Tobias Komar

We show that Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) activates interleukin-1β (IL-1β) in an inflammasome-independent manner. S. aureus secretes the cysteine protease staphopain A, which cleaves pro-IL-1β and renders the cytokine bioactive.
@asbmbjournals.bsky.social

Inflammasome-independent IL-1β activation via staphopain A protease of Staphylococcus aureus Interleukin-1β (IL-1β) is a pivotal mediator of innate immunity, essential for orchestrating the acute inflammatory response. While the canonical activation of IL-1β involves cleavage of its inactive ...

Excited to share the first paper of my PhD, published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.
Huge thanks to all authors, especially to co-first author Stefan Bauernfried, Alex Horswill‘s lab and @mannlab.bsky.social, and my supervisor @v-hornung.bsky.social.

www.jbc.org/article/S002...

Pseudouridine RNA avoids immune detection through impaired endolysosomal processing and TLR engagement Toll-like receptors (TLRs) 7 and 8 detect RNA degradation products to sense infection. However, modified nucleosides common in self-RNA—most notably pseudouridine—evade recognition. This study finds that poor nuclease processing and selective TLR avoidance drive this evasion, offering insight into the molecular basis of immune tolerance to pseudouridine-containing RNA.

Now online! Pseudouridine RNA avoids immune detection through impaired endolysosomal processing and TLR engagement

Our manuscript on dsRNA sensor OAS2 from the lab of @oliveiramann.bsky.social is now out in @cp-molcell.bsky.social ! Thanks again to the whole team for their effort putting this story together!

NUCLEATE Cluster of Excellence: beacon of nucleic acid research The new NUCLEATE Cluster of Excellence is all about nucleic acids. The research alliance seeks to better understand their various functions and open up new areas of application.

Wow, so cool!🌟
Excellence in Nucleic Acid Sciences and Technologies: NUCLEATE Cluster selected for national recognition
Led by spokesperson Veit Hornung, the NUCLEATE Cluster secures funding in Germany’s Excellence Strategy
🥂🥳🤩
www.lmu.de/en/newsroom/...
@v-hornung.bsky.social

YouTube video by Fondation Louis-Jeantet Veit Hornung, winner of the 2025 Collen Jeantet Prize for Translational Medicine

The full videos are available! Check them out: VEIT HORNUNG @v-hornung.bsky.social @genecenter-lmu.bsky.social

youtu.be/YBVArSDgFMA

🥂🤩first snapshot of yesterday's award ceremony👇

I’m very excited to share our first preprint “Structural Basis for OAS2 Regulation and its Antiviral Function” from my postdoc together with Veronika Merold (Vroni) from NTase lab with @oliveiramann.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Structural Basis for OAS2 Regulation and its Antiviral Function https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.01.28.635220v1

Gomez-Diaz, @v-hornung.bsky.social et al. show that mice lacking RNase T2 display an inflammatory phenotype in a TLR13-dependent manner, even under germ-free conditions, suggesting that RNase T2 plays an important role in limiting self-RNA recognition https://buff.ly/4jG49Gy

VEIT HORNUNG @v-hornung.bsky.social @genecenter-lmu.bsky.social is awarded the 2025 Collen-Jeantet Prize for Translational Medicine for his important contributions to our understanding of how foreign nucleic acids and other non-self signals trigger the innate immune system.