Healthcare industry

Article - 02/12/2008

Cancer cells do not like rocket salad

Isothiocyanates which are substances found in vegetables such as rocket kohlrabi or mustard promote good health. Dr. Evelyn Lamy and her team at the Freiburg University Hospital found out that isothiocyanates lead to considerably fewer DNA strand breaks.

Dr. Pitter Huesgen Dr. Michael Strerath and Dr. Carl Kübler have been awarded this years Nycomed Award. The Award which is worth a total of 15000 distinguishes outstanding doctoral theses in the fields of biology chemistry and physics.

Prof. Dr. Lenhard Rudolph a well-known stem cell researcher at Ulm University is investigating the relationships between telomeres stem cell ageing and diseases. In the following interview with Walter Pytlik BioRegion Ulm Rudolph gives insights into state-of-the-art ageing research and its potential applications.

Karin Scharffetter-Kochanek dermatologist and head of the Department of Dermatology and Allergology at the University Hospital of Ulm has spent a long time investigating skin ageing. Her specific focus on skin has not however restricted her understanding of ageing to barely deterministic or mechanistic details. Quite the opposite is true.

Certain wavelengths of light encode vital information about the plants environment. Dr. Andreas Hiltbrunner an his team from the University of Freiburg has recently shown how phytochrome A transmits this information into the cell.

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.

It runs and runs and is extremely successful The SFB 592 established in 2001 and entitled Signalling mechanisms in embryogenesis and organogenesis investigates the biological functions of different signalling pathways. Since its foundation the scientists of the SFB have published many excellent papers in highly renowned journals. Their work has been of such a high standard that the German Research Foundation DFG has decided to fund the…

There are only a few signalling pathways that have been as well conserved during evolution as the Notch signalling pathway. This is due to the pathways unique biological function. Notch enables two identical cells to develop into completely different tissues. Anette Preiß professor at the University of Hohenheim has been working on the function of the Notch signalling pathway for almost 20 years.

Researchers from Heidelberg have discovered that certain oxygen compounds are produced in greater quantities in the body due to cancer or inflammation and that this leads to the alteration of a protein that controls the flexibility and adaptability of certain immune cells.

Does tactile sensation also depend on structure and order? Using modern imaging methods the research group led by Prof. Dr. Jürgen Hennig from the University Hospital of Freiburg is investigating whether mice with disturbed brain organisation are able to process tactile stimuli normally.

The Europe-wide MARK-AGE project involving scientists from 14 countries commenced on the 1st April 2008. Scientists have joined forces to investigate the factors involved in ageing. They are using standardised questionnaires and analysing data acquired from physical and biochemical examinations of the blood and urine from 3700 volunteers. The team of experts includes the medical expert Professor Alexander Bürkle and the mathematician Prof.…

Press release - 14/11/2008

Salt aggregates proteins or dissolves them

A group of researchers at the University of Tübingen led in cooperation with colleagues from Saarbrücken and Oxford have shown that proteins aggregate when certain salts are added and that the proteins dissolved again when more salt was added.

Hartmut Geiger a biochemist and stem cell researcher at Ulm University Hospital is using genetic methods to investigate the molecular basis of the physiological ageing of haematopoietic stem cells. After having spent a period in Cincinnati Geiger is currently head of the clinical research group Molecular and cellular ageing from the mechanisms of action to clinical perspectives.

In principle human tracheas and porcine small intestines do not have much in common. However both have a tube-like structure. This was the basis for Dr. Thorsten Walles extraordinary idea. In collaboration with Professor Dr. Heike Mertsching he is working on the development of methods for turning the intestines into bioartificial trachea substitutes.

Some heavy metals are trace elements that are necessary for the plants metabolism others are toxic in the smallest concentrations. Scientists from Hohenheim are investigating the mechanisms that plants use to adapt to specific soil situations.

Prof. Christoph Cremer Cremer hopes to use the Vertico-SMI nanoscope to decipher the molecular secrets of cells. After the 4Pi microscopy this system is the second development of his scientific career to break through the barrier of optical microscopy.

Researchers at the University Hospital of Heidelberg are investigating the effect of signalling substances on muscle development. If mice are missing a gene for a certain muscle protein they become marathon runners.

Researchers at Heidelberg University Hospital discover a new genetic disease in which a mutation in a transport protein gene makes bile toxic and triggers severe cirrhosis of the liver. The research has been published in the journal Hepatology.

Dossier - 29/10/2008

Signal transduction - exciting research with huge potential for the future

Signal transduction is one of the most innovative fields of research in the life sciences. Although the scientists are far from being able to understand and decipher everything the signal researchers nevertheless have a good deal of knowledge about the transduction of signals and the different signalling pathways.

Tobias M. Boeckers an anatomist at the University of Ulm works on an important aspect of basic neurobiological research - the transmission of signals between nerve cells. Two years ago his findings suddenly began to be seen in a different light and became important for clinical research.

Prof. Dr. Michael Reth is active in the field of immunology and signalling. He is an experienced scientist who is well aware of the difficulty and the cumbersome nature of deciphering signals and signalling pathways. The Freiburg bioss excellence cluster - the Centre of Biological Signalling Studies - is Reths brainchild. Karin Bundschuh from BioRegio Freiburg spoke with the scientist who works at the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and the…

Despite having an X and a Y chromosome carriers of SOX9 gene mutations are nevertheless at risk of developing female sex characteristics. Prof. Dr. Gerd Scherer at the University of Freiburg is investigating how SOX9 controls a persons gender.

The scientist Dr. Derk Frank from Heidelberg has discovered that calsarcin 1 protects the heart against pathological alterations caused by overstraining. Frank was awarded the 2008 Gotthard Schettler Prize for Cardiovascular Research.

“In order to fully understand an organism, it is necessary to consider it as a whole,” said Dr. Uwe Schulte, biochemist and CEO of Logopharm GmbH in Freiburg. A growing number of scientists hold the same view, and there is a growing inclination to research the big picture. This is reflected in the continuously increasing number of projects looking into systems biology research.

Press release - 15/10/2008

Hans-Jürgen Apell - insights into active ion transport

Biophysicist Prof. Hans-Jürgen Apell carries out basic research at the University of Constance in order to elucidate the molecular mechanisms involved in the transport of ions through membranes and to come up with important findings for new therapeutic concepts. His major field of research focuses on structure-function relationships of P-type ATPases enzymes which cleave ATP adenosine triphosphate and transport ions thereby resulting in muscle…