for his dissertation. In his study, he investigated the role of Schwann cells in the development of keloids.
Martin Direder received the award for his dissertation "A unique Schwann cell subtype contributing to keloid formation". The work was supervised by Michael Mildner and Hendrik-Jan Ankersmit.
Novel Schwann cell type identified
As part of the dissertation, the previously unknown keloidal Schwann cells were discovered as a pro-fibrotic factor in the keloid and characterized in more detail. These keloidal Schwann cells correspond morphologically to the altered repair-associated Schwann cells that develop after nerve injury. By means of single cell RNA sequencing, however, numerous characteristic genes could be identified which, in contrast to the other known Schwann cell types, indicate the involvement of keloidal Schwann cells in the abnormal scar pathology. In addition, different subtypes of Schwann cells in the keloid could be characterized, which on the one hand suggests their continuous proliferation in the keloid and on the other hand indicates a previously unsuspected plasticity of these cells. Furthermore, a potential interaction of Schwann cells and macrophages in the keloid was identified, suggesting the attraction and M2 polarization of macrophages by keloidal Schwann cells and the enforcement of dedifferentiation and maintenance of an activated state of Schwann cells by keloidal macrophages. An extensive bioinformatics analysis confirmed the findings on this keloidal/profibrotic Schwann cells in numerous data sets from 4 independent research groups. Due to the large amount of data, the keloidal Schwann cells could be precisely characterized with a gene pattern of 21 genes. This gene pattern now makes it possible to identify the presence of profibrotic Schwann cells in other fibrotic diseases with previously unknown pathological mechanisms and possibly to find new therapeutic approaches for these diseases as well.
About Martin Direder
Martin Direder studied medicine at the Medical University of Vienna and currently works as a junior doctor at MedUni Vienna's Department of Orthopedics and Trauma-Surgery (Division of Trauma-Surgery) at University Hospital Vienna. In 2023, he successfully completed the PhD program in Vascular Biology at MedUni Vienna. He had already started this during his diploma studies as part of the MDPhD excellence program in the working groups of Michael Mildner (dermatology) and Hendrik Ankersmit (thoracic surgery). His scientific projects were made possible by a private-public partnership between Aposcience AG and the Medical University of Vienna as well as funding from the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG). He is a member of several scientific societies and is involved in teaching at the Medical University of Vienna. Martin Direder has already received several grants and awards for his work, including an ESDR 2022 Scholarship Award and an NK and Irene Cheung Family Scholarship.
Contact:
Medizinische Universität Wien
Mag. Johannes Angerer
Leiter Kommunikation und Öffentlichkeitsarbeit
+431 40160-1150, +43 664 80016 11501
johannes.angerer@meduniwien.ac.at
http://www.meduniwien.ac.at