Innate immune recognition of Staphylococcus aureus cell wall components : structural and functional requirements

guidance and valuable scientific support during the last years, for her never ending confidence in my work and for reading my manuscripts. I thank Prof. Dr. Albrecht Wendel for welcoming me into the group, for his interest in my project and for his commitment to the " Graduiertenkolleg IRTG 1331 ". I would like to express my gratitude to the members of my thesis committee, PD Dr. for lending me their expertise. I am indebted to the " Graduiertenkolleg IRTG 1331 " for financial support of this thesis. Many thanks go to all my co-authors for their valuable contributions to this work. I want to thank Corinna Hermann for her enthusiasm, motivation and for all the nice evenings filled with delicious dinners. Many thanks go to all my current and former lab colleagues for creating an enjoyable working atmosphere. I especially thank Christian, Susanne, Christoph and Marina for their mental support at all times and for the unforgettable time in the lab as well as in the " Cocktailbar ". I am grateful to our team of technicians, especially Margarete for her help with the mice and the endless culturing of bacteria and Leonardo for numerous LTA preparations. I thank all the members of the " Graduiertenkolleg " for having such a great time during the courses we attended. Thanks to Tobias, Jens, Christine and Oliver for so many nice evenings we spent together, playing Doppelkopf and laughing so much. Most of all I want to thank Sebastian for his continuous patience and encouragement, for his faithful support during the final stage of this PhD thesis that is so appreciated and for making me forget about scientific problems and enjoy the finer things in life. Finally, I would like to thank my parents for their endless love, support and faith in me, not only during the last three years. Major parts of this thesis are submitted for publication: Peptidoglycan directly and indirectly contributes to Staphylococcus aureus-mediated IFNγ release in human whole blood. Submitted Lipoteichoic acid induced cytokine release is inhibited by apolipoprotein B100. TLR2-mediated cytokine secretion in macrophages from patients with atopic dermatitis. type and diagylglycerol transferase deletion mutant possess comparable immunostimulatory activity. in preparation