Researchers with the participation of the PMI Cluster of Excellence have succeeded in isolating and analyzing disease-causing T cells from the blood in autoimmune diseases./ Publication in Immunity

Low concentrations of three selected biomarkers in the blood of patients with atrial fibrillation identify patients with a high chance of attaining sinus rhythm. This is the main result of this analysis of the EAST – AFNET 4 biomolecule study. Today the findings have been presented by AFNET Steering Committee member Prof. Larissa Fabritz, University Medical Center Hamburg Eppendorf (UKE), Hamburg, Germany, at the annual congress of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) in London and published in the European Heart Journal (1).

The treatment of patients with severe COVID-19 following SARS-CoV-2 infection remains difficult. Severe inflammatory reactions and thrombotic complications (blood clots) in particular can be life-threatening. Classic anticoagulants such as heparin often cannot prevent these complications. An evaluation of literature data shows that natural anticoagulants, known as plasma protease inhibitors, are important in the regulation of out-of-control inflammatory and coagulation processes and should be reviewed for their therapeutic benefits. The journal Biologicals reports on the results online ahead of print.

Forscher des Leibniz-Instituts für Immuntherapie (LIT), des Universitätsklinikums Regensburg (UKR) und des National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) haben CD8+ T-Zellen so verändert, dass sie das Gen LMO4 künstlich exprimieren und dadurch ihre Wirksamkeit gegen Tumore erhöhen können.

Researchers at the Leibniz Institute for Immunotherapy (LIT), University Hospital Regensburg (UKR) and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) have engineered CD8+ T cells to artificially express the gene LMO4, thereby enhancing their effectiveness against tumors.

Eine neue nationale multizentrische Studie bietet durchaus Hoffnung für Frauen, die sich einer allogenen Stammzelltransplantation (alloHCT) unterzogen haben. Die Ergebnisse der Studie wurden aktuell im renommierten „Blood Journal“ publiziert und zeigen, dass erfolgreiche Schwangerschaften unter bestimmten Bedingungen möglich sind, insbesondere bei jüngeren Frauen, Patientinnen mit nicht-malignen Erkrankungen, und solchen, die keine oder nur eine niedrige Dosis an Ganzkörperbestrahlung (TBI) erhielten.

Hereon sensors facilitate minimally invasive surgery for atrial fibrillation in heart patients

Atrial fibrillation can cause dangerous blood clots to form in the heart. Many patients therefore have the part of the heart where the clots form closed off with a plug. However, these so-called occluders do not always seal perfectly, which can lead to complications. The Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon at its Teltow site is developing an occluder with sensors that can be placed precisely in the heart. The GoBio Initial funding of the Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF) will bring the project to the next level towards clinical applications.

How does our body control blood sugar so precisely? An international team led by Prof. Nikolay Ninov at the Center for Regenerative Therapies Dresden (CRTD), part of Dresden University of Technology, brought us a step closer to the answer. They found a special group of “first responder” cells in the pancreas that are crucial for triggering blood sugar response. Their findings were published in the journal Science Advances.

In an international cooperation project, researchers from the University Medical Center Göttingen (UMG), the Paracelsus-Elena-Klinik Kassel and University College London (UCL) have developed a test procedure that makes it possible to predict the diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease in at-risk patients up to seven years before the onset of typical motor symptoms using a blood sample. The next step is to further develop this test for clinical application. The four-year PROPAG-AGING project was funded by the EU with a total of around six million euros. The results have been published in the renowned journal Nature Communications.

In a study with 991 adults, scientists at DZNE show that the most common forms of frontotemporal dementia (FTD) as well as the neurological diseases amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) can be recognised by blood testing. Their procedure is not yet ready for routine medical use, but in the long term it could facilitate disease diagnosis and advance the development of new therapies already now.

Fatty liver disease, SLD for short, is increasingly causing failure of the liver as a vital organ. A team led by researchers from the Institute of Metabolic Physiology at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) in collaboration with the German Diabetes Centre (DDZ) and other partners has now discovered that a saturated fatty acid in blood vessels leads to the production of the signalling molecule SEMA3A, which closes the ‘windows’ in the blood vessels. This hinders the transport of fat from the liver to the adipose tissue. In the journal Nature Cardiovascular Research, the researchers report that the windows open again and the fat in the liver is reduced when SEMA3A is inhibited.

Zum Weltblutspendetag am 14. Juni 2024 rufen der Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für die Belange der Patientinnen und Patienten und die Bundeszentrale für gesundheitliche Aufklärung (BZgA) gemeinsam mit Blutspendeeinrichtungen bundesweit dazu auf, Blut und Plasma zu spenden. Der Weltblutspendetag rückt die Bedeutung von Blut- und Plasmaspenden in den Fokus. Er erinnert und motiviert zur regelmäßigen Spende und drückt Wertschätzung für die Menschen aus, die durch ihre Spende Leben retten. In diesem Jahr steht der Weltblutspendetag unter dem Motto „20 years of celebrating giving: thank you blood donors“.

New long-term microscopy method shows differences to long bones

Oxygen saturation in the blood that is either too low or too high can cause physical harm or even death. This is why patients’ oxygen concentraions are monitored continuously in both intensive care and trauma units. However, the pulse oximeters clipped onto a patient’s fingertip for this purpose can be unreliable. Researchers at the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft have developed a fluorescence-based sensor that measures the oxygen content of people’s breath directly and in real time. The sensor determines the oxygen concentration in the respiratory gas according to the principle of fluorescence quenching, which allows conclusions to be drawn about the oxygen saturation in the blood.

DKMS emphasizes its commitment to blood cancer research, supports young scientists, and recognizes outstanding research achievements in the field of stem cell transplantation.

An analysis of the biomolecule substudy of the EAST – AFNET 4 trial revealed: biomolecule concentrations in the blood of patients with atrial fibrillation can be used to identify patients at high and low cardiovascular risk. Today the findings were presented by Prof. Larissa Fabritz, University Medical Center Hamburg Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany, at the Frontiers in CardioVascular Biomedicine Congress in Amsterdam and published in Cardiovascular Research (1).

Nach jahrelanger intensiver Forschungsarbeit präsentierte nun ein von der Veterinärmedizinischen Universität geleitetes Team von Wissenschafter:innen ein neues Mausmodell zur besseren Analyse von NK-Zell-Leukämien. Diese stellen seltene aber teilweise äußerst aggressive Formen von Leukämie dar, die durch das unkontrollierte Wachstum von natürlichen Killerzellen (NK-Zellen) verursacht werden und im Durchschnitt innerhalb eines Jahres zum Tod führen. Die Forscher:innen erwarten sich vom Einsatz des innovativen Mausmodells deutliche Fortschritte in der Erforschung und Behandlung dieser gefährlichen Blutkrebs-Variante. Veröffentlicht wurde die Studie kürzlich in „Blood“.

Short-term cultivated, individualised immune cells (CAR T cells) are currently being developed as a therapeutic option for patients with blood cancer. A research team from the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut has shown with mouse and cell models that these cells carry a higher risk for cytokine release syndrome than conventional CAR T cells. The cytokine release is caused by residual components of vector particles on the CAR T cells and is independent of tumour cells. Careful consideration of the safety of this innovative treatment is required to minimise risks to patients. EMBO Molecular Medicine reports on the results in its issue dated 21 March 2024.

The habitat suitability for the medical relevant insects has been modelled over four federal states

Klebsiella pneumoniae is one of the most common and most dangerous bacterial pathogens impacting humans, causing infections of the gastrointestinal tract, pneumonia, wound infections and even blood poisoning. With the aim of discovering therapeutically exploitable weaknesses in Klebsiella, a research team from the Balance of the Microverse Cluster of Excellence at the University of Jena, Germany has taken a close look at the molecular biology of the bacteria and was able to uncover the importance of a small, non-coding ribonucleic acid (sRNA for short) for the gene regulation of K. pneumoniae. They report their findings in the journal “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences”.

A healthy liver is capable of completely regenerating itself. Researchers from Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU), University Hospital Düsseldorf (UKD) and the German Diabetes Center (DDZ) have now identified the growth factor MYDGF (Myeloid-Derived Growth Factor), which is important for this regenerative capacity. In cooperation with the Hannover Medical School and the University Medical Center Mainz, they also showed that higher levels of MYDGF can be detected in the blood of patients following partial removal of the liver. In the scientific journal Nature Communications, they also report that this growth factor stimulates the proliferation of human hepatocytes in a tissue culture.

Long Covid patients suffer from chronic symptoms such as fatigue or shortness of breath. As researchers at the University of Zurich and University Hospital Zurich have discovered, this is to some extent due to a part of our immune system called the complement system. The study identified a pattern in the blood proteins that will improve the diagnosis and perhaps also the targeted treatment of Long Covid.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease, in which the immune system that normally protects the body from invading microbes, turns against the body´s own cells. This autoimmune attack can affect any organ and patients commonly develop skin rashes, joint inflammation, blood clots, kidney failure, heart disease, fatigue and psychiatric problems. Until to date, there is no cure for SLE and patients are treated with immunosuppressing drugs with considerable side effects.

Immune cells fight infectious intruders, for example, or search for incipient cancers. Therefor, they are constantly migrating through the tissues of our body. But in the wrong place, immune cells like neutrophil granulocytes can cause damage: If these white blood cells infiltrate tumours, this is often associated with a poor prognosis for patients. This is why they could benefit from drugs that prevent neutrophils from migrating into tumours. Until now, this migration has been investigated using conventional video microscopy. Researchers (University of Duisburg-Essen, Leibniz-Institut für Analytische Wissenschaften) have developed a microscope for the high throughput analysis of compounds.

How do nerves and blood vessels interact in the aging heart? Recent research results from the Institute of Cardiovascular Regeneration and the Cardio-Pulmonary Institute at Goethe University Frankfurt shed new light on aging processes in the heart. These have now been published in the prestigious journal Science.