Article - 21/03/2011 Immunotherapy: the rocky road to clinical application Hans-Georg Rammensee has one major goal: he wants to contribute to the successful application of immunotherapy in clinical settings and is convinced that this will only be possible once individualised immunotherapies are used. Individualised immunotherapy refers to the induction of a specific immune response against specific tumour-associated antigens. Rammensee has made major progress in this area and is now focused on overcoming the obstacles…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/immunotherapy-the-rocky-road-to-clinical-application
Article - 20/03/2011 Non-pathogenic bacteria for the treatment and prevention of allergies Researchers and physicians from the Department of Dermatology at Tübingen University Hospital are investigating huge numbers of non-pathogenic bacteria with the aim of shedding light on their potential for the prevention and treatment of allergies. The mode of action of highly promising candidates is being investigated in further detail. https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/non-pathogenic-bacteria-for-the-treatment-and-prevention-of-allergies
Article - 18/03/2011 Allergen research – present and future An allergy is a hypersensitivity disorder of the immune system. It is an exaggerated immune reaction to external stimuli such as pollen and is associated with symptoms that range in degree from uncomfortable (hay fever, asthma) to life-threatening (anaphylactic shock). Dr. Thomas Bethke, Medical Director of Nycomed Germany, explains in the following interview how a drug manufacturer approaches the research and development of anti-allergy…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/allergen-research-present-and-future
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.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/mast-cells-as-the-central-and-pivotal-points-of-allergy-processes
Article - 07/03/2011 Thomas Brunner: steroid synthesis in the intestine A research team led by Prof. Dr. Thomas Brunner at the University of Konstanz has found out that intestinal epithelial cells are able to synthesise anti-inflammatory steroids glucocorticoids following immunological stress which makes a considerable contribution to the maintenance of local immune homoeostasis. Brunner plans to use his findings to develop a therapeutic approach for the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/thomas-brunner-steroid-synthesis-in-the-intestine
Press release - 05/03/2011 Research prize for the gene therapy of rare diseases The Eva Luise and Horst Köhler Foundation for People with Rare Diseases has awarded the 2011 Eva Luise Köhler Research Prize, which includes prize money of 50,000 euros, to an interdisciplinary team of researchers: Professor Dr. Christoph Klein, Department of Paediatric Haematology and Oncology at the Hannover Medical School (MHH), Professor Dr. Christopher Baum, Department of Experimental Haematology (MHH), Professor Dr. Christoph von Kalle,…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/research-prize-for-the-gene-therapy-of-rare-diseases
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. https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/the-regulation-of-the-intestinal-immune-system
Article - 28/02/2011 Rare fever syndromes provide insights into the anti-inflammatory effect of therapies Quite a few people suffer lifelong regularly occurring fever and inflammation attacks with no apparent reason. The identification of the genetic causes of the syndromes has in the meantime led to the identification of the metabolic pathway involved as well as to targeted therapies. Effective treatment has greatly improved sufferers quality of life.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/rare-fever-syndromes-provide-insights-into-the-anti-inflammatory-effect-of-therapies
Article - 28/02/2011 Development of food allergies Allergic reactions to certain types of food can, in extreme cases, lead to life-threatening anaphylactic shock. People with peanut allergies are particularly at risk. Allergic reactions can also gradually develop into chronic intolerances such as coeliac disease, for example. The causes of food allergies nearly always originate in early childhood. https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/development-of-food-allergies
Article - 28/02/2011 Contact dermatitis – removing a leg from a tripod Contact dermatitis is one of the most frequent occupational skin reactions resulting from exposure to allergens. Chronic allergic reactions to environmental allergens might sometimes become job- or life-threatening. Prof. Dr. Stefan Martin and his group of researchers in the Allergy Research Group of the Department of Dermatology at the Freiburg University Medical Centre are investigating the molecular mechanisms underlying the disease. One of…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/contact-dermatitis-removing-a-leg-from-a-tripod
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.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/dossier/allergies-a-major-human-plague
Article - 14/02/2011 A molecule that enables local virus defence Dr. Markus Mordstein has spent the last four years as a doctoral student at the University of Freiburg investigating the previously relatively unknown interferon lambda. He has been able to show that this molecule has similar protective functions to type I interferons and he has also found that it is far more selective in terms of the site where it exerts its effect.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/a-molecule-that-enables-local-virus-defence
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.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/researchers-from-stuttgart-decipher-the-function-of-antibiotics-that-are-naturally-produced-by-the-h
Article - 20/12/2010 Invisible danger with long-term consequences According to official figures mycotoxins which are toxic secondary metabolites produced by moulds are found in around of 20 per cent of the European crop harvest. Even the smallest concentrations of mycotoxins can have devastating toxic effects causing cancer or posing a risk to fertility and development. Alexandra Heussner from the University of Konstanz is investigating ochratoxins whose chronic effect represents a huge danger to human health.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/invisible-danger-with-long-term-consequences
Article - 20/12/2010 Michael Reth – Immunobiological discoveries that meet resistance Dr Michael Reth professor at the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and the University of Freiburg and some of his colleagues have recently uncovered the mechanism that foreign substances use to activate B cells of the immune system. The researchers were using synthetic biology methods long before this particular branch of science existed in its present form. Their results require a paradigm change and a revision of the reference books.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/michael-reth-immunobiological-discoveries-that-meet-resistance
Press release - 28/11/2010 Immune cells react to their immediate environment A new collaborative research centre (SFB) will be established in Heidelberg to investigate chronic inflammatory diseases. Scientists from the University of Heidelberg and the German Cancer Research Center will be funded with around 10 million euros for the research. Prof. Meuer from the University Hospital of Heidelberg will coordinate the new SFB.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/immune-cells-react-to-their-immediate-environment
Article - 27/09/2010 Harald Langer combines cardiology with immunology The Volkswagen Foundation has taken the decision to finance a “Lichtenberg Professorship” at the University of Tübingen for a period of up to eight years. The new chair, cardiologist Dr. Harald Langer, uses molecular and cell biology methods to investigate how the immune system affects the development of arteriosclerosis in order to come up with innovative therapeutic strategies.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/harald-langer-combines-cardiology-with-immunology
Press release - 09/09/2010 China Medical City, Taizhou Taizhou is a commercial and industrial city of around 5 million inhabitants located in the Yantze River Delta about half way between Nanjing and Suzhou. Within the Taizhou city boundaries on a total area of 25 square kilometers China Medical City CMC a national-level pharmaceutical high-tech park is currently under construction. https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/china-medical-city-taizhou
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”.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/mystery-of-nickel-allergies-solved
Article - 23/08/2010 Antibiotics for the prevention of malaria Researchers from Heidelberg and Berlin have shown that if malaria-infected mice are administered an antibiotic, no parasites appear in the blood and the mice are protected from this life-threatening disease. The scientists believe that antibiotics also have the potential to strengthen the human immune system as well as making it possible to provide a natural needle-free vaccination against malaria.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/antibiotics-for-the-prevention-of-malaria
Article - 09/08/2010 Elara Pharmaceuticals The Heidelberg-based biotech company ELARA Pharmaceuticals is focused on the development of treatments of tumours through the inhibition of the hypoxia signalling pathway (HIF) and through the induction of apoptosis. The company’s lead candidate targets multiple myeloma, a cancer that arises in the plasma cells of the immune system. https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/elara-pharmaceuticals
Press release - 08/08/2010 Human protein produced in a moss bioreactor The research group led by Prof. Ralf Reski is a moss specialist and has now, for the first time, succeeded in producing a human protein in a moss bioreactor – the complement factor H. The lack of this protein leads to age-related macular degeneration in about 50 million people worldwide. The complement factor H has been assigned ‘orphan drug’ status by the respective EU authorities.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/human-protein-produced-in-a-moss-bioreactor
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.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/light-into-the-darkness-of-the-human-immune-system
Article - 01/08/2010 Manfred Kist – 25 years of fascination for a stomach bacterium Helicobacter pylori is a genus of bacteria that inhabits the human stomach. The bacteria can cause duodenal and gastric ulcers and are also linked to the development of gastric cancer. Prof. Dr. Manfred Kist from the Freiburg University Medical Centre has spent around 25 years of his scientific career on investigating H. pylori a bent rod-shaped bacterium.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/manfred-kist-25-years-of-fascination-for-a-stomach-bacterium
Press release - 21/07/2010 One Million for Cancer Research from Manfred Lautenschläger Foundation When Harald zur Hausen was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 2008, Manfred Lautenschläger spontaneously offered to support the Nobel laureate’s scientific work by funding a new research team. These funds will now go to Angelika Riemer, a young scientist who plans to advance the development of a vaccine which is able to cure existing infections with carcinogenic human papillomaviruses at the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/one-million-for-cancer-research-from-manfred-lautenschlaeger-foundation