Healthcare industry

Immune cells sometimes kick over the traces. This could lead to allergic reactions. At the Freiburg Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology a group of researchers led by Professor Michael Huber is investigating the mechanisms that can prevent this from happening.

Article - 03/09/2009

The lipid metabolism and the immune system

What has the lipid metabolism of the human body got to do with inflammation? Scientists in Dr. Petra May’s group at the Centre for Neuroscience at the University of Freiburg recently found that molecules which normally regulate the availability of cholesterol and other water-insoluble substances, also interact with the signalling networks of the immune system. According to their findings, a receptor which mediates the uptake of certain…

Article - 08/12/2009

Sentinels against microbial invaders

Dendritic cells are sentinels of the innate immune system that activate the adaptive immune system when infectious microorganisms enter the body. Prof. Dr. Klaus Heeg and his team from the Department of Infectiology at the University of Heidelberg are focusing on the complex signalling pathways that link the innate and adaptive immune systems.

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.

Article - 15/12/2009

Arming the immune system against cancer

The theory that immune cells are able to attack tumours has long been a theory with only a minority of supporters. However, this theory is currently experiencing a renaissance. In the future, it might even be possible to specifically alter T-lymphocytes in order to improve their ability to identify and destroy certain tumour types. Prof. Dr. Hanspeter Pircher and his team at the Freiburg University Medical Centre are focusing on the development…

Infections pose an increasing risk to hospitalized patients. In collaboration with a number of partners, the Fraunhofer IGB has developed a new therapeutic approach as part of the InnateFun project. Their strategy is to improve cells’ ability to defend themselves against harmful microorganisms by acting on their immune receptors. The researchers’ work on this therapeutic approach has reached the animal model stage.

Press release - 07/08/2010

Light into the darkness of the human immune system

Scientists from the Department of Molecular Immunology at the Faculty of Biology and the Centre for Biological Signalling Studies (BIOSS) at the University of Freiburg have discovered a new mechanism that regulates the development of B-lymphocytes in the human bone marrow.

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…

Press release - 30/06/2009

Gentle rather than radical: ways to improve the treatment of autoimmune diseases

Autoimmune diseases are usually treated with drugs that block the entire immune system rendering the body very susceptible to all kinds of infections. A team of Constance researchers under the leadership of Prof. Marcus Groettrup has developed a treatment method that only targets part of the immune system and is therefore far better tolerated by patients.

Article - 11/02/2013

Cholesterol boosts the memory of the immune system

Cholesterol has been demonised for a long time as high cholesterol levels are seen as major risk factors for atherosclerosis myocardial infarction and gallstones. However cholesterol is an essential component of mammalian cell membranes and is required for proper membrane function. It exists in huge quantities in the human body. In addition to being essential for cell survival and hence all animal life in general cholesterol also plays a crucial…

Article - 09/03/2015

Treating cancer by activating the immune system

Vaccines that prevent infection with cancer-causing viruses are already available. Moreover, the development of therapeutic vaccines for the treatment of a number of other cancers is well under way. These vaccines not only prevent the development of cancer, but also treat early stages of cancer. Antigen-armed antibodies have long been used in vaccines against infectious diseases, and can now also be used for treating cancer.

Article - 30/03/2015

How psychological stress weakens the immune system

Too much stress makes you sick – this is the widely held opinion. But exactly how chronic psychological stress affects our body is not yet fully understood. This is the question Dr. Annette Sommershof and her team from the University of Konstanz are trying to answer. The scientists are exploring stress-related changes in the immune system and have found evidence for the observation that long-term stress weakens the immune system, resulting in…

Article - 07/01/2016

New protein helps B cells generate an effective immune response

The human immune system plays a key role for human health. Dr. Gina Fiala, a scientist in Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Schamel’s team in the Department of Immunology at Freiburg University, has discovered Kidins220/ARMS in B cells. Kidins220/ARMS is part of the adaptive immune system where it plays a key role in the maturation of B cells.

Article - 22/12/2014

The immune system – both weak and overreactive in the absence of CTLA4

The ability to recognise a pathogen and combat it effectively is certainly one of the most complex and sophisticated processes the human body has evolved. People with an immunodeficiency or autoimmune disease may have a genetic defect in one of the genes involved in the immune response. Working with immunologists from London scientists Desire Schubert and Prof. Dr. Bodo Grimbacher from the Centre for Chronic Immunodeficiency CCI at the Freiburg…

Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB - 24/04/2020

A rapid pyrogen test: the human immune system as model

Every year, around 11 million people die of sepsis (blood poisoning) caused by microorganisms or microbial residues, known as pyrogens, entering the bloodstream. The smallest amounts can trigger fever. Researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB in Stuttgart have developed a pyrogen test that does not require a laboratory and is not tested on animals. It is expected to be placed on the market soon.

Article - 29/04/2021

Nanobodies for determining neutralising antibodies after corona infection

After contact with a pathogen, ideally our immune system generates neutralising antibodies to prevent a future infection. With NeutrobodyPlex, scientists from Reutlingen and Tübingen have developed a highly specific test procedure based on single-domain antibodies (nanobodies) that can be used to easily and reliably determine the quality of the immune response against the novel coronavirus.

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.

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.

A new Clinical Research Unit at the University of Ulm is to investigate the early inflammation response and the positive impact on the immune system in casualty injuries. The insights gained will be transferred to patients.

Staying healthy as you get older that is probably what many people would wish for. As part of the European research network LifeSpan 130 scientists are now looking into how to make this wish come true. Prof. Dr. Graham Pawelec from the University Hospital of Tübingen UKT is one of the 130 scientists and his principal focus is immunological ageing processes.

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.

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.

Article - 08/09/2014

Thomas Boehm – pushing back the frontiers of knowledge

The comparison of different animal species enables us to understand the crucial principle of immune defence on condition that the right investigative approach is chosen. Prof. Dr. Thomas Boehm director of the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics in Freiburg has been doing just this for many years. Based on insights into fundamental immune system functions Boehms research is aimed at developing new strategies for the diagnosis…

The Dr. Ernst Wiethoff Award 2008 for innovative clinical research worth 25000 euros was presented to Jan Münch from the Institute of Virology at the University Hospital of Ulm. Münch discovered a new protein that blocks the HI virus.

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