Healthcare industry

Dossier - 29/09/2008

Drug screening - higher throughput, quicker and more effective thanks to automation

Over the last few years automation has revolutionised the search for pharmaceutical compounds. Using methods such as high-throughput screening or high-content screening it is possible to analyse thousands of molecule activities very quickly.

GENOVAC GmbH has started a research project funded by the German Ministry for Business and Technology BMWi as part of the program PRO INNO II for the Development and validation of antibodies as a novel therapeutic concept to block liver infection by hepatitis C Virus.

Press release - 02/09/2008

Elke Guenther: inspired by basic research and application-oriented

The biologist Prof. Dr. Elke Guenther is head of the Department of Electrophysiology at the NMI where her work involves safety pharmacology the development of biosensors and the characterisation of ion channels in the cell membranes in a broad range of different organ systems.

Professor Dr. Günther Schützs work on the cell- and development-specific gene regulation using nuclear receptors has led amongst other things to new insights into the steroid hormone-dependent early development and differentiation of the nervous system the molecular mechanisms of learning and the development and regulation of drug addiction. Schütz has now been appointed Helmholtz professor which will enable him to continue his work beyond…

Frank Kirchhoff an AIDS researcher from Ulm has learnt to pose important questions and find the right answers during his post-graduate studies. This recipe has brought him and his research group international recognition and makes him one of the best AIDS researchers worldwide. Important publications within a very short time and numerous awards are clear evidence of his outstanding achievements. In addition he has just started a clinical trial…

About a year ago Prof. Dr. Martin Schwemmle and his team at the University Hospital of Freiburg discovered a new starting point in the fight against the H5N1-virus. In the meantime the scientists are working together with the company Pike Pharma to develop a compound.

Press release - 28/07/2008

The processing of olfactory cues in animals

Olfactory researchers have received the go-ahead for a DFG priority programme coordinated by the University of Constance. Funding will be provided for research projects dealing with animals sense of smell and what happens in the brain during this process.

Press release - 27/07/2008

White blood cells with 'icing' work far better

Scientists from Heidelberg Munich and Aachen have shown that the adhesion molecules required by leukocytes to adhere to vascular walls depend on sugar chains for effective immune defence reactions to occur. The results could open up new strategies for the treatment of inflammatory processes.

Article - 07/07/2008

Control centre for light and cold

Plants grow well under optimal light conditions but only if they are not under stress. Cell biologists have long assumed that information is exchanged between the molecular signalling pathways that mediate light perception and stress tolerance.

In future small bubbles will allow the identification of pathological alterations at a very early stage. Molecular imaging methods developed by Bracco Imaging S.p.A. use a new ultrasound contrast agent. The German subsidiary of the company Bracco Imaging Deutschland GmbH based in Constance develops and sells contrast agents.

Cancer cells are dangerous foodies. They metabolise far greater amounts of sugar than healthy cells. Nuclear medicine experts make use of cancer cells craving for sugar since the advent of modern positron emission tomography PET. This has led to an improvement in the quality of cancer treatment.

The new drug screening and safety pharmacology laboratory at NMI Technologie Transfer GmbH NMI TT GmbH in Reutlingen with its standardised and special test systems complies fully with the requirements of safety pharmacology tests.

Many cancer patients lose a lot of weight Free fatty acids accumulate in the liver and this eventually leads to fatty liver in affected patients. What is called tumor cachexia appears to be caused by signals emitted by the tumor itself.

Professor Heiko Möller teaches chemistry at the University of Constance and is a specialist in nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. He enjoys working with other people including colleagues from the field of chemistry and also biologists and tropical disease specialists. Möller returned from the USA to accept a junior professor position at Constance University.

Press release - 19/05/2008

Viruses caught red-handed

Prof. Thilo Stehle biochemist at the University of Tübingen wants to capture and accurately study the moment at which a virus binds to a cell. He is hoping that further insights into this process might some time enable the development of drugs.

Sharks can sense a few drops of blood in water. In fact they are able to smell blood in dilutions of as little as one to 10 billion. Is it just sharks or piranhas that have such an acute sense of smell? The answer is no - all fish have a highly developed sense of smell.

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.

Scientists have shown that a particular variant of a receptor gene impacts smoking behaviour and hence confers a 30 increase in risk of lung cancer and a 20 increase in risk of peripheral artery disease PAD.

Article - 16/03/2008

New indication for lead compound of Apogenix

Isolated tumour cells use to invade healthy brain tissue during the development and growth of glioblastoma multiforme GBM. This mechanism involves the CD95CD95L death system. These results supports the therapeutic potential of Apogenix APG101 for the treatment of glioblastomas.

Holger Barth works with a special kind of Trojan horses. The toxicologist from Ulm is investigating bacterial toxins. These proteins manage in a similar way to the ancient Greeks before them to open the barricaded portal of the cells with a trick whereupon they start wreaking destruction.

Article - 21/02/2008

The females choose their mates

The team of researchers led by evolutionary biologist Dr. Gerrit Begemann at Constance University is using swordtails to investigate the development of traits that evolved by sexual selection. Their major focus is the molecular mechanism of growth control in the caudal fin. Or put more simply why do these fish have swords?

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.

Prostate cancer is the most frequent malignant tumour in men. Researchers from Freiburg and Bonn have succeeded in developing the basics for new therapies in particular for the treatment of advanced prostate cancer.