Neurodegenerative diseases - 12/12/2022 Blood-based biomarkers allow the early prediction of Alzheimer's risks Most dementia diseases develop insidiously and are only detected at an advanced stage. Researchers at the University of Heidelberg and the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) have now identified the glial fibre acidic protein (GFAP) in the blood as a promising biomarker that can be used to determine an increased risk of developing Alzheimer's disease up to 17 years before diagnosis.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/blood-based-biomarkers-allow-early-prediction-alzheimers-risks
Press release - 17/11/2022 New target for Alzheimer's therapies found 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. DZNE Researchers have discovered this so-called co-aggregation. They have now published their observation in the renowned journal Nature.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/new-target-alzheimers-therapies-found
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 - 03/03/2022 Identifying Alzheimer's risks – as early as 17 years before diagnosis In order to develop approaches for the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer's dementia in clinical trials, it would be helpful to be able to identify people with a particularly high risk of developing the disease. But which biomarkers can indicate an increased likelihood of disease early on in symptom-free people who actually develop Alzheimer's later?https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/identifying-alzheimers-risks-early-17-years-diagnosis
Neurodegenerative diseases - 30/09/2021 Artificial intelligence enables early diagnosis of dementia We are all afraid of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. Yet, therapies are increasingly becoming available. Although they do not cure what causes a disease, they can at least slow down its progression, provided it is diagnosed as early as possible. The Tübingen-based start-up AIRAmed has developed software that uses artificial intelligence to measure and detect changes in the brain long before they…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/artificial-intelligence-enables-early-diagnosis-dementia
Press release - 10/06/2021 Nose2Brain – Active substances without detour through the nose into the brain Effective drugs for the treatment of diseases of the central nervous system do exist. However, the blood-brain barrier, which protects the brain as the body's control center, makes it especially difficult for therapeutic biomolecules to pass through. Thus, researchers from an international consortium coordinated by the Fraunhofer IGB have spent the last four and a half years developing a novel system in the EU project "N2B-patch"…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/nose2brain-active-substances-without-detour-through-nose-brain
Press release - 20/05/2021 Immune cells promote proinflammatory fatty liver disease A particular type of dendritic cell is responsible for the tissue damage that occurs in non-alcoholic steatohepatits (NASH) in mice and humans. The dendritic cells cause aggressive, proinflammatory behavior in T cells, as now discovered by researchers from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) in collaboration with colleagues from Israeli research institutes. Blocking these dendritic cells alleviates symptoms in mice.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/immune-cells-promote-proinflammatory-fatty-liver-disease
Press release - 17/11/2020 The Long Road to Dementia The chain reaction which leads to toxic protein deposits in Alzheimer’s disease starts even earlier than assumed. Researchers from Tübingen show how this process could be stopped early on.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/long-road-dementia
Expert interview - 08/08/2018 Ludolph: diagnosing and treating neurodegenerative disorders Ulm has long been a world leader in diagnosing and treating rare neurological disorders, notably amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and Huntington's disease (HD). We spoke with Professor Albert C. Ludolph, spokesperson for the Ulm DZNE site, medical director of the Clinic for Neurology at the RKU (University and Rehabilitation Clinics of Ulm) and world-renowned ALS researcher.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/ludolph-diagnosing-and-treating-neurodegenerative-disorders
Article - 01/02/2018 Combined test systems to advance the development of drugs for treating Alzheimer’s Which substances are suitable for treating neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's? Due to complex biochemical relationships, testing suitable drug candidates is difficult, especially in the early drug development phase. Many predictive test systems only cover individual aspects. A team from Baden-Württemberg and France is now combining different models to develop a new approach.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/combined-test-systems-to-advance-the-development-of-drugs-for-treating-alzheimers
Press release - 05/09/2017 Cell marking opens up a window into the body A new and particularly reliable method for marking cells can simplify research into diseases such as myocardial infarction, diabetes or Alzheimer's and reduce the use of test animals: Scientists from the University of Tübingen have developed a method by which they can target specific cell types in mice and monitor their behavior using positron emission tomography (PET). PET-based cell tracking allows scientists to observe complex life…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/cell-marking-opens-up-a-window-into-the-body
Article - 08/08/2017 N2B-patch: circumventing the blood-brain barrier There are many medications for treating central nervous system diseases. However, only a fraction of the active pharmaceutical ingredients actually reaches the site where they are needed. The reason for this is the blood-brain barrier that protects the brain and thus prevents many drugs used to treat neurological diseases from effectively penetrating the brain. Researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/n2b-patch-circumventing-the-blood-brain-barrier
Article - 26/04/2017 Chaperones disassemble Parkinson’s disease-specific amyloid fibrils Amyloid fibrils consisting of clumped α-synuclein protein are characteristic of Parkinson's disease. Chaperones, which ensure the correct folding of newly synthesised polypeptides, can inhibit α-synuclein aggregation and, as a consequence, prevent fibrils from forming. Researchers from Heidelberg have shown that a specific combination of human molecular chaperones is able to disassemble fibrils and transform them into non-toxic α-synuclein…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/chaperones-disassemble-parkinsons-disease-specific-amyloid-fibrils
Article - 27/06/2016 A nasal spray for treating neurodegenerative diseases Neuroscientists from Heidelberg have created the scientific foundations for a nasal spray that can stabilise the dendrites of nerve cells, thus reducing nerve damage and brain function losses following a stroke. Prof. Dr. Hilmar Bading and his team received the 2016 German BioRegions Innovation Prize for their invention and have set up a company called FundaMental Pharma to further accelerate the development of a marketable medicinal product.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/a-nasal-spray-for-treating-neurodegenerative-diseases
Article - 28/01/2016 Crowdsourcing initiative to tackle Alzheimer’s The BioMed X Innovation Center and the biopharmaceutical company AbbVie Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG have used crowdsourcing to set up a team of scientists from renowned international institutions to investigate new options for treating Alzheimer’s disease. The team are looking for targets in the metabolism of tau proteins and its pathological modifications that can be used to develop drugs to treat Alzheimer’s disease.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/crowdsourcing-initiative-to-tackle-alzheimers
Article - 07/12/2015 Microglial cells – the health police of Alzheimer’s It starts with memory loss and disorientation. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common type of dementia and is characterised by the loss of neurons and synapses in the brain resulting from the aggregation of beta amyloid protein fragments into fibrils and plaques. Prof. Dr. Knut Biber and his team from the Division of Molecular Psychiatry at Freiburg University Medical Center have analysed these plaques in an in vivo-like cell culture system. They…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/microglial-cells-the-health-police-of-alzheimers
Article - 19/11/2015 Immune cells are reprogrammed in Alzheimer’s brains Scientists from the Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research at the University of Tübingen are pursuing an innovative treatment approach for Alzheimer’s disease using immune cells to eliminate the protein deposits that are the hallmark of Alzheimer’s. Dr. Jonas Neher and his team tested whether exchanging brain-specific immune cells with fresh, more active cells has a positive effect on the disease. https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/immune-cells-are-reprogrammed-in-alzheimers-brains
Article - 01/06/2015 A protein complex that maintains order in the cell Researchers believe that the defective transport of proteins can be linked with diseases such as Alzheimer’s. Prof. Dr. Elke Deuerling and Dr. Martin Gamerdinger, molecular biologists from the University of Konstanz, have now discovered what is necessary to prevent erroneous protein transport.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/a-protein-complex-that-maintains-order-in-the-cell
Article - 10/11/2014 Alzheimer: amyloid-beta triggers mitochondrial dysfunction Neurons are very sensitive to disturbances and many different functions are no longer able to work efficiently when the power supply is impaired. Prof. Dr. Chris Meisinger and his team at the Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Freiburg have found that amyloid-beta peptides block important enzymes in the mitochondria resulting in mitochondrial dysfunction.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/alzheimer-amyloid-beta-triggers-mitochondrial-dysfunction
Article - 03/11/2014 Dementia and the prion principle Prions are misfolded proteins that are associated with diseases such as BSE, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and scrapie. What makes prions particularly dangerous is their ability to induce properly folded proteins to convert into misfolded prion forms. This principle seems to be more widespread than previously thought. Dr. Mathias Jucker from the University of Tübingen and his American colleague Lary Walker from Emory University have put forward a…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/dementia-and-the-prion-principle
Article - 07/10/2013 Hans Kestler brings order to biological data Hans Kestler works on the borders between the faculties, administration and different disciplines at Ulm University. Molecular biologists and life scientists at Ulm University fight over the lively engineer who is in his late forties. They all need the assistance of the systems biologist who knows how to deal with the enormous amounts of data they produce using mathematical models and algorithms.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/hans-kestler-brings-order-to-biological-data
Article - 21/05/2013 Green gold: bioactive plant foods Nowadays everything must be good for something must have a direct noticeable or tangible effect. The ever topical issue of nutrition is no exception. All this makes functional food a promising and inexhaustible market. Teams of scientists around the world are focussing on how unhealthy food can be made healthy. Bioactive plant foods are expected to close a gap that should not have existed in the first place. https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/green-gold-bioactive-plant-foods
Article - 18/03/2013 Protein depositions in the brain promote the development of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) Being aware of ones own physical degradation as intellect and cognition remain completely intact this is what the disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis ALS also known as Lou Gehrigs disease means to sufferers. The disease is currently not curable as far too little is known as yet about its causes. However basic research is making progress and providing increasing insights into the causes of ALS. Dr. Günter Fritz and his colleagues from the…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/protein-depositions-in-the-brain-promote-the-development-of-amyotrophic-lateral-sclerosis-als
Article - 28/01/2013 Dietmar Thal and the Alzheimer ABC The initial consensus guidelines for the postmortem diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease were published in 1997. In the same year, Dietmar Thal started his four-year research project at the Institute of Anatomy at the University of Frankfurt under the supervision of Heiko Braak, who was then one of the leading figures in Alzheimer’s research, notably for his achievements in grading the presence and distribution of tau tangles in the brain in 1991. In…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/dietmar-thal-and-the-alzheimer-abc
Article - 24/09/2012 Alzheimer’s disease researchers look into nutrition: can antioxidants protect against Alzheimer's? Citrus fruit and carrots protect against Alzheimer’s disease, a press release recently published by the University of Ulm suggests. A closer look at the language used though reveals the statement to be rather hypothetical. However, accuracy does not seem to be a concern of articles aimed at the general public, and this is exactly how expectations and hype are created. The neurologist Christine von Arnim now faces the - not inconsiderable - task…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/alzheimer-s-disease-researchers-look-into-nutrition-can-antioxidants-protect-against-alzheimer-s