Publications/Dissertations
Journal Publications
Members of the research group (in bold) have authored or contributed to the following publications:
2026
- Mohammad A. Sabsabi, Ahmed Kheimar, Dominik von La Roche, Sonja Härtle, Dusan Kunec, Yulin Cong, Lisa Kossak, Theresa von Heyl, Benjamin Schusser, Benedikt B. Kaufer (2026);
B cells play an important role in HVT vaccine-mediated protection against Marek's disease virus; Vaccine - Mohammad A. Sabsabi, Ahmed Kheimar, Dominik von La Roche, Sonja Härtle, Dusan Kunec, Yulin Cong, Lisa Kossak, Theresa von Heyl, Benjamin Schusser, Benedikt B. Kaufer (2026);
Role of γδ T cells in HVT Vaccine Protection Against Marek's Disease Virus; Journal of General Virology
2025
- Mohanned Alhussien, Hanna-Kaisa Vikkula, Romina Klinger, Christian Zenner, Simon P Früh, Rashi Negi, Theresa von Heyl, Sabrina Schleibinger, Milena Brunner, Tom VL Berghof, Benjamin Schade, Bassel A. Abukhadra, Silke Rautenschlein, Rudolf Preisinger, Hicham Sid, Benjamin Schusser (2025); "Type I and type III interferon receptor knockout chickens: Novel models for unraveling interferon dynamics in influenza infection"; Preprint bioRxiv
- Felix Tetzlaff, Ulrich Methner, Theresa von Heyl, Christian Menge, Benjamin Schusser, Angela Berndt (2025); Compensatory Mechanisms in γδ T Cell-Deficient Chickens Following Salmonella infection; Frontiers in Immunology
- Theresa von Heyl, Milena Brunner, Antonia Schmauser, Christine Wurmser, Simon P Frueh, Benjamin Schusser (2025); Unraveling new characteristics of γδT cells using scRNA-seq in TCR KO chicken; Preprint bioRxiv
- Milena Brunner, Catarina L. C. T. Cavaleiro, Tom V. L. Berghof, Theresa von Heyl, Mohanned Naif Alhussien,
Christine Wurmser, Daniel Elleder and Benjamin Schusser (2025); Transcriptome analysis identifies CCR7
and cell adhesion molecules as mediators of B cell migration to the bursa of Fabricius during chicken embryonic development; BMC Genomics - Sid H, von Heyl T, Schleibinger S, Klinger R, Nabel LH, Vikkula H, Guabiraba R, Guillory V, Scicluna R, Alhussien MN, Böhm B, Schade B, Elleder D, Sives S, Vervelde L, Trapp S and Schusser B (2025); Genetic reinstatement of RIG-I in chickens reveals insights into avian immune evolution and influenza interaction; Frontiers in Immunology
- Sabrina Schleibinger, Elsayed M. Abdelwhab, Theresa von Heyl, Mohanned Alhussien, Stefan Weigel, Harald Luksch, Benjamin Schusser, Hicham Sid (2025); Restriction of influenza A virus replication via serine protease targeting in chicken cells and organ cultures; Heliyon
- Isabell Naumann, Edward S. Ricemeyer, Daniel Elleder, Jiri Plachy, Dominik von La Roche, Kim Vučinić, Thomas W. Göbel, Bernd Kaspers, Simon P. Früh, Sonja Härtle (2025); Beyond FoxP3—Identification of a Chicken Regulatory T Cell Signature; European Journal of Immunology
2024
- Antonia Linti, Thomas Göbel, Simon Früh; "Chicken γδ T cells proliferate upon IL-2 and IL-12 treatment and show a restricted receptor repertoire in cell culture"; Frontiers in Immunology
- Simon Früh, Martin Früh, Benedikt Kaufer and Thomas Göbel; "Unraveling the chicken T cell repertoire with enhanced genome annotation"; Frontiers in Immunology
- Kaufman, Jim; "A complete genome for a commercial duck"; Frontiers of Agricultural Science & Engineering
- Härtle S, Sutton K, Vervelde L and Dalgaard TS; Delineation of chicken immune markers in the era of omics and multicolor flow cytometry; Frontiers in Veterinary Science
- Mohammad A. Sabsabi, Ahmed Kheimar, Yu You, Dominik von La Roche, Sonja Härtle, Thomas W. Göbel, Theresa von Heyl, Benjamin Schusser and Benedikt B. Kaufer; "Unraveling the role of γδ T cells in the pathogenesis of an oncogenic avian herpesvirus"; mBio®
- Veronika E.M. Drexel, Thomas W. Göbel, Simon P. Früh; Characterization of a novel chicken γδ TCR-specific marker; Developmental & Comparative Immunology
- Kaufman, Jim; A personal view on developmental and comparative immunology: What, how and why?; Developmental & Comparative Immunology
- Simon Früh, Thomas Göbel; Entschlüsselung der T-Zell-Antwort des Haushuhns; BIOspektrum
- Caroline Denesvre, Yu You, Sylvie Remy, Tereza Vychodil, Katia Courvoisier,
Zoltan Penzes, Luca D. Bertzbach, Ahmed Kheimar, Benedikt B. Kaufer; Impact of viral telomeric repeat sequences on herpesvirus vector vaccine integration and persistence; PLOS Pathogens - Yu You, Ahmed M. Kheimar, Tereza Vychodil, Lisa Kossak, Mohammad A. Sabsabi, Andelé M. Conradie, Sanjay M. Reddy, Luca D. Bertzbach and Benedikt B. Kaufer; Telomeric repeats in the commercial SB-1 vaccine facilitate viral integration and contribute to vaccine efficacy; NPJ Vaccines
- Kamila Lengyel, Mekhla Rudra, Tom V. L. Berghof, Albertine Leitão, Carolina Frankl-Vilches, Falk Dittrich, Denise Duda, Romina Klinger, Sabrina Schleibinger, Hicham Sid, Lisa Trost, Hanna Vikkula, Benjamin Schusser & Manfred Gahr; Unveiling the critical role of androgen receptor signaling in avian sexual development; nature communications
- Dominik von La Roche, Magdalena Schumacher, Marina Kohn, Johanna Trapp, Benjamin Schusser, Silke Rautenschlein and Sonja Härtle (2024) Characterization of class-switched B cells in chickens; Frontiers in Immunology
- Milena Brunner, Catarina L. C. T. Cavaleiro, Tom V. L. Berghof, Christine Wurmser, Daniel Elleder, Theresa von Heyl, Benjamin Schusser (2024); "Regulation of B cell migration to the Bursa of Fabricius by CCR7 and cell adhesion molecules in chicken embryonic development"; Preprint bioRxiv
2023
- Theresa von Heyl, Romina Klinger, Dorothea Aumann, Christian Zenner, Mohanned Alhussien, Antonina Schlickenrieder, Kamila Lengyel, Hanna-Kaisa Vikkula, Teresa Mittermair, Hicham Sid, Benjamin Schusser; "Loss of αβ but not γδ T cells in chickens causes a severe phenotype" ; European Journal of Immunology
- Hicham Sid, Theresa von Heyl, Sabrina Schleibinger, Romina Klinger, Rodrigo Guabiraba, Vanaique Guillory, Benjamin Schade, Daniel Elleder, Samantha Sives, Lonneke Vervelde, Sascha Trapp, and Benjamin Schusser; "Reinstatement of Rig-I in Chickens Via Genetic Modification Reveals New Insights into the Dynamic Evolution of Avian Immune Sensors"; Preprint
- Luca D. Bertzbach, Marina Kohn, Yu You, Lisa Kossak, Mohammad A. Sabsabi, Ahmed Kheimar, Sonja Härtle, Benedikt B. Kaufer; In vitro infection of primary chicken lymphocytes with Marek’s disease virus; STAR Protocols (CellPress)
2022
- Johanna Trapp, Silke Rautenschlein; "Infectious bursal disease virus’ interferences with host immune cells: what do we know?"; Avian Pathology
- Nina B. Burkhardt, Daniel Elleder, Benjamin Schusser, Veronika Krchlíková, Thomas W. Göbel, Sonja Härtle, Bernd Kaspers; The Discovery of Chicken Foxp3 Demands Redefinition of Avian Regulatory T Cells; The Journal of Immunology
2021
- Samer Halabi, Michael Ghosh, Stefan Stevanović, Hans-Georg Rammensee, Luca D. Bertzbach, Benedikt B. Kaufer, Martin C. Moncrieffe, Bernd Kaspers, Sonja Härtle , Jim Kaufman; The dominantly expressed class II molecule from a resistant MHC haplotype presents only a few Marek’s disease virus peptides by using an unprecedented binding motif; PLOS Biology
Dissertations
2024
Antonia Linti; "Einfluss von Interleukin-2 und Interleukin-12 auf γδ T-Zellen im Haushuhn / Influence of interleukin-2 and interleukin-12 on γδ T cells in the domestic chicken", Dissertation Dr. med.vet.; awarded with the Brigitte and Wolfram Gedek-Award 2024; graded "summa cum laude"
Theresa von Heyl; "Charakterisierung von T-Zellen im lymphatischen und Epithelgewebe durch den Einsatz von TCR KO-Hühnern/Characterization of T cells in lymphoid and epithelial tissue using TCR KO chickens"; Dissertation Dr. rer. nat.; graded "summa cum laude"
2025
Veronika Drexel; "Charakterisierung eines Vγ3-spezifischen γδ-T-Zell-Markers des Haushuhns / Characterization of a chicken Vγ3-specific γδ T cell marker", Dissertation Dr. med.vet.; graded "summa cum laude"
Dominik von La Roche; "Isolierung und Charakterisierung von Plasmazellen des Haushuhns (Gallus gallus) / Isolation and characterization of plasma cells of the domestic chicken (Gallus gallus)", Dissertation Dr. med.vet.; graded "summa cum laude"