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.

In mice, inflammation in early to mid-life leads to a permanent decline in functional blood stem cells, according to a recent publication by scientists from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and the Stem Cell Institute HI-STEM*. The ability of the blood stem cells to regenerate was suppressed for at least one year after challenge with inflammation.

RHEACELL GmbH - 28/07/2022

Innovative stem cell therapy for chronic wounds

Non-healing, chronically inflamed wounds can be very painful and carry the risk of serious infections. The Heidelberg company RHEACELL has developed a unique drug based on ABCB5-positive mesenchymal stem cells that helps reprogramme the relevant immune cells and promote healing.

Dossier - 16/12/2021

Advanced therapy medicinal products: gene and cell therapies

Novel gene and cell therapies for treating incurable and hereditary diseases have raised high expectations. However, success has so far been limited to the long-established bone marrow transplants involving the administration of haematopoietic stem cells used to treat blood cancer. CAR T-cell therapies have recently emerged as a major new hope in cancer treatment.

After a highly competitive process Ulm University has been awarded its fifth Collaborative Research Centre (CRC). The new CRC 1506 ‘Aging at Interfaces’ addresses one of the most urgent medical challenges of our time: the aging of the human body and the diseases and constraints that are frequently associated with the aging process.

Plastic products can be found everywhere in daily life, soft plastic in particular often being used for packaging or children's toys. These often contain so-called plasticizers which ensure that the material remains flexible. Because plasticizers are not bonded permanently to the plastic, they can escape from the material, meaning they can be absorbed by humans.

For the first time, scientists from the German Cancer Consortium (DKTK) partner site in Essen/Düsseldorf have discovered stem cells of the hematopoietic system in glioblastomas, the most aggressive form of brain tumor. These hematopoietic stem cells promote division of the cancer cells and at the same time suppress the immune response against the tumor.

A new method allows stem cells and cancer stem cells to be studied at the single cell level and the resulting cell clones to be traced directly. Studying thousands of individual cells in parallel, the researchers combined the analysis of the genomic cancer mutations with the associated expression profiles.

Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) are suitable for discovering the genes that underly complex and also rare genetic diseases. Scientists from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), together with international partners, have studied genotype-phenotype relationships in iPSCs using data from approximately one thousand donors.

Stem cell therapy for regenerating intervertebral discs - 16/07/2020

Ulm’s simulator has Europe’s back

Back pain is often caused by intervertebral disc disorders. Much has already been tried and is available to help patients. Despite extensive progress, there is still no surefire recipe for success. iPSpine, an EU-funded project to which researchers from Ulm are contributing interdisciplinary engineering and biomedical expertise, aims to design a novel therapy for back pain based on intervertebral disc regeneration.

Article - 18/11/2019

Researchers successfully rejuvenate the immune system in animal models

It is well known that stem cells age. Even the human immune system loses its power with age. Since all immune cells are derived from blood-forming stem cells, it is quite natural to associate the weakening of the immune system (immune senescence) with the ageing of blood-forming stem cells. Stem cell researchers and immunologists from the University of Ulm have now demonstrated the important role that blood-forming cells play in the ageing of the…

Article - 10/01/2019

Stocktaking and recommendations for action: the BBAW’s fourth gene technology report

In the new gene technology report, the interdisciplinary working group of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences (BBAW) takes stock of gene technology developments in Germany during the past few decades, and discusses the societal, legal and ethical challenges associated with these technologies in the future. The report is highly topical due to the controversy surrounding the ruling of the European Court of Justice on CRISPR/Cas9 genome…

Dossier - 10/11/2014

Cell and gene therapies from bench to bedside

While cell therapy has become standard treatment for a number of blood cancers, most cell and gene therapy approaches for the treatment of hereditary and metabolic diseases, neurodegenerative disorders and cancer are still in the experimental phases or early clinical trials. However, recent successes give rise to the hope that cell and gene therapies will in future make important contributions to previously incurable diseases.

Dossier - 15/10/2013

Adult stem cells hope for regenerative therapies

Adult stem cells have the lifelong ability to generate new specialised cells. They secure the continuous replenishment of cells therefore enabling the constant replacement of dying cells with new ones. Progress in the characterisation isolation and specific differentiation of adult stem cells over recent years raises hopes for the future use of the cells in the therapy of degenerative diseases. Knowledge about adult stem cells also has the…

Dossier - 05/11/2012

Cancer basic research successes and trends

Science is approaching cancer treatment by using new systems biology approaches and setting up large-scale multidisciplinary projects such as the International Cancer Genome Consortium. Progress in genome, epigenome and gene expression analyses of cancer cells, new insights into the regulation and interaction of cells gained in cooperation with stem cell research and virus research contributes to gaining a causal understanding of cancer.