Article - 07/02/2017 Designer proteins as beacons of hope for pharmaceutical and biotechnological applications Proteins are the basic building blocks of cells. They tend to be biologically active in combination with many other proteins rather than as isolated entities. Such protein complexes play a key role in many vital processes in our bodies. An international team of researchers, including Professor Stefan Bräse and his team from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), has developed an innovative platform called MultiBacTAG that can be used to…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/designer-proteins-as-beacons-of-hope-for-pharmaceutical-and-biotechnological-applications
Article - 07/03/2016 Looking at the control of cellular homeostasis Many biological processes that occur in our body are driven and controlled by protein complexes. In order to better understand these processes, biochemist Prof. Dr. Florian Stengel from the University of Konstanz is developing methods that will eventually make it possible to study the architecture, interactions and general dynamics of intact protein complexes quantitatively and in detail. Stengel combines structural mass spectrometry methods with…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/looking-at-the-control-of-cellular-homeostasis
Article - 28/01/2016 Crowdsourcing initiative to tackle Alzheimer’s The BioMed X Innovation Center and the biopharmaceutical company AbbVie Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG have used crowdsourcing to set up a team of scientists from renowned international institutions to investigate new options for treating Alzheimer’s disease. The team are looking for targets in the metabolism of tau proteins and its pathological modifications that can be used to develop drugs to treat Alzheimer’s disease.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/crowdsourcing-initiative-to-tackle-alzheimers
Article - 17/12/2015 Inhibition of bromodomain affects stem cell differentiation DNA methylation and histone modification are epigenetic mechanisms that affect gene transcription. Moreover, protein complexes can regulate gene expression by modifying chromatin structure and function. Dr. Thomas Günther and his team from the Center for Clinical Research at the Freiburg University Medical Center are studying the effect of the inhibitor PFI-3 on the BAF complex. This protein complex modifies chromatin structure and controls the…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/nhibition-of-bromodomain-affects-stem-cell-differentiation
Article - 08/06/2015 New construction kit for designing new proteins Protein building blocks with well-defined properties that can be assembled into new molecules with desired structures and functions are highly sought after in biotechnology and medicine. Birte Höcker, a biologist at the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology in Tübingen, is currently working on this in a project she calls “Protein Lego”.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/new-construction-kit-for-designing-new-proteins
Dossier - 09/02/2015 Chemical tools for biological applications The boundaries between traditional scientific disciplines are becoming less and less distinct. Interdisciplinary cooperation is often required to study complex processes and biomolecular issues. Interdisciplinary cooperation is central to chemical biology, a scientific discipline that applies chemical substances, methods and tools to the study of biological systems ranging from the chemical synthesis of biologically active substances to the…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/dossier/chemical-tools-for-biological-applications
Article - 07/01/2014 Martin Scheffner: a biochemist exploring a versatile protein Ubiquitin is found in almost all tissues and is involved in a wide variety of cellular processes e.g. protein degradation signal transduction and cell cycle control. The addition of ubiquitin alters the characteristics of proteins including their half life function or location. Prof. Dr. Martin Scheffners work is dedicated to the exploration of this versatile protein. The researcher from Konstanz studies the enzymes of the ubiquitin system and…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/martin-scheffner-a-biochemist-exploring-a-versatile-protein
Article - 05/08/2013 Marina Rubini – a passionate researcher into protein folding and design Therapeutic proteins play an important role in modern medicine. Correct glycosylation patterns are therefore fundamentally important for producing effective glycoprotein-based therapeutics. Dr. Marina Rubini from the University of Konstanz explores ways to alter the properties of proteins using non-natural amino acids for the post-translational site-specific attachment of carbohydrate groups. She uses the glycoprotein hormone erythropoietin…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/marina-rubini-a-passionate-researcher-into-protein-folding-and-design
Article - 25/02/2013 Frauke Melchior and the SUMO wrestling match between proteins Fifteen years ago, molecular biologist Frauke Melchior discovered a new mechanism of posttranslational protein modification that controls a variety of processes in eukaryotic cells. A small protein called SUMO is covalently bound to target proteins by specific enzymes and cleaved by other enzymes. This discovery has shaped Melchior’s scientific career. https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/frauke-melchior-and-the-sumo-wrestling-match-between-proteins
Dossier - 20/11/2008 Anti-Ageing is still a far-off dream Is it possible to halt the ageing process? This question was first raised in the 1980s when researchers succeeded in delaying the ageing process in threadworms by modifying a specific gene. Nowadays hundreds of gene mutations are known to prolong the lifespan of yeast fruit flies and mice. Will the human dream of eternal youth eventually become reality? The truth is probably not.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/dossier/anti-ageing-is-still-a-far-off-dream