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SELECTBIO Conferences Circulating Biomarkers, Exosomes & Liquid Biopsy Europe 2022

Michael Pfaffl's Biography



Michael Pfaffl, Professor, Technical University of Munich

Michael W. Pfaffl started 1986 to study ‘Agriculture - Animal Science’ and ‘Biotechnology’ at the Technical University of Munich (TUM). In 1997 he obtained his PhD in ‘Molecular Physiology’ in the field of molecular muscle and growth physiology at the Chair of Physiology. In June 2003 he completed his Venia Legendi (Dr. habil.) at the Center of Life and Food Sciences Weihenstephan with the title ‘Livestock transcriptomics -- Quantitative mRNA analytics in molecular endocrinology and mammary gland physiology’.

Early 2010 he became Professor of ‘Molecular Physiology’ at the TUM School of Life Sciences in Freising Weihenstephan. Today he has reached the ‘Principal Investigator’ status at the Institute of Animal Physiology & Immunology and is one of the leading scientists in the field of molecular physiology, with focus on Gene Quantification, RT-qPCR technology, RNA sequencing, extracellular vesicle (EV) biology, and complex data analysis by integrative biostatistical methods and multivariate algorithms.

He is author of more than 200 peer reviewed publications, 50 book chapters, and held more than 250 lectures worldwide. He is coauthor of the high-cited Minimum Information for Publication of Quantitative Real-Time PCR Experiments (MIQE) guidelines (2009), of the dMIQE guidelines for digital PCR (2013), and Minimal Information for Studies of Extracellular Vesicles 2018 (MISEV2018). Michael W. Pfaffl received the Heinz Maier-Leibniz Medal 2019 in recognition of his outstanding, internationally recognized and well-cited research work on the relative quantification of RNA by real-time RT-qPCR. "A new mathematical model for relative quantification in real-time RT-PCR" published 2001 in Nucleic Acids Research 29(9) which has been cited today more than 30,000 times. TUM presents the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Medal to researcher who, through their exceptional achievements in science, technology and/or medicine, have rendered a great service to the university in their capacity as outstanding lecturers and scientists. Professor Michael W. Pfaffl has editorial involvements as Editor in ‘Methods’, ‘International Journal of Oncology’, ‘Extracellular Vesicles and Circulating Nucleic Acids’, ‘World Academy of Sciences Journal’, and Editor-in-Chief of the ‘Gene Quantification’ webportal (www.gene-quantification.info), the world biggest webpage around qPCR, dPCR and Gene Expression profiling techniques and applications. He is initiator and lead organizer of the qPCR, dPCR & NGS Gene Quantification Event series in Freising Weihenstephan in Germany since 2004 (www.eConferences.de).

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A Development and Analysis Pipeline for microRNA Biomarker Signatures in Clinical and Molecular Diagnostics Based on Circulating EVs

Wednesday, 2 March 2022 at 13:30

Add to Calendar ▼2022-03-02 13:30:002022-03-02 14:30:00Europe/LondonA Development and Analysis Pipeline for microRNA Biomarker Signatures in Clinical and Molecular Diagnostics Based on Circulating EVsCirculating Biomarkers, Exosomes and Liquid Biopsy Europe 2022 in Rotterdam, The NetherlandsRotterdam, The NetherlandsSELECTBIOenquiries@selectbiosciences.com

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) circulate in body liquids and are involved in the intercellular communication. They have significant regulative functions in almost any physiological or pathological process. Especially exosome-like small EVs have gained huge scientific and clinical interests because of their specific microRNA biomarker signature and hence future potential in molecular diagnostics. The past decade has brought about the development and commercialization of a multitude of extraction methods to isolate EVs, primarily from blood compartments. The EV purity and which EV subpopulations are captured strongly depend on the applied isolation method, which in turn determines how suitable resulting samples are for potential downstream applications and microRNA biomarker discovery. Hence, a development and analysis pipeline was developed, optimized and validated on various clinical cohorts. Applied isolation methods were benchmarked regarding their suitability for microRNA biomarker discovery as well as biological characteristics of captured vesicles, according to the latest MISEV 2018 guidelines. To deeply analyze the small-RNA deep sequencing results various self-established bioinformatical tools were used: microRNA analysis pipeline (based on R), analysis of microRNA isoforms (via isomiRROR), identification of stable microRNA references (via miREV). Differential expressed microRNAs candidates were identified by multivariate statistics (HCA, PCA, PLS-DA) to find reliable biomarkers. Final goal was the development of microRNA biomarker signatures for an early diagnosis and a valid classification of critical ill patients. Various independent patient cohorts were investigated: healthy volunteers, mild- or severe pneumonia, acute pulmonary failure (ARDS), septic shock, and recently Covid-19 patients. Distinct miRNA signatures could be identified, which are applicable to indicate disease progression from limited inflammation present in pneumonia, to severe inflammatory changes as seen in ARDS, septic shock or Covid-19. The study results indicate that EV microRNA biomarkers have high future potential for early diagnosis of pneumonia and to indicate disease progression towards severe inflammation events. Furthermore, the methodological findings provides guidance for navigating the multitude of EV isolation methods available, and helps researchers and clinicians in the field of molecular diagnostics to make the right choice about the optimal isolation strategy to get the most valid EV biomarker signature.


Add to Calendar ▼2022-03-01 00:00:002022-03-02 00:00:00Europe/LondonCirculating Biomarkers, Exosomes and Liquid Biopsy Europe 2022Circulating Biomarkers, Exosomes and Liquid Biopsy Europe 2022 in Rotterdam, The NetherlandsRotterdam, The NetherlandsSELECTBIOenquiries@selectbiosciences.com