Press release - 19/10/2022 Molecular structure of one of the most important receptors in the immune system unraveled Researchers from Freiburg and Harvard publish the three-dimensional structure of the B cell antigen receptor, shedding new light on its composition.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/molecular-structure-one-most-important-receptors-immune-system-unraveled
Dossier - 12/10/2022 The health sector must become greener Worldwide, the health sector is struggling with the consequences of global warming, but fatally is itself responsible for a significant proportion of greenhouse gas emissions. Studies show that hospitals and rehabilitation clinics in particular have great potential for reducing these emissions and, like the manufacturing industry, need to fundamentally revise established processes.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/dossier/health-sector-must-become-greener-1
Press release - 05/10/2022 Second Stem Cell Type Discovered in Mouse Brain In the brain of adult mammals neural stem cells ensure that new nerve cells, i.e. neurons, are constantly formed. This process, known as adult neurogenesis, helps mice maintain their sense of smell. A research team led by Dr Francesca Ciccolini at the Interdisciplinary Center for Neurosciences (IZN) of Heidelberg University recently discovered a second stem cell population in the mouse brain. https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/zweiter-stammzelltyp-im-maeusehirn-entdeckt
Press release - 04/10/2022 Microscopic Octopuses from a 3D Printer Although just cute little creatures at first glance, the microscopic geckos and octopuses fabricated by 3D laser printing in the molecular engineering labs at Heidelberg University could open up new opportunities in fields such as microrobotics or biomedicine. The printed microstructures are made from novel materials – known as smart polymers – whose size and mechanical properties can be tuned on demand and with high precision. https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/mikroskopisch-kleine-kraken-aus-dem-3d-drucker
Press release - 28/09/2022 First successful trial for early detection of HPV-related cancer of the pharynx Screening trials for the early detection of rare diseases often fail due to insufficient predictive power of the results. For the rare HPV-related cancer of the pharynx, scientists from the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ) now relied on the combined detection of antibodies against two different viral proteins in a proof-of concept trial.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/erste-erfolgreiche-studie-zur-frueherkennung-von-hpv-bedingtem-krebs-im-rachenraum
Press release - 09/09/2022 Breaking down proteins: How starving cancer cells switch food sources Cancer cells often grow in environments that are low in nutrients, and they cope with this challenge by switching their metabolism to using proteins as alternative "food". Building on genetic screens, an international team of scientists could identify the protein LYSET as part of a pathway that allows cancer cells to make this switch. Their findings are now published in the journal Science.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/neu-identifiziertes-protein-ermoeglicht-krebszellen-auf-alternative-nahrungsquellen-auszuweichen
Press release - 01/09/2022 Personalised antibiotic treatment strategies for tuberculosis patients Tuberculosis is one of the leading causes of death worldwide, with an estimated 1.4 million deaths and ten million people infected annually. Resistant and multidrug-resistant (MDR) variants of the tuberculosis pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis pose a major threat to tuberculosis control and global health.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/personalisierte-antibiotika-behandlungsstrategie-bei-tuberkulose-erkrankten
Press release - 31/08/2022 Using nanopores to detect epigenetic changes faster Changes known as epigenetic modifications play an important role in cancer development, among other things. Being able to analyze them quickly and reliably could, for example, contribute significantly to the further development of personalized therapy.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/using-nanopores-detect-epigenetic-changes-faster
Press release - 18/08/2022 CureVac Starts Phase 1 Clinical Study of Modified, Omicron-Targeting COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate CureVac N.V., a global biopharmaceutical company developing a new class of transformative medicines based on mRNA, today announced the start of a Phase 1 study of the modified COVID-19 mRNA vaccine candidate CV0501, administered as a booster dose to previous COVID-19 vaccination. Developed in collaboration with GSK, CV0501 is based on CureVac’s second-generation mRNA backbone and is designed to specifically protect against the Omicron variant.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/curevac-starts-phase-1-clinical-study-modified-omicron-targeting-covid-19-vaccine-candidate
Press release - 18/08/2022 When smooth muscle cells lack strength University of Tübingen team discovers how malformations of the blood vessels can occur in mice – yielding information with possible ramifications for retinal disease.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/when-smooth-muscle-cells-lack-strength
Press release - 29/06/2022 RNA modifications in mitochondria promote invasive spread of cancer Mitochondria are the power plants of cells, and they contain their own genetic material and RNA molecules. Scientists from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) have now discovered that certain modifications in mitochondrial RNA boost the invasive spread of cancer cells by supporting protein synthesis in mitochondria.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/rna-modifications-mitochondria-promote-invasive-spread-cancer
Press release - 23/06/2022 Cancer patients receiving immunotherapy: no evidence of increased risk for severe immune complication after COVID-19 vaccination Does COVID-19 vaccination increase the risk of cancer patients undergoing therapy with immune checkpoint inhibitors to suffer a dangerous immune complication known as a "cytokine release syndrome"? A team of Heidelberg physicians and scientists has now shown in a clinical study: Increased serum levels of the characteristic cytokines occur frequently in cancer patients, but clinically relevant cases of the dreaded syndrome were not…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/cancer-patients-receiving-immunotherapy-no-evidence-increased-risk-severe-immune-complication-after-covid-19-vaccination
Assay to support the diagnosis of autoimmune diseases - 22/06/2022 Tracking down pathogenic immune complexes Soluble complexes of antibodies and their target structures circulating in the blood can trigger serious systemic inflammations. Dr. Philipp Kolb and Haizhang Chen from the Institute of Virology at the Freiburg University Medical Centre have developed a sensitive, cell-based test system for detecting these immune complexes. The system can be used to diagnose systemic autoimmune diseases, and also severe cases of COVID-19.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/tracking-down-pathogenic-immune-complexes
Press release - 21/06/2022 Another step towards synthetic cells Scientists from the 2. Physics Institute at the University of Stuttgart and the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research were now able to take the next step towards synthetic cells: They introduced functional DNA-based cytoskeletons into cell-sized compartments and showed functionality. The results were recently published in Nature Chemistry.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/another-step-towards-synthetic-cells
Press release - 20/06/2022 Protein changes in the liquor indicate inflammatory processes in the brain Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and other neurodegenerative diseases are associated with inflammatory processes in the brain. German researchers have succeeded in identifying a group of proteins in the liquor that could provide information about such inflammatory processes. As so-called biomarkers, the proteins could help to better understand disease processes in the future and to test the effect of potential drugs against brain inflammation.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/protein-changes-liquor-indicate-inflammatory-processes-brain
Press release - 03/06/2022 Deep Learning helps improve gene therapies and antiviral drugs The nuclease Cas13b associated with the CRISPR gene scissors, which is an enzyme that degrades nucleic acids, has the potential to be used in the future in hereditary diseases to switch off unwanted genes. In the fight against infections, this nuclease is also being researched as an antiviral agent, as Cas13b can specifically intervene in the genetic material of viruses and render them harmless.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/deep-learning-helps-improve-gene-therapies-and-antiviral-drugs
Press release - 12/05/2022 New imaging method makes tiny medical robots visible in the body Microrobots have the potential to revolutionize medicine. Researchers at the Max Planck ETH Centre for Learning Systems have now developed an imaging technique that for the first time recognises cell-sized microrobots individually and at high resolution in a living organism. This is an important step towards precise control of the robots and their clinical translation.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/new-imaging-method-makes-tiny-medical-robots-visible-body
Press release - 12/05/2022 New hope for broad spectrum viral entry inhibitors – Negatively charged polymer proves effective against a wide range of viruses While broad-spectrum antibiotics can offer protection against a wide variety of bacteria, there are currently no analogous clinically available broad-spectrum antiviral agents that can act on several different viruses. An international research team has now shown that polystyrene sulfonate (PSS), a negatively charged polymer, has the potential to be used in the prevention of viral infections – not only in the fight against the SARS-CoV-2 and cold…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/new-hope-broad-spectrum-viral-entry-inhibitors-negatively-charged-polymer-proves-effective-against-wide-range-viruses
Press release - 28/04/2022 Tumors on withdrawal: Amino acid deficiency shrinks childhood tumors Certain childhood tumors have an extreme need for amino acids. Scientists at the Hopp Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), the University of Heidelberg, and HI-STEM* gGmbH have now discovered the molecular mechanisms underlying this and how the cancer cells could be turned off.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/tumors-withdrawal-amino-acid-deficiency-shrinks-childhood-tumors
Press release - 25/04/2022 Reprogrammed macrophages promote spread of breast cancer Metastatic breast cancer cells abuse macrophages, a type of immune cell, to promote the settlement of cancer metastases in the lungs. The reprogrammed macrophages stimulate blood vessel cells to secrete a cocktail of metastasis-promoting proteins that are part of the so-called metastatic niche.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/reprogrammed-macrophages-promote-spread-breast-cancer
Press release - 13/04/2022 Emmy Noether funding for research into drug resistance of blood cancer The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) is funding a new Emmy Noether junior research group at the DKFZ for six years with a total of around 2 million euros. The scientists and doctors, who are part of the Clinical Cooperation Unit for Pediatric Leukemia at the KiTZ, are using a new procedure to investigate how cancer cells manipulate the formation of proteins to become resistant to cancer drugs.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/emmy-noether-funding-research-drug-resistance-blood-cancer
COVIC-19 clinical trial - 07/04/2022 Convalescent plasma for COVID-19 therapy: clinical trial should bring clarity Does it help to treat COVID-19 sufferers with antibodies from people who have recovered from the disease? It seems an obvious idea and has been tested thousands of times. However, there is not yet enough evidence to prove the clinical efficacy of treating COVID-19 patients with convalescent plasma. The transfusion physician Prof. Dr. Hubert Schrezenmeier from Ulm is planning to carry out a follow-up clinical trial to find the missing evidence.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/convalescent-plasma-covid-19-therapy-clinical-trial-should-bring-clarity
Press release - 01/04/2022 FDA approval for targeted radioligand therapy for treatment of metastatic prostate cancer On March 23, 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted approval to the first targeted radioligand therapy against metastatic prostate cancer based on a joint patent of the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and the University of Heidelberg. The agent significantly improves the chances of survival for those affected.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/fda-approval-targeted-radioligand-therapy-treatment-metastatic-prostate-cancer
Press release - 30/03/2022 CureVac and GSK Start Clinical Development of Second-Generation COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate, CV2CoV CureVac N.V. a global biopharmaceutical company developing a new class of transformative medicines based on messenger ribonucleic acid (“mRNA”), today announced that the first participant was dosed in a Phase 1 study of COVID-19 second-generation mRNA vaccine candidate, CV2CoV, developed in collaboration with GSK.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/curevac-and-gsk-start-clinical-development-second-generation-covid-19-vaccine-candidate-cv2cov
Press release - 21/03/2022 BMBF funds Heidelberg Junior Research Group for 3D Bioprinting Project Junior Professor Dr Daniela Duarte Campos has been awarded a substantial grant from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). She and her junior research group are investigating bioprinting for tissue and organ engineering at the Center for Molecular Biology of Heidelberg University and at the “3D Matter Made to Order” Cluster of Excellence, a collaboration between Ruperto Carola and Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT).https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/bmbf-funds-heidelberg-junior-research-group-3d-bioprinting-project