Axel Künstner

• Senior postdoctoral scientist
• Head of Bioinformatics Service Unit focusing mainly on statistical analysis, as well as on microbiome, genome, and transcriptome data with strong ties to cancer research.

Axel Künstner graduated in Computer Sciences and received his PhD at the Uppsala University (Sweden) under the supervision of Hans Ellegren. During this time his research was focused on genomics and transcriptomics in birds and on developing analysis workflows for next-generation sequencing data. Afterwards, he moved to the Max-Planck-Institute for Developmental Biology in Tübingen to work on the guppy genome project where he combined population genetic approaches and whole genome sequencing to investigate selection due to natural barriers in guppies.

In autumn 2014, he became a member at the Lübeck Institute for Experimental Dermatology and is working in close collaboration with the Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Biology in Plön. His main focus was to analyse microbiome data. Among others, he participates in projects investigating differences in skin microbiota in bullous pemphigoid patients compared to healthy controls.

Currently, he is part of the Group for Medical Systems Biology lead by Prof. Hauke Busch as head of the Bioinformatics Service Unit. His work is mainly focused on analysing microarray and next-generation sequencing data (e.g. microbiome, whole exome/genome sequencing, RNA-seq, RAD-seq).

Cancer Research (Shared first or last authorships)

1. Künstner, Schwarting, Witte, et al. Genome-wide DNA methylation-analysis of blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm identifies distinct molecular features. Leukemia. 2024
2. Weber, Künstner et al. Therapy-Related Transcriptional Subtypes in Matched Primary and Recurrent Head and Neck Cancer. Clinical Cancer Research. 2022
3. Künstner, et al. Mutational landscape of high-grade B-cell lymphoma with MYC-, BCL2 and/or BCL6 rearrangements characterized by whole-exome sequencing. Haemotologica. 2021
4. Witte, Künstner et al. Integrative genomic and transcriptomic analysis in plasmablastic lymphoma identifies disruption of key regulatory pathways. Blood Adv. 2021
5. Gebauer, Künstner, Ketzer et al. Genomic insights into the pathogenesis of Epstein-Barr virus-associated diffuse large B-cell lymphoma by whole-genome and targeted amplicon sequencing. Blood Cancer J. 2021

Microbiome Research (Shared first or last authorships)

1. Thomsen, Künstner, et al. A comprehensive analysis of gut and skin microbiota in canine atopic dermatitis in Shiba Inu dogs. Microbiome. 2023
2. Reimer-Taschenbrecker, Künstner et al. Predominance of Staphylococcus correlates with wound burden and disease activity in dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa: a prospective case-control study. J Invest Dermatol. 2022
3. Künstner et al. Changes of Gut Microbiota by Natural mtDNA Variant Differences Augment Susceptibility to Metabolic Disease and Ageing. Int J Mol Sci. 2022
4. Beckmann, Künstner et al. Telmisartan induces a specific gut microbiota signature which may mediate its antiobesity effect. Pharmacol Res. 2021
5. Künstner et al. Effect of Differences in the Microbiome of Cyp17a1-Deficient Mice on Atherosclerotic Background. Cells. 2021
6. Montgomery, Künstner et al. Interactions between host genetics and gut microbiota determine susceptibility to CNS autoimmunity. PNAS. 2020
7. Künstner, Langan, Miodovnik et al. Combined culture and metagenomic analyses reveal significant shifts in the composition of the cutaneous microbiome in psoriasis. BJD. 2019
8. Hirose, Künstner et al. Mitochondrial gene polymorphism is associated with gut microbial communities in mice. Sci Rep. 2017
9. Hopfner, Künstner et al. Gut microbiota in Parkinson Disease in a Northern German cohort. Brain Res.2017
10. Miodovnik, Künstner, Langen et al. A distinct cutaneous microbiota profile in autoimmune bullous disease patients. Exp Dermatol. 2017

Genomics and Selection

1. Künstner et al. The Genome of the Trinidadian Guppy, Poecilia reticulata, and Variation in the Guanapo Population. PLoS One. 2016 
2. Künstner et al. Significant selective constraint at 4-fold degenerate sites in the avian genome and its consequence for detection of positive selection. Genome Biol Evol. 2011
3. Smeds and Künstner, ConDeTri– a content dependent read trimmer for Illumina data. PLoS One. 2011
4. Künstner et al. Evolutionary constraint in flanking regions of avian genes. Mol Biol Evol. 2011
5. Künstner et al. Comparative genomics based on massive parallel transcriptome sequencing reveals patterns of substitution and selection across 10 bird species. Mol Ecol. 2010
6. Wolf et al. Nonlinear dynamics of nonsynonymous (dN) and synonymous (dS) substitution rates affects inference of selection. Genome Biol Evol. 2009