Healthcare industry

Article - 14/03/2011

Mast cells as the central and pivotal points of allergy processes

Mast cells of the human immune system play a key role in allergic and inflammatory reactions. Activated mast cells release a number of substances that mediate an immune response. The process by which such mediators are released is still largely unknown. Scientists from the University of Hohenheim are focusing on finding out how allergic reactions are induced by mast cells.

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,…

Article - 10/06/2021

New study: vaccine therapy for treating patients with chronic leukaemia

Personalised peptide vaccination is expected to improve the treatment of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. A research team from Tübingen has started a Phase I clinical trial with CLL patients who will undergo ibrutinib treatment. Other leukaemia sufferers as well as cancer patients in general are also expected to benefit in the long term.

Tumours develop sophisticated strategies to escape the immune defence. One of these strategies is the modification of the cells sugar coat. Specific immune cell receptors bind to these sugars thereby preventing the tumour cell from being discovered by the immune system. Medics from the University of Tübingen are investigating the mechanisms involved and are looking for therapeutic targets.

Article - 24/11/2015

Researchers from Tübingen set out to thwart viral survival strategies

Around two thirds of people carry the JC polyomavirus, a normally harmless virus that, in immunocompromised patients, can evade the body’s defences and cause a fatal brain infection. An international research network has now found a way to activate the immune system and attack the virus.

Scientists of the University of Heidelberg and the German Cancer Research Centre have clarified the functional principles of an important receptor for bacterial infections: immune cells recognise bacterial and viral pathogens with a receptor known as toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9), which mediates biochemical reaction chains in order to fend off intruders. This discovery made by the Heidelberg researchers paves the way to develop new anti-infective…

Article - 11/05/2015

How Lactobacillus bacteria fight Candida albicans infections

Fungal infections of skin and mucous membranes are relatively common. Around 75 percent of the human population lives with Candida albicans, a fungus that has no harmful effects in people with an intact immune system that can fight off systemic infections. However, in people with immune systems that have been weakened by antibiotics or radiotherapy for example C. albicans infections can lead to sepsis which may even be life-threatening. Prof. Dr.…

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…

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…

Press release - 31/01/2011

Researchers from Stuttgart decipher the function of antibiotics that are naturally produced by the human body

Researchers at the Robert Bosch Hospital RBK and the Dr. Margarete Fischer-Bosch Institute for Clinical Pharmacology IKP in Stuttgart have now deciphered a new mechanism of action of the human immune system that protects against intestinal bacteria and pathogenic yeasts. The internationally renowned scientific journal Nature presents their findings.

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.

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.

Article - 10/11/2009

Fungi as human pathogens

The majority of fungal infections are unpleasant rather than dangerous. But they can be life-threatening for individuals with weakened immune systems. The number of deaths caused by systemic mycoses is currently experiencing a big increase. The pathogenicity of opportunistic fungi such as Candida albicans might potentially be related to their unusual reproduction abilities.

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 - 21/07/2016

New anticancer drugs – hop compounds have the potential to treat cancer

Secondary hop compounds appear to have a positive effect on the immune system and therefore have the potential to be used for the treatment and prevention of cancer. However, the bioavailability of hop compounds in the human body is relatively poor. Researchers from Hohenheim and Tübingen are therefore looking for a way to increase their absorption rate.

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.

Press release - 23/08/2010

Mystery of nickel allergies solved

Researchers from the University of Gießen and the Mannheim Medical Faculty along with colleagues from Freiburg, Münster and Munich, have made a fundamental contribution to deciphering the biological mechanisms behind nickel allergies. The results, which might be of great importance for developing innovative preventive and therapeutic approaches, have now been published in the current edition of “Nature Immunology”.

Press release - 22/06/2009

Many animal experiments are superfluous

Researchers at the Esslingen University of Applied Sciences are working on an alternative to the large number of animal experiments that are still being carried out. Researchers under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Bettina Weiß have received a grant from the Landesstiftung Baden-Württemberg foundation for work on this particular research area.

Researchers use epigenetic factors to investigate the role of stress in the development of tumor diseases. Experts believe that stress plays a major role in the development of tumors. One occupational group, for example, that experiences extreme stress over a short period of time is astronauts.

Press release - 01/08/2012

With broccoli against infections

The microbiologist and immunologist Prof. Dr. Andreas Diefenbach, Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, University of Freiburg Medical Centre, has been awarded a European Research Council "Starting Grant" for his project "NutrImmune". The ERC Starting Grant is one of Europe’s most prestigious grants for young investigators.

Article - 20/10/2014

Michael Schindler: HI virus and host interactions

Prof. Dr. Michael Schindler explores the interaction between viruses and their human host cells on the molecular level. His specific interest is HI virus infections and the mechanisms the virus uses to attack the human immune system. Schindler’s eventual aim is to identify a new target for the therapy of HIV infections. In April 2014, Schindler was appointed head of the Department of Molecular Virology of Human Infectious Diseases at the…

Article - 19/01/2016

Innate immune defence: using peptides against fungi and bacteria

Part of the human immune defence relies on antimicrobial peptides. These peptides, so-called defensins, are present in the gastrointestinal tract where they play a role in the pathogenesis of Crohn’s disease. Prof. Jan Wehkamp and his team of researchers at the University Hospital in Tübingen study how this knowledge can be put to good use for the treatment of Crohn’s and other diseases.

The German Cancer Research Centre and the Spanish company Chimera Pharma SL have signed an exclusive licensing and cooperation agreement. The two partners will develop a therapeutic vaccine against cervical cancer.

Article - 15/10/2012

Vegetables help fend off bacteria in the intestines

Their discovery in the human intestines came as quite a surprise up until a few years ago LTi lymphoid tissue inducer - cells were only known to be involved in the embryonic development of the immune system. A team of researchers led by Prof. Dr. Andreas Diefenbach from the University of Freiburg Medical Centre has since been able to show the protective role played by LTi cells in fortifying the intestinal wall as a reaction to nutrients found…

In a so-called inactivated or killed vaccine, the virus particles it contains are first rendered inactive by means of the toxic chemical formaldehyde. A better way of achieving this, however, is to irradiate the pathogens with low-energy electrons. Four Fraunhofer Institutes have now developed a new method of vaccine production based on this technique that is not only quicker but also guarantees a higher quality of product.