Immune surveillance and metabolism are two principles sustaining life. Immune cells support the organism's growth and metabolism. Dysfunctional interplay between the immune system and metabolism drives the development of metabolic diseases such as insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome and  diabetes mellitus. Our research aim is to better understand how the neuroendocrine system governs the interaction between immune cells and metabolic tissues. We use adipose tissue as a model system, in which we have explored non-canonical mechanisms, such as neuropeptide signaling, and breast milk mediated mother-to-child signaling, which control the number and behavior of adipose tissue macrophages (ATMs). ATMS are metabolically important immune cells. We have found that ATMs develop before birth, and ATMs in infancy maintain heat-generating  ("fat-burning") beige adipose tissue. Interestingly, neuropeptide signals guide the ability of ATMs to fulfill this task. Infants not fully breast-fed have impaired ATM functions and are more prone to premature loss of their beige adipose tissue, which might lead to the development of obesity and metabolic diseases in later life.  Video summaries of our recent research are available on the website of The Journal of Clinical Investigation (NPFF effects on ATMs, Breast-milk lipid signaling and adipose tissue development), in Science  and on the webpage of the European Commission CORDIS. Currently, we explore further how the nervous system orchestrates signaling between ATMs and adipocytes to keep the adipose tissue metabolically fit. Our work is supported by the German Research Fund (DFG), the European Foundation for the Study of Diabetes (EFSD), and a PRC Fellowhip Program. 

With the global increase of childhood obesity and diabetes, our reserch topic is timely and has societal impact. This is supported by the public interest in our most recent publication on the role of breastfeeding in the neonate immunometabolism and obesity. It has been featured in Science, Science Translational Medicine, and The Journal of Clinical Investigation. To increase clinical utility of our research, we also offer free access to our image analysis software (BeAR©), designed for evaluation of obesity in histopathological specimens. Read more in our Google knowledge panel.