Healthcare industry

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.

Article - 09/02/2015

Joining forces to develop anti-cancer immunotherapies

No cancer therapy is currently achieving such promising results as immunotherapy. The German Cancer Research Center and Bayer HealthCare have established a joint laboratory to develop novel immunotherapies that selectively reactivate the body’s own immune system and incite it to attack tumour cells, thereby supporting the faster translation of concepts from the laboratory into clinical application.

Press release - 30/03/2011

Scientists Find Cause of Fatal Inflammation of the Heart Muscle

Scientists of the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ), jointly with colleagues in the United States, have found out that inflammations of the heart muscle are caused by attacks of a specific type of immune cells. These immune cells attack the body’s own tissue because during their maturation they did not have the chance to develop tolerance against a protein that is only found in the heart muscle.

Press release - 09/07/2009

Marcus Groettrup: Discovery in the kingdom of cells

Prof. Marcus Groettrup has been closely investigating the daily defence battle of the human immune system for a number of years. The researcher from Constance has now found a substance that has the potential to revolutionise the treatment of rheumatism.

Article - 14/11/2011

Marina Freudenberg and Chris Galanos – more than 40 years of bacterial defence research

This years Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology was awarded to three renowned scientists one of whom is the American Bruce Beutler who was instrumental in clarifying the structure of the mammalian Toll-like 4 TLR4 receptor. Prof. Dr. med. Marina Freudenberg and Dr. Dr. h.c. Chris Galanos from the Freiburg-based Max Planck Institute MPI of Immunobiology and Epigenetics have co-authored the key publication that led to the award of the Nobel Prize…

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 - 22/02/2010

Immune system discovers mould fungi through surface structures

Mould fungus spores which are found in air aerosols are constantly being taken up in the air we inhale. As a rule this poses no danger to healthy people. However depending on the quantity of spores inhaled and the duration of exposure mould fungi could possibly lead or contribute to lung diseases and allergies. Dr. Mardas Daneshian and his team at the University of Constance are focusing on the immunostimulatory capacity of fungal spores. The…

Dossier - 13/04/2015

Boosting the immune system can improve cancer prevention and treatment

The activation of the body’s immune system to fight cancer is not only a promising therapeutic concept, but is already used in medical practice. The first immunotherapies have been approved and many more are either in the experimental stages or already undergoing clinical testing. Vaccines to prevent certain types of cancer are already being used successfully around the world.

The development of immunotherapies against blood cancer could be more successful if T cells are activated moderately rather than excessively. Scientists from the German Cancer Research Center have now been able to show this in mice: If the researchers blocked a cytokine that slows down the immune system, the T cells became exhausted and failed in the fight against leukemia.

The latest articles, press releases and dossiers on red biotechnology in Baden-Württemberg

Press release - 10/12/2012

Cocktail boosts immune cells in fighting cancer

Natural killer cells (or NK cells), as part of the body´s immune system, can effectively fight cancer. Unfortunately, they quickly lose their aggressiveness and hence are unable to reject solid tumors. Scientists from the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ) have now discovered a cocktail consisting of three different immune mediators that leaves NK killer cells active over a long period of time. In mice,…

Cancer cells use tricks to evade the immune system. Thus, for example, they attract specific blood cells which suppress the body’s own defense mechanisms. Scientists of the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ), collaborating with colleagues of the University Surgical Hospital in Heidelberg and an international research team, have investigated these processes in bowel cancer. The results of their research have now…

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.

Article - 15/03/2010

Andreas Diefenbach: A molecular approach to disease mechanisms

Prof. Dr. Andreas Diefenbach began his academic career as a philosophy student. Nowadays, the immunologist at the Freiburg University Medical Centre investigates how cells of the innate immune system fight off cancer and infections. He believes that, in contrast to all other subjects, immunology is an area that very much focuses on concepts. Diefenbach’s research frequently gives rise to situations needing new paradigms.

Article - 21/04/2009

Two separate defence systems?

Are the innate and the adaptive immune systems really completely independent from each other? Dr. Mathias Lucas from the University of Freiburg investigates receptor proteins that are found in the cells of both systems. It is possible that such systems might not only play a role in infections or cancer, but also in autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis.

Brain tumor cells with a certain common mutation reprogram invading immune cells. This leads to the paralysis of the body's immune defense against the tumor in the brain. Researchers from Heidelberg, Mannheim, and Freiburg discovered this mechanism and at the same time identified a way of reactivating the paralyzed immune system to fight the tumor.

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…

Press release - 08/01/2010

Harmless or lethal? Insilico Furthers Research on Fungal Infections

Candida albicans is a harmless yeast fungus – at least most of the time. However, if the immune system is weak, then the fungus normally found on everyone’s skin and mucous membranes can become a lethal threat. Insilico Biotechnology is participating in a joint project funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), in which interactions between fungus and human host cells are to be studied on the molecular level with the…

Article - 17/02/2021

Whole blood model enables development of early warning system for sepsis

Sepsis is a life-threatening disease that can be treated all the more successfully the faster therapy is initiated. It is not just the infection itself that is so dangerous, but a dysregulated response of the immune system. Physicians at Ulm University Hospital have now developed an animal-free test system that can be used to research the disease and develop innovative diagnostic tools to quickly assess a patient's sepsis risk and optimise…

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.

Dr. Adelheid Cerwenka was awarded the Georges Köhler Prize 2009 for her outstanding achievements in her research on natural killer cells and their importance in the defence against tumours. The Georges Köhler Prize, which is sponsored by the Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG and awarded by the German Society of Immunology, comes with a purse of €3000. The prize is given to scientists under 40 for outstanding research into the immune system.

Article - 18/03/2010

Cancer treatment adapted to individual patient requirements

There is still no treatment available for a number of non-Hodgkin B-cell lymphomas. Chemotherapy, which is the standard method of treating the lymphomas, has unpleasant side effects. Researchers led by Prof. Dr. Hendrik Veelken at the Freiburg University Medical Centre in cooperation with Freiburg-based CellGenix Technologie Transfer GmbH have developed a promising new treatment strategy. Results of the Phase I and the Phase II study, which has…

Booster for neutrophil granulocytes - 27/10/2021

Acetate supports immune cells to fight against sepsis

Blood poisoning is the most dangerous complication of bacterial infections and often leads to death. Researchers at the Interfaculty Institute of Microbiology and Infection Medicine at the University of Tübingen have now identified acetate as a potent agent for stimulating innate immune system cells, supporting their ability to destroy bacteria.

Press release - 03/10/2011

Astonishing discovery: iron-overloading of macrophages is the cause of venous leg ulcers

Around three to five per cent of people in industrial nations suffer from chronic venous leg ulcers. Elderly people are particularly prone to developing these chronic wounds. A dermatologist from Ulm has now discovered the reason why chronic venous leg ulcers fail to heal even after months or years. The scientific community is astonished by the new findings.

Dossier - 28/02/2011

Allergies – a major human plague

According to the Federal Health Monitoring Information System a persons life expectancy is reduced by around one per cent due to allergies and their effects. Knowledge about the molecular mechanisms that lead to disorders in the interplay of the immune system and the environment is a prerequisite for developing new therapies for the causal treatment of allergies.