Assay to support the diagnosis of autoimmune diseases - 22/06/2022 Tracking down pathogenic immune complexes Soluble complexes of antibodies and their target structures circulating in the blood can trigger serious systemic inflammations. Dr. Philipp Kolb and Haizhang Chen from the Institute of Virology at the Freiburg University Medical Centre have developed a sensitive, cell-based test system for detecting these immune complexes. The system can be used to diagnose systemic autoimmune diseases, and also severe cases of COVID-19.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/tracking-down-pathogenic-immune-complexes
Press release - 06/11/2023 Improving the efficacy of cancer immunotherapy with modified CAR-T cells CAR-T cell therapy is a last hope for many patients with blood, bone marrow or lymph gland cancer when other treatments are unsuccessful. A limiting factor of this very effective and safe therapy is that the cells used in the process quickly reach a state of exhaustion. Researchers at the University of Freiburg have now been able to prevent this exhaustion and thus significantly improve the effect of the therapy in a preclinical animal model.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/improving-efficacy-cancer-immunotherapy-modified-car-t-cells
Article - 22/10/2019 Using CAR T cells for treating cancer After successes in the treatment of advanced blood cancers, CAR T-cell immunotherapy has become a major beacon of hope in oncology. The first therapies have received regulatory approval. Despite their success, these immunotherapies can have serious side effects. The company AVA Lifescience develops antibodies with high tumour specificity to use as the basis for effective precision-guided CAR T-cell therapies that are better tolerated by patients.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/using-car-t-cells-for-treating-cancer
Press release - 01/03/2024 Using Data to Improve Understanding of Relationships between Proteins and Diseases Working with a new Emmy Noether Group, Dr. Pascal Schlosser is investigating how machine learning can aid in understanding the complex relationships between genes, proteins, and diseases.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/using-data-improve-understanding-relationships-between-proteins-and-diseases
microRNA as a prognostic biomarker - 13/01/2022 Heart attack diagnosis: fast and unambiguous thanks to artificial intelligence People that arrive in emergency rooms with chest pain require swift action in order to rule out a heart attack or to initiate vital life-saving therapy. However, despite many advances, current tests are not yet optimal: they either take hours or produce false-positive results. Researchers at Heidelberg University Hospital are now using AI in an approach that takes microRNAs from a blood sample to specifically diagnose ‘acute coronary syndrome’.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/heart-attack-diagnosis-fast-and-unambiguous-thanks-artificial-intelligence
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.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/Ulms-simulator-has-europes-back
Press release - 16/06/2023 What determines whether breast cancer cells can form metastases? In most cancers, it is not the growth of the primary tumor that determines the prognosis for the patient, but whether it will spread and form metastases. This process is very complex. There are often years between the development of the cancer and the aggressive growth of the metastases. Scientists from the DKFZ, the HI-STEM, the Ruhr University Bochum, Helmholtz Munich and ETH Zurich have studied and identified metastasis growth in breast cancerhttps://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/what-determines-whether-breast-cancer-cells-can-form-metastases
Article - 11/06/2019 New pathogens in beef and cow's milk contributing to the risk of cancer A team of researchers led by Nobel laureate Prof. Dr. med. Dr. h.c. mult. Harald zur Hausen has discovered a new type of infectious agent in dairy and meat products produced from European cattle that increases the risk for colon and breast cancer. These so-called Bovine Meat and Milk Factors (BMMFs) are small DNA molecules that are similar in sequence to both bacterial plasmids and certain viruses.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/new-pathogens-in-beef-and-cows-milk-contributing-to-the-risk-of-cancer
Dossier - 18/11/2013 Innovative textiles made possible by biotechnology https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/dossier/innovative-textiles-made-possible-by-biotechnology
Press release - 21/09/2022 ERC funding: How to deliver gene therapies to a specific target site? With its "Proof of Concept" grants, the European Research Council ERC supports scientists in further developing the commercial potential of their research results. Nina Papavasiliou from the DKFZ is now receiving the prestigious grant for the second time: she wants to advance the development of a "molecular delivery service" that ensures that therapeutic genes reach the right address in the body in a targeted manner.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/erc-funding-how-deliver-gene-therapies-specific-target-site
Elastin as artificial muscle material - 02/03/2022 Artificial muscle from proteins for diverse future applications As far as diversity and complexity are concerned, proteins are nature's smallest marvels. Biotechnologists have already used natural proteins as a basis for the development, bespoke design and production of artificial systems. This is what the livMatS cluster of excellence at the University of Freiburg has been doing. Researchers in the cluster have successfully produced an artificial muscle from elastin that functions autonomously.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/artificial-muscle-proteins-diverse-future-applications
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 - 06/02/2023 Fewer side effects thanks to personalised medicine Patients have 30 percent fewer serious side effects when medication doses are tailored to their genetic profile. This is what an international research consortium has found out, including the Dr. Margarete Fischer-Bosch Institute of Clinical Pharmacology at the Bosch Health Campus. With an individual DNA medication pass, as used in the study, treatments can be made more effective and safer in the future.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/weniger-nebenwirkungen-dank-personalisierter-medizin
Press release - 28/01/2022 Artificial Muscles Made of Proteins Dr. Stefan Schiller and Dr. Matthias Huber from the University of Freiburg’s livMatS Cluster of Excellence have succeeded in developing a muscle solely on the basis of natural proteins. The autonomous contractions of the material, which the researchers presented in the journal Advanced Intelligent Systems, can be controlled with the help of pH and temperature changes.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/artificial-muscles-made-proteins
Press release - 17/01/2023 Endogenous molecule protects from life-threatening complications after stem-cell transplantation Acute Graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) is a life-threatening complication after leukemia treatment with allogeneic stem cell transplantation i.e. the transplantation of cells from another person. GvHD occurs when the transplanted immune cells are overly active and damage the receiving patient's healthy tissue. Researchers found that an endogenous molecule can mitigate this misdirected immune response.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/koerpereigenes-molekuel-schuetzt-vor-lebensbedrohlichen-komplikationen-nach-stammzelltransplantation
Press release - 25/10/2021 How the "thermostat" in the brain measures impending overheating The mechanisms by which the body measures temperature and regulates its own body heat are vital, but still poorly understood. The discovery of the first heat sensor on nerve cells in the skin, for which the U.S. molecular biologist David Julius received this year's Nobel Prize for Medicine, was therefore pioneering.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/how-thermostat-brain-measures-impending-overheating
Press release - 31/01/2023 ERC Consolidator Grants for Two Researchers from KIT In the 2022 allocation round for the award of the prestigious Consolidator Grants of the European Research Council, researchers of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have been successful. For their projects in the fields of photovoltaics and medical sensor technology, physicist Ulrich W. Paetzold and chemist Frank Biedermann will receive approximately two million euros over the next five years.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/erc-consolidator-grants-fuer-zwei-forscher-des-kit
Press release - 04/10/2023 Therapeutic option for tumor patients with the rare DNAJB1-PRKACA gene fusion A phase I clinical trial is now starting at Tuebingen University Hospital in the Clinical Collaboration Unit (CCU) Translational Immunology, in collaboration with the Department of Internal Medicine I, which is investigating the therapeutic cancer peptide vaccine Fusion-VAC-XS15 in combination with immune checkpoint blockade by atezolizumab (Tecentriq®). https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/therapeutic-option-tumor-patients-rare-dnajb1-prkaca-gene-fusion
Article - 22/03/2019 Personalised therapies for treating metastasing breast cancer Breast cancer is characterised by broad genetic diversity. Successful treatment is made even more difficult by the fact that, in advanced breast cancer, the properties of metastases often differ significantly from the primary tumour. The Heidelberg CATCH study is now collecting genetic profiles from patients' metastasis tissue samples, which can be used to tailor therapy to individual requirements.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/personalisierte-therapieansaetze-bei-metastasiertem-brustkrebs
Press release - 25/05/2021 From harmless skin bacteria to dreaded pathogens The bacterium Staphylococcus epidermidisis primarily a harmless microbe found on the skin and in the noses of humans. Yet some strains of this species can cause infections – in catheters, artificial joints, heart valves, and in the bloodstream – which are difficult to treat. These bacteria are often resistant to a particularly effective antibiotic, methicillin, and are among the most feared germs in hospitals.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/harmless-skin-bacteria-dreaded-pathogens
Press release - 25/10/2023 Epigenetically acting drugs could support cancer immunotherapy Epigenetically active drugs enable the cell to read parts of the genome that were previously blocked and inaccessible. This leads to the formation of new mRNA transcripts and also new proteins, as scientists from the German Cancer Research Center and the University Hospital Tübingen have now published. These "therapy-induced epitopes" could help the immune system recognize cancer cells.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/epigenetically-acting-drugs-could-support-cancer-immunotherapy
Press release - 25/10/2023 Epigenetically acting drugs could support cancer immunotherapy Epigenetically active drugs enable the cell to read parts of the genome that were previously blocked and inaccessible. This leads to the formation of new mRNA transcripts and also new proteins, as scientists from the German Cancer Research Center and the University Hospital Tübingen have now published. These "therapy-induced epitopes" could help the immune system recognize cancer cells.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/epigenetisch-wirkende-medikamente-koennten-krebs-immuntherapie-unterstuetzen
Press release - 23/11/2021 Multi-peptide vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 shows strong T-cell immune response At the University Hospital Tübingen, clinical evaluation of an in-house developed vaccine (CoVac-1) against SARS-CoV-2 was started in November 2020 under the direction of Prof. Dr. Juliane Walz in the CCU Translational Immunology of the Medical Clinic (Medical Director Prof. Dr. Helmut Salih). Now the results of the Phase I study are available and demonstrate a potent activation of the T-cell response against the coronavirus.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/multi-peptide-vaccine-against-sars-cov-2-shows-strong-t-cell-immune-response
Dossier - 19/08/2013 Telemedicine advances in high-tech healthcare https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/dossier/telemedicine-advances-in-high-tech-healthcare
Press release - 24/01/2023 What keeps the immune defense in brain tumors functional Cancer immunotherapies often fail because the immune cells are paralysed by immunosuppressive conditions in the tumor. Scientists from Heidelberg, Mannheim and Tel Aviv have now shown on tissue samples from patients as well as on tumor models in mice that the functionality of the immune defence depends decisively on certain helper cells.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/was-die-abwehrzellen-hirntumoren-funktionsfaehig-haelt