Laboratory for renal intercellular communication via extracellular vesicles

Fabian Braun

Mission Statement

“Decipher the intercellular crosstalk via extracellular vesicles in health, glomerular diseases and acute kidney injury to identify novel disease pathways and establish innovative diagnostics”

— Dr. med. Fabian Braun

Team Members

The Braun lab is always looking for scientists (PhD, PostDoc) and technicians to investigate immune mediated glomerular disease, glomerulosclerosis, Fabry’s disease and acute kidney injury. Please get in touch with your CV via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.!

Post Doc

Pamella Marie Sendon, PhD

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PhD Student

Anna Reinelt

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MD student

Alexander Pausch

Technician

Anja Obser

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MD Student

Annika Gathmann

Research

© Fabian Braun, created with BioRender

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) have been identified to be critical contributors to cancer cell biology, immune mediation and metabolic signalling. EVs are small membrane bound packages that contain specific proteins, nucleic acids and lipid cargo, facilitating intercellular signalling across great distances. Because of this, the use of EVs as a source for biomarkers has drawn significant attention. Yet, in nephrology, we currently lack 1) a concise understanding of cell-specific vesicle release and content, 2) how renal cells communicate through vesicles and 3) what effect different diseases exert on these parameters. Our group aims to characterize the release and cargo of small and medium-sized extracellular vesicles of podocytes and proximal tubular cells to identify alterations upon cellular damage in glomerular diseases and acute kidney injury. To facilitate this, we employ and establish advanced disease modeling in mice, rats and organoids investigating immune mediated glomerular disease, glomerulosclerosis, Fabry’s disease and acute kidney injury.

Fabian Braun, MD

Research Group Leader

III. Department of Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE)
Martinistr. 52
20246 Hamburg, Germany

CV

Current Position

since 2023

Managing Attending, III. Department of Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg- Eppendorf

since 2023

Attending Physician at the Martin Zeitz Center for Rare Diseases

since 2022

Research Group leader supported by the iSTAR program for advanced clinician scientists

since 2018

Physician, III. Department of Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg- Eppendorf, Prof. Dr. Tobias B. Huber 

University Training
2006 - 2012

Study of Medicine, University of Cologne, Germany

Academic qualifications

2024

Board Certification in Nephrology and Internal Medicine

2022

Board Certification in Internal Medicine

2013 - 2017- 2020

Clinician Scientist at the Department II of Internal Medicine and Center for Molecular Medicine Cologne, University of Cologne, Germany

2011 - 2014

MD Thesis: 
„The molecular pathogenesis of Fabry disease in human podocytes“
at the Department II of Internal Medicine and Center for Molecular Medicine Cologne, University of Cologne, Germany,
supported for one year by the „Köln Fortune“ scholarship program

Previous professional career

Clinical postgraduate education:

since 2018

Physician, III. Department of Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg- Eppendorf, Prof. Dr. Tobias B. Huber

2013 - 2017

Physician, Department II of Internal Medicine and Center for Molecular Medicine Cologne, University of Cologne, Germany

Scientific postgraduate education:

starting 2023

iSTAR Program for Advanced Clinician Scientists

since 2021

Clinician Scientist through an Else-Kröner Memorial-Scholarship

2019 - 2020

Gerok Position at the CRC 1192: Immune-Mediated Glomerular Diseases

Selected awards and honors
2022 - 2020

Teacher of the Year 2022 – for Module E awarded by the Students and faculty of the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf

2021

Research Scholarship 2021 of the German Society of Nephrology, Berlin, Germany

2020

Paper of the Month, August 2020, Braun et al., SARS-CoV-2 renal tropism associates with acute kidney injury, The Lancet

Selected publications

1.
Ng MSY, Burger D, Svenningsen P, Martens E, Erdbrügger U, Braun F. Kidney Int. 2025 Jan;107(1):44-50. 
2.
Lassé M, El Saghir J, Berthier CC, Eddy S, Fischer M, Laufer SD, Kylies D, Hutzfeldt A, Bonin LL, Dumoulin B, Menon R, Vega-Warner V, Eichinger F, Alakwaa F, Fermin D, Billing AM, Minakawa A, McCown PJ, Rose MP, Godfrey B, Meister E, Wiech T, Noriega M, Chrysopoulou M, Brandts P, Ju W, Reinhard L, Hoxha E, Grahammer F, Lindenmeyer MT, Huber TB, Schlüter H, Thiel S, Mariani LH, Puelles VG, Braun F, Kretzler M, Demir F, Harder JL, Rinschen MM. Nat Commun. 2023 Aug 14;14(1):4903.
3.
Braun F, Abed A, Sellung D, Rogg M, Woidy M, Eikrem O, Wanner N, Gambardella J, Laufer SD, Haas F, Wong MN, Dumoulin B, Rischke P, Mühlig AK, Sachs W, von Cossel K, Schulz K, Muschol N, Gersting SW, Muntau AC, Kretz O, Hahn O, Rinschen MM, Mauer M, Bork T, Grahammer F, Liang W, Eierhoff T, Römer W, Hansen A, Meyer-Schwesinger C, Iaccarino G, Tøndel C, Marti HP, Najafian B, Puelles VG, Schell C, Huber TB.  J Clin Invest. 2023 Apr 4:e157782.
4.
Wanner N, Andrieux G, Badia-I-Mompel P, Edler C, Pfefferle S, Lindenmeyer MT, Schmidt-Lauber C, Czogalla J, Wong MN, Okabayashi Y, Braun F, Lütgehetmann M, Meister E, Lu S, Noriega MLM, Günther T, Grundhoff A, Fischer N, Bräuninger H, Lindner D, Westermann D, Haas F, Roedl K, Kluge S, Addo MM, Huber S, Lohse AW, Reiser J, Ondruschka B, Sperhake JP, Saez-Rodriguez J, Boerries M, Hayek SS, Aepfelbacher M, Scaturro P, Puelles VG, Huber TB. Nat Metab. 2022 Mar;4(3):310-319.
5.

SARS-CoV-2 renal tropism associates with acute kidney injury.
Braun F, Lütgehetmann M, Pfefferle S, Wong MN, Carsten A, Lindenmeyer MT, Nörz D, Heinrich F, Meißner K, Wichmann D, Kluge S, Gross O, Pueschel K, Schröder AS, Edler C, Aepfelbacher M, Puelles VG, Huber TB. Lancet. 2020 Aug;396(10251):597–8.

6.

Multiorgan and Renal Tropism of SARS-CoV-2.
Puelles VG*, Lütgehetmann M*, Lindenmeyer MT*, Sperhake JP*, Wong MN, Allweiss L, Chilla S, Heinemann A, Wanner N, Liu S, Braun F, Lu S, Pfefferle S, Schröder AS, Edler C, Gross O, Glatzel M, Wichmann D, Wiech T, Kluge S, Pueschel K, Aepfelbacher M, Huber TB. N Engl J Med. 2020 Aug 6;383(6):590–2.

7.
Braun F, Rinschen M, Buchner D, Bohl K, Plagmann I, Bachurski D, Richard Späth M, Antczak P, Göbel H, Klein C, Lackmann JW, Kretz O, Puelles VG, Wahba R, Hallek M, Schermer B, Benzing T, Huber TB, Beyer A, Stippel D, Kurschat CE, Müller RU. J Extracell Vesicles. 2020 Oct;10(1):e12026.
8.

Enzyme Replacement Therapy Clears Gb3 Deposits from a Podocyte Cell Culture Model of Fabry Disease but Fails to Restore Altered Cellular Signaling.
Braun F, Blomberg L, Brodesser S, Liebau MC, Schermer B, Benzing T, Kurschat CE. Cell Physiol Biochem. 2019;52(5):1139-1150.

9.
Slaats GG, Braun F, Hoehne M, Frech LE, Blomberg L, Benzing T, Schermer B, Rinschen MM, Kurschat CE. Sci Rep. 2018 Jul 23;8(1):11042. 
10.
Braun F, Rinschen MM, Bartels V, Frommolt P, Habermann B, Hoeijmakers JH, Schumacher B, Dollé ME, Müller RU, Benzing T, Schermer B, Kurschat CE.  Aging (Albany NY). 2016 Mar;8(3):441-57. 

Funding

News

June 4-7, 2025 | Vienna & Virtual
April 2025 | Video
April 2025 | Podcast
April 3-6, 2025 | Schloss Hotel Fleesensee, Germany

Martinistraße 52
Campus Research II N25
20246 Hamburg Germany
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University Medical Center Hamburg - Eppendorf