Healthcare industry

Macrophages interacting with cytomegaloviruses - 22/02/2022

Cytomegaloviruses subvert macrophage identity

Cytomegaloviruses are basically harmless. However, if they occur along with other pathogens, they can trigger serious diseases. They can manipulate our immune system and encourage resident defence cells to migrate. Researchers at the Centre for Chronic Immunodeficiency (CCI) at the Freiburg University Medical Centre have discovered which mechanisms underlie the behavioural changes in macrophages that make it easier for other pathogens to attack.

Scientists of the Translational Lung Research Center Heidelberg (TLRC) and the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) have discovered a new link between excessive airway mucus and chronic airway inflammation that is characteristic of cystic fibrosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The researchers showed that mucus in the airways reprograms certain cells of the immune system.

Christiane Opitz, scientist at the German Cancer Research Center, is being awarded this year's Ita Askonas Prize of the European Federation of Immunological Societies. Opitz has discovered how tumor cells use certain metabolites to protect themselves against the immune system. Her research findings may provide important clues for the development of new therapeutic concepts.

Signal mechanisms in inflammatory processes - 18/05/2021

Newly discovered substances activate the inflammasome in macrophages

Low-grade chronic inflammation caused by components of the innate immune system may increase the risk of developing a variety of diseases in the long term. In their search for the signalling mechanisms underlying these inflammatory processes, Prof. Dr. Olaf Groß' research group at the Freiburg University Medical Centre discovered new active substances with immunostimulatory properties that may open up additional possibilities in cancer…

Intestinal peptide heals lung - 14/10/2020

Inhalation of intestinal hormone VIP helps against immunotherapy-induced pneumonia

If cancer patients develop pneumonitis, an inflammation of the lungs resulting from immunotherapy, their symptoms and restrictions in lung function can often only be alleviated with cortisone. Researchers led by Prof. Dr. Joachim Müller-Quernheim and Dr. Björn Frye from the Freiburg University Medical Centre have been able to cure a patient's pneumonitis by inhalation of a long-known neuropeptide.

Affimed GmbH - 01/07/2020

"Innate cell engagers" to fight cancer

In the fight against tumour cells, d Affimed GmbH from Heidelberg relies entirely on the weapons of the innate immune system. Affimed has developed special innate cell engagers, which are bispecific antibodies that recognise tumour cells and bring them together with natural killer cells and macrophages of the innate immune system, which then kill the tumour cells. Clinical trials using the AFM13 molecule are ongoing.

Dossier - 06/12/2019

Microbiome: human health is closely connected with our microbial communities

People have 1.3 times more microorganisms than body cells. This microbial community influences how we digest our food, how active our immune system is, as well as whether we tend to be more anxious or curious. A number of diseases have also been shown to be associated with a disturbed microbiome. Researchers still have a long way to go before the knowledge acquired can be used for developing therapies.

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.

TolerogenixX GmbH has developed a patented and clinically tested cell therapy technique for individualised immunosuppression in transplant patients. The technique enables the targeted disabling of undesired reactions caused by the immune system’s defences. As a seed stage investor, High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) will finance this innovative technique and the preparations for Phase II of the clinical trial, which begins in spring 2018. Further…

Article - 20/09/2016

CRISPR-Cas has more surprises in store

Since 2012, a DFG-funded research group called FOR1680 has been studying CRISPR-Cas, an immune system that unicellular bacteria and arachaea use to protect themselves against attacks from viruses and plasmids. Prof. Dr. Anita Marchfelder, a molecular biologist at Ulm University and coordinator of the FOR1680 research group, and many other researchers were surprised to find that prokaryotes incorporate the genetic material of enemies as a kind of…

Article - 18/08/2016

Chronic viral infections of the liver

Hepatitis B and hepatitis C are two of the most common infectious diseases in the world. They often take a chronic course and carry a high risk of progressing to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. A new transregional collaborative research centre involving scientists from Heidelberg and Freiburg is looking into how hepatitis B and hepatitis C viruses, which have different symptoms and treatments, are able to evade the immune system and allow…

Article - 19/07/2016

Licence to kill – the enormous potential of CAR T cells

With 6 million euros of EU funding, the CARAT project aims to optimise a technology called CAR T that is used to equip T cells with antibody fragments and specifically direct them to destroy cancer cells. The CARAT consortium comprises a multinational team of experts from the Institute for Cell- and Gene Therapy at the Freiburg University Medical Center led by Prof. Dr. Toni Cathomen and seven partner institutions. Cathomen’s team is developing…

Article - 11/07/2016

The toxin of natural killer cells

Natural killer cells kill tumour cells by injecting the protein HMGB1, which blocks the production of cellular energy by aerobic respiration. Researchers from Heidelberg have elucidated this previously unknown cancer defence mechanism and are now in the process of developing a new immunotherapy for treating cancer patients.

Company profile - 27/06/2016

Atriva Therapeutics GmbH: new ways to treat influenza

Influenza viruses constantly change and mutate. This makes treatment difficult and vaccination rather touch and go. But what about targeting virus-manipulated cell events rather than using the virus itself as drug target? Atriva Therapeutics GmbH, a start-up company from Tübingen, shows how this works.

Article - 23/06/2016

The body’s immune system loosens artificial joints

Hip and knee endoprostheses are not nearly as long-lasting as their natural counterparts. Dr. Ulrike Dapunt from the University Hospital Heidelberg’s Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology has now discovered that it is not the bacterial activity or secretions that lead to the degradation of bone during chronic inflammation, but rather local host defence mechanisms.

Article - 20/06/2016

Activation of the innate immune system against metastatic colorectal cancer

Researchers from Heidelberg have shown that instead of fighting cancer cells, macrophages of the innate immune system promote the growth of metastases in people with metastatic colorectal cancer. They have also shown that a signal inhibitor used to treat HIV infections reactivates macrophages so that they gain the ability to destroy cancer cells. A clinical phase I study has confirmed the antitumoral effects of this drug.

Dossier - 14/06/2016

CRISPR/Cas – genome editing is becoming increasingly popular

The number of publications and patents that involve the CRISPR/Cas system has been increasing exponentially since the technique was first described a few years ago. The increase in funding for projects involving CRISPR/Cas also demonstrates how powerful this new method is. The targeted modification of genomes (also called gene editing or genome editing) using CRISPR/Cas is extraordinarily accurate and also has the potential to cure hereditary…

Article - 02/05/2016

Hepatitis C: a new starting point for vaccine development

With approximately 150,000 infected people in Germany, hepatitis C is a common disease for which therapies, but no vaccine, are available. Dr. Tobias Böttler from the Freiburg University Medical Center and his team are exploring the body’s immune response to the hepatitis C virus (HCV) and have found valuable information that could be used for vaccine development.

Article - 11/04/2016

Glycovirology: carbohydrate molecules against infections

Many viruses enter cells by way of carbohydrate molecules known as glycans to which they bind during the initial steps of infection. However, it is still largely unknown how glycan-mediated infection proceeds. This is about to change with a working group that has been set up by the DFG at the University of Tübingen and five other universities. The group will focus on glycovirology, a new scientific area that aims to understand the…

Article - 15/02/2016

Bacteria – a treasure box for genetic engineers

Bacteria have developed a versatile defence system to protect themselves against viral infections. One of these defence tools, known as CRISPR/Cas9 system, is currently hogging the headlines as it promises to revolutionise the way genetic material can be modified. Prof. Rolf Backofen from the Institute of Bioinformatics at the University of Freiburg has managed to classify the defence system of all bacterial species sequenced to date. This will…

Article - 23/11/2015

Double-secured immune protection against plant attackers

Plants have sophisticated defence mechanisms to help them fight off all kinds of pathogens. A group of researchers led by Dr. Gabriel Schaaf at the University of Tübingen’s ZMBP has now discovered that plants’ immune response is more similar to the innate immune system of humans and animals than previously thought.

Dossier - 09/09/2013

New trends in the field of immunology

B- and T- lymphocytes along with macrophages have long been regarded as the most important cells of the human immune system and have thus been a major focus of research. This has now changed and it is now the dendritic cells that are regarded as the major components of the adaptive immune system and have become a major focus of scientific interest. Research into innate immune defence mechanisms has also become more important due to the discovery…

Article - 18/02/2013

AIDS researchers from Ulm to shed light on the success of the HIV-1 M group

Frank Kirchhoff AIDS researcher at the University of Ulm has come up with a plausible explanation for the pandemic spread of the human immunodeficiency virus 1 HIV-1 M group and its ability to adapt to the human immune system. In a recent study with colleagues from Germany and abroad Kirchhoff used molecular biology methods to investigate the group and compare it with the relatively rare HIV-1 N group. Kirchhoff hopes that the molecular…

Dossier - 22/08/2011

Stress and molecular defence mechanisms

Organisms can experience stress from exposure to bacteria and pathogenic fungi; in fact, stress can arise from exposure to any type of environmental influence. As they have evolved, biological cells have developed numerous molecular mechanisms that enable them to survive even in inhospitable conditions. What kind of effects do abiotic stress factors have on plants and human beings? How do cells protect themselves? Are researchers able to increase…

Article - 28/02/2011

The regulation of the intestinal immune system

If the interplay of factors that regulate the intestinal immune system tips out of balance, this could result in allergic reactions or serious inflammatory intestinal diseases. Professor Dr. med. Stefan Meuer, Managing Director of the Institute for Immunology at the University Hospital in Heidelberg, is focusing on the molecular mechanisms of mucosal immune regulation.