Die Spinale Muskelatrophie (SMA) ist eine schwerwiegende Nervenerkrankung, für die es bislang keine Heilung gibt, wenngleich die derzeitigen Therapien die Symptome lindern können. Für die Suche nach besseren Behandlungsmöglichkeiten lenken Forschende des DZNE und der Technischen Universität Dresden nun den Blick auf bisher unerkannte Anomalien in der Embryonalentwicklung. Sie berufen sich dabei auf Untersuchungen an sogenannten Organoiden: Im Labor gezüchtete Gewebekulturen, an denen sich Krankheitsprozesse nachvollziehen lassen. Ihre Befunde sind in der Fachzeitschrift „Cell Reports Medicine“ veröffentlicht.

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a severe neurological disease for which there is presently no cure, although current therapies can alleviate symptoms. In the search for better treatment options, scientists at DZNE and the Dresden University of Technology are now drawing attention to previously unnoticed abnormalities in embryonic development. They base their argument on studies of so-called organoids: Laboratory-grown tissue cultures that can reconstruct disease processes. Their findings are published in the journal “Cell Reports Medicine”.

Pharmazie: Veröffentlichung in Cell Chemical Biology

Gemeinsam ist es Forschenden der Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf (HHU) und der Universität Duisburg-Essen (UDE) gelungen, eine Gruppe von Molekülen zu identifizieren und zu synthetisieren, die auf neue Art und Weise gegen den Auslöser der Tuberkulose wirken. In der Fachzeitschrift Cell Chemical Biology beschreiben sie, dass die sogenannten Callyaerine grundlegend anders als bisherige antibiotische Wirkstoffe gegen die Infektionskrankheit wirken.

The “power plants” of living cells, the mitochondria, probably evolved through endosymbiosis: A bacterium migrated into a primordial cell and eventually developed into an organelle that provides the cell with energy, among other things. Mitochondria produce some of the proteins they need themselves – with the help of special protein factories called mitoribosomes, which consist of RNA and proteins. Researchers in Göttingen have now provided a roadmap for how cells assemble human mitoribosomes in a modular fashion.

Freiburg-Prague research collaboration achieves scientific breakthrough in understanding cell division.

Female mammals – including humans – are born with all of their egg cells. Of a woman’s one to two million egg cells, about 400 mature before menopause and can be fertilized. Some egg cells therefore survive for several decades – and need to remain functional over this long time. Extremely long-lived proteins in the ovary seem to play an important role in this, as teams of researchers from Göttingen (Germany) have now discovered in experiments with mice. These long-lived proteins appear to help maintain fertility for as long as possible.

Transcription factors regulate gene expression by binding specific sequences on DNA, which is an essential step to produce messenger RNAs from protein-coding genes. Denes Hnisz’s lab, in collaboration with Martin Vingron’s lab at the MPIMG, has discovered that human transcription factors don’t typically use their full potential. Instead, important protein regions within transcription factors encode chemical features that generate submaximal transcriptional activity. The findings, published in Nature Cell Biology, suggest simple ways to engineer natural transcription factor variants with elevated or “optimized” activity, with potential applications for regenerative therapy.

Transkriptionsfaktoren sind wichtige Regulatoren der Genexpression. Das Labor von Denes Hnisz hat in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Labor von Martin Vingron am MPIMG herausgefunden, dass menschliche Transkriptionsfaktoren in der Regel nicht ihr volles Potenzial nutzen. Stattdessen kodieren wichtige Proteinregionen in den Transkriptionsfaktoren für chemische Eigenschaften, die ihre Aktivität einschränken. Die in Nature Cell Biology veröffentlichten Ergebnisse zeigen Wege auf, um Transkriptionsfaktoren mit erhöhter oder „optimierter“ Aktivität zu entwickeln, die potentiell für regenerative Therapien eingesetzt werden könnten.

When radionuclides enter our organism, whether by inhalation, ingestion, or through wounds, they pose a potential health risk. Many previous studies on radionuclide exposure have focused mainly on animal experiments. However, we have little data on toxicity at the cellular and molecular level. Kidney cells are of particular interest because in mammals they play a central role in the detoxification of bivalent, trivalent, and hexavalent radionuclides as well as other heavy metals via urinary excretion. A team from the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) and TU Dresden has now found a differentiated picture, as the researchers report in the journal Science of the Total Environment.

Dexamethason ist eines der wichtigsten Medikamente in der Therapie von schwerem COVID-19, allerdings sprechen Erkrankte sehr unterschiedlich darauf an. Wie das Kortisonpräparat die gestörte Entzündungsreaktion beeinflusst und welche Patienten davon profitieren, haben Forschende des Deutschen Zentrums für Neurodegenerative Erkrankungen (DZNE) und der Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin jetzt herausgefunden. Ihre Methode bedient sich sogenannter Einzelzell-Analysen und macht Hoffnung auf ein präzises Vorhersage-Instrument auch für andere Therapien und Erkrankungen. Die Ergebnisse sind im Wissenschaftsjournal „Cell“ erschienen.

Dexamethasone is one of the most important drugs in the treatment of severe COVID-19, but patients respond very differently to the therapy. Researchers at the DZNE and Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin have now discovered how the cortisone compound influences the impaired inflammatory response and which patients benefit from it. Their method uses so-called single-cell analyses and raises hopes for a precise prediction tool for other therapies and diseases as well. The findings have been published in the scientific journal “Cell”.

To prevent proteins from being damaged during cellular stress, they are concentrated in so-called stress granules. Scientists from the department of Cellular Biochemistry at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry have now been able to show for the first time that the protein Urm1 has a critical role in this process. In yeast cells, the ubiquitin-like protein facilitates the onset of phase separation and thus the formation of stress granules. The results of the study were published in the scientific journal Cell.

Damit Proteine bei zellulärem Stress nicht geschädigt werden, werden diese in sogenannten Stressgranula konzentriert. Wissenschaftler aus der Abteilung Zelluläre Biochemie vom Max-Planck-Institut für Biochemie, konnten jetzt erstmalig zeigen, dass das Protein Urm1 hier eine entscheidende Rolle spielt. Das ubiquitin-ähnliche Proteine erleichtert den Beginn der Phasentrennung und somit die Entstehung der Stressgranula. Die Ergebnisse der Studie wurden im Fachmaganzin Cell veröffentlicht.

Ein Team um Nikolaus Rajewsky vom Max Delbrück Center hat eine frei zugängliche Plattform entwickelt, die Gewebeproben von Patient*innen mit subzellulärer Präzision auswertet. Die molekularen Karten erlauben detaillierte Analysen und können die klinische Pathologie verbessern, berichten sie in „Cell“.

Looking under the microscope, a group of cells slowly moves forward in a line, like a train on the tracks. The cells navigate through complex environments. A new approach by researchers involving the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) now shows how they do this and how they interact with each other. The experimental observations and the following mathematical concept are published in Nature Physics.

In a new study published in the journal Cell, a team of researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena, Germany, describes for the first time how odors are encoded in the antennal lobe, the olfactory center in the brain of migratory locusts. Using transgenic locusts and imaging techniques, the researchers were able to show a ring-shaped representation of odors in the brain. The pattern of olfactory coding in the antennal lobe is the same at all stages of locust development. A better understanding of olfactory coding in the locust brain should help to learn more about how the behavior of these insects is controlled, especially their swarming.

In der Fachzeitschrift Cell beschreibt ein Forschungsteam des Max-Planck-Instituts für chemische Ökologie in Jena erstmals, wie Gerüche im Antennallobus, dem Riechzentrum im Gehirn von Wanderheuschrecken kodiert werden. Mit Hilfe von transgenen Heuschrecken und bildgebenden Verfahren konnten die Forscherinnen und Forscher eine ringförmige Repräsentation von Düften im Gehirn nachweisen. Das Muster der Geruchskodierung im Antennallobus ist in allen Entwicklungsstadien der Wanderheuschrecke gleich. Ein besseres Verständnis der Duftkodierung im Heuschreckengehirn soll dazu beitragen, mehr über die Steuerung des Verhaltens dieser Insekten, insbesondere des Schwarmverhaltens, zu erfahren.

An international research team has gained new insights into the way SARS-CoV-2 enters cells and its downstream consequences. As an aid to the ACE2 surface protein, the TMPRSS2 serine protease plays an important role in enhancing cell infection: it boosts the resulting immune response, increases cell death, and drives virus evolution. In addition to the human version, TMPRSS2 proteins from diverse mammal species can also enhance infection. These findings may contribute to the development of future treatments and prevention strategies. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS) reports on these results in its edition from 4 June 2024.

Als weltweit erste Einrichtung stellt die DKMS Stem Cell Bank kryokonservierte periphere Blutstammzellen für allogene Transplantationen zur Verfügung.

Several million cells divide every second in our bodies. During nuclear division (mitosis), the genetic material must be distributed correctly and completely between the daughter cells – errors in this process can lead to defective developments or genetic disorders, and many cancer cells are also characterised by unequal numbers of chromosomes. Therefore, if errors in the division process become apparent, the cell can stop it. Biologists at the University of Duisburg-Essen have been able to elucidate this process at a molecular level. The scientific journal ‘Current Biology’ has published their findings

Plants have special corrective molecules at their disposal that can make retrospective modifications to copies of genes. However, it would appear that these “Tipp-Ex proteins” do not have permission to work in all areas of the cell, only being used in chloroplasts and mitochondria. A study by the University of Bonn has now explained why this is the case. It suggests that the correction mechanism would otherwise modify copies that have nothing wrong with them, with fatal consequences for the cell. The findings have now been published in “The Plant Journal.”

The method of material scientists from Kiel enables first comprehensive comparison of polymer coatings for biomedical applications

A new study has revealed important insights into how SARS-CoV-2 and its variants escape the immune system. The findings pave the way for new therapeutic approaches against COVID-19. The research of the international team of scientists from the USA, Brazil and Germany focused on the interactions between the virus and the human innate immune system. The study was led by a team from the Ragon Institute of Mass General, MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, USA. The results were published in the renowned journal „Cell“ on May 9, 2024.

A study by Goethe University Frankfurt points to the possibility that thalidomide derivatives are potentially suitable for treating cancer. Thalidomide was marketed in the 1950s as a sleeping pill. It later gained sad notoriety for causing severe fetal abnormalities in the early stages of pregnancy. It is meanwhile known that the molecule marks proteins in the cell for degradation. For the current study, the researchers produced thalidomide derivatives. They were able to show that these influence the degradation of proteins responsible for the survival of cancer cells.

Our human brain is not only bigger and contains more neurons than the brains of other species, but it is also connected in a special pattern: Thick bundles of neurons connect brain regions across long distances, such as the right and left brain hemispheres. A team of researchers at IMBA, including Catarina Martins-Costa, Nina Corsini and Jürgen Knoblich, now presents the first organoid model in which these information highways can be studied. Their results are published on May 7th in the journal Cell Stem Cell.