Professor Dr. Dr. Axel Schambach receives prestigious EU funding award for pioneering research on Usher syndrome. Protecting children and adults from hereditary deafness with the help of gene therapy is one of the goals of Professor Dr. Dr. Axel Schambach, head of the Institute for Experimental Haematology at Hannover Medical School (MHH). To this end, he has already received one of the highest European Union grants earmarked for excellent science. His research project iHEAR was awarded the coveted “Consolidator Grant”…
DZNE researchers discover link between the protein medin and Alzheimer’s disease. The protein medin is deposited in the blood vessels of the brains of Alzheimer’s patients along with the protein amyloid-β. Researchers from DZNE have discovered this so-called co-aggregation. They have now published their observation in the renowned journal Nature. “Medin has been known for over 20 years, but its influence on diseases was previously underestimated. We were able to show that pathological changes in the blood vessels of Alzheimer’s…
Accurately predicting possible post-surgical effects on speech. Can surgeons quantify the risk of aphasia when removing a brain tumor? To find out, researchers at Klinikum rechts der Isar of the Technical University of Munich (TUM) are analyzing the brain as a network. In a current study with 60 patients, they already achieved an accuracy rate with three quarters of their predictions. Brain tumors are relatively rare. According to the German Society for Neurology, the annual incidence is approximately five cases…
An international study led by the medical Faculty of the University of Bonn has identified a gene that plays an important role in the development of the human embryo. If it is altered, malformations of various organ systems can result. The gene emerged very early in evolution. It also exists in zebrafish, for example, and performs a similar function there. The results have now been published in the Journal of Medical Genetics. The researchers tracked down the gene when they…
For many blood cancer patients, a stem cell transplant is the only chance of survival. However, up to 30-50% of transplant recipients can develop the often life-threatening complication called graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). Dr. Yiouli Ktena, scientist at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore (USA), has developed a new, epigenetic approach: She hopes to use it to effectively combat GVHD while preserving the immunological power of donor cells. For the realization of her promising project, she received the DKMS John Hansen…
Synthetic hibernation could provide protection from cosmic radiation. It is still a glimpse into the future: Astronauts could be put into artificial hibernation and in this state be better protected from cosmic radiation. At present, there are already promising approaches to follow up such considerations. An international research team led by the Biophysics Department of the GSI Helmholtzzentrum in Darmstadt now has found decisive indications of the possible benefits of artificial hibernation for radiation resistance. The research partners from Germany,…
Although the coronavirus known as SARS-CoV-2 does not infect nerve cells, it can cause damage to the nervous system. Researchers from the University of Basel and University Hospital Basel have studied the mechanisms responsible for this effect, known as “neuro-Covid”, and identified starting points for its prevention. It’s not uncommon for people to lose their sense of taste and smell due to a Covid-19 infection. In others, the disease has had an even stronger impact on the nervous system, with…
Patients with nasopharyngeal cancer are often treated with drugs that activate their immune system against the tumor. Until now, it was feared that vaccination against Covid-19 could reduce the success of cancer treatment or cause severe side effects. A recent study by the Universities of Bonn and Shanxi in the People’s Republic of China now gives the all-clear in this regard. According to the study, the cancer drugs actually worked better after vaccination with the Chinese vaccine SinoVac than in…
The thalamus acts as central communications hub for the brain, relaying information from the senses and other brain parts. Despite its importance, however, it is far from being fully understood. Researchers of the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Tübingen have now explored the correlations of the thalamus with other parts of the brain. Their statistical analyses allow them to infer which mental tasks are associated with the different parts of the thalamus. The findings, now published in the…
Research team uses CRISPR/Cas technology to repair C282Y mutation in primary haemochromatosis. Hereditary primary haemochromatosis is one of the most common inborn errors of metabolism in Europe. In this disorder, also known as iron storage disease, the body is overloaded with iron. The excess iron accumulates in organs and tissues and leads to slowly progressive damage to the liver, heart, pancreas, pituitary gland and joints. This can lead to changes in the heart muscle (cardiomyopathies) or diabetes mellitus (bronchial diabetes),…
MHH research team has published current review on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in The Lancet. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common cancers worldwide. In Germany, there are currently around 9,000 new HCC diagnoses per year, and almost 8,000 people affected do not survive the disease. Before the tumour develops in the liver, the organ is often already damaged by chronic inflammation. The “traditional” causes of chronic liver damage include, in particular, infections with hepatitis viruses or excessive alcohol…
… and treat them in groundbreaking study. Researchers at Penn State have successfully 3D bioprinted breast cancer tumors and treated them in a breakthrough study to better understand the disease that is one of the leading causes of mortality worldwide. A scientific first, the achievement lays the foundation for precision fabrication of tumor models. The advancement will enable future study and development of anti-cancer therapies without the use of “in vivo” — or “in animal” — experimentation. “This will help…
Neurons that sense pain protect the gut from inflammation and associated tissue damage by regulating the microbial community living in the intestines, according to a study from researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine. The researchers, whose report appears Oct. 14 in Cell, found in a preclinical model that pain-sensing neurons in the gut secrete a molecule called substance P, which appears to protect against gut inflammation and related tissue damage by boosting the population of beneficial microbes in the gut. The…
For a long time, antibiotics were considered a silver bullet against bacterial infections. Over time, many pathogens have adapted to resist antibiotics, so the search for new drugs is becoming increasingly important. An international team of researchers including scientists at the University of Basel, has now discovered a new antibiotic by computational analysis and deciphered its mode of action. Their study is an important step in the development of new effective drugs. The WHO calls the creeping and rapidly growing…
A research network led by the DZNE is investigating whether blood tests can be used to diagnose and predict Alzheimer’s disease. Therefore about 3.000 blood samples will be analyzed. A new examination method could significantly simplify the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. For some time now, there have been data suggesting that the determination of protein changes in the blood could possibly make the examination of the cerebrospinal fluid superfluous. A research consortium led by the DZNE now wants to analyze…
Despite decades of medical advances, children who develop the pediatric eye cancer retinoblastoma often lose their vision or an eye due to a lack of specific, targeted therapies and a poor molecular understanding of the cancer. Now researchers at UT Southwestern and the University of Miami have discovered that a molecule – estrogen-related receptor gamma, or ESRRG – becomes hyperactive and promotes tumor cell survival in retinoblastoma. Blocking ESRRG, the team reported in Science Advances, kills retinoblastoma cells. “Our discovery could…
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