Healthcare industry

Two Clusters of Excellence for the University of Freiburg: Biological Signalling Studies and Bioinspired Materials Research. It is a major boost to cutting-edge research in Freiburg: in the current Excellence Strategy competition, scientists at the University of Freiburg have been granted two Clusters of Excellence, CIBSS – Centre for Integrative Biological Signalling Studies, and livMatS – Living, Adaptive and Energy-autonomous Materials…

Article - 21/02/2018

HepaRegeniX – a start-up is taking it up a step!

HepaRegeniX, a biotech company founded in 2016, specialises in developing drugs that restore the regenerative capacity of diseased livers. The three founders of the biotech start-up, Prof. Dr. Lars Zender, Prof. Dr. Stefan Laufer and Dr. Wolfgang Albrecht, anticipate starting clinical testing of the first drug candidate in 2019.

The next generation of Antiviral Therapies: Co-Led by Stichting Participatie Atriva and High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), Atriva Therapeutics GmbH has received a second tranche of its running seed financing in total of € 3 Mn from Dutch, German and Canadian investors, after lead compound ATR-002 (Atriva’s antiviral MEK-Inhibitor against Influenza) has passed an important preclinical milestone paving the way to clinical development stage.

Article - 04/07/2017

Ruxolitinib – successful graft-versus-host disease treatment

Graft-versus-host disease is a serious complication in leukaemia patients who have been given a blood stem cell transplant from a genetically different person. Prof. Dr. Nikolas von Bubnoff and Prof. Dr. Robert Zeiser from the Department of Haematology, Oncology and Stem Cell Transplantation at Freiburg University Medical Centre initiated a Germany-wide study to show that an active substance called ruxolitinib has a promising therapeutic effect.…

The next generation of Antiviral Therapies: Led by Stichting Participatie Atriva together with High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), Atriva Therapeutics GmbH has received seed financing from Dutch and German private investors to advance Atriva’s antiviral MEK-Inhibitors (Mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase inhibitor) against Influenza into the clinical development stage.

Article - 12/09/2016

New target for the therapy of hepatocellular carcinoma discovered

Hepatocellular carcinoma is the second most common cause of cancer deaths worldwide. If the tumour is at an advanced stage, doctors have few treatment options. Researchers led by Prof. Dr. Lars Zender from the University of Tübingen have now identified one of the cancer's Achilles' heels, namely, the interaction between C-MYC and AURKA proteins, which can be destabilised with a drug, thus killing cancer cells.

Article - 05/09/2016

Apogenix: immuno-oncological protein drugs for the treatment of malignant diseases

Apogenix AG, a biopharmaceutical company from Heidelberg that specialises in immuno-oncology, develops protein drugs that target central signalling pathways involved in regulating the growth, migration and apoptosis of malfunctioning cells and thus offer novel treatment options for cancer and other malignant diseases.

Article - 02/06/2016

DNA origami for decoding the language of biological cells

Cells have their own language that they use to communicate with each other. They need this language to be able to form intact tissues and fulfil their specific functions in the body. If these signalling pathways are disrupted, metabolic processes will suffer and result in diseases. We know many “words” of the cellular language, i.e. signalling molecules that bind to specific surface receptors and thereby trigger chemical reactions inside the…

Article - 13/01/2016

New approach for treating depression

Depression is the most common mental health condition; it must be taken seriously and requires treatment. Exactly how and where therapies work is still unclear. Prof. Dr. Dietrich van Calker and Prof. Dr. Knut Biber from Freiburg University Medical Center have been looking into mechanisms of action and have discovered a molecule that appears to be implicated in numerous neuropsychiatric disorders and the effect of various anti-depression…

Article - 07/01/2016

New protein helps B cells generate an effective immune response

The human immune system plays a key role for human health. Dr. Gina Fiala, a scientist in Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Schamel’s team in the Department of Immunology at Freiburg University, has discovered Kidins220/ARMS in B cells. Kidins220/ARMS is part of the adaptive immune system where it plays a key role in the maturation of B cells.

Researcher profile - 09/11/2015

Michael Boutros – from the study of social gene networks to the management of the DKFZ

Deregulation of cell signalling pathways is a major driver of cancer. Prof. Dr. Michael Boutros has pioneered the development of new methods for the analysis of genetic interactions in such complex networks. He has been acting Chairman and Scientific Member of the Management Board of the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) since September 1st 2015.

Article - 03/09/2015

Pattern formation: How undifferentiated cell clusters develop orderly structures

Dr. Patrick Müller explores cellular signalling pathways that turn undifferentiated cell clusters into orderly structures as embryos develop. Supported by an ERC grant, the Max Planck researcher from Tübingen uses a broad range of methods from the fields of genetics, biophysics, mathematics and the computer sciences for his investigations. Regenerative medicine is one field that particularly stands to benefit from Müller’s findings.

Article - 26/05/2015

Novel effect of B-Raf inhibitors against bowel cancer discovered

Colorectal carcinoma is the most frequent type of bowel cancer and the second most common tumour disease in men and women in Germany. A particularly aggressive form occurs when a mutation is present in the proto-oncogene BRAF. As part of the Collaborative Research Centre 850 at the Institute of Molecular Medicine and Cell Research at the University of Freiburg, Dr. Ricarda Herr and Dr. Tilman Brummer are trying to find out how a mutated BRAF gene…

Article - 23/02/2015

Miriam Erlacher: apoptosis research – balancing clinical work and research

Programmed cell death plays an important role in embryonic development and has also been identified as the cause of a range of diseases. It also plays a key role in the development and survival of higher organisms. Its regulation is based on a sophisticated system of interacting antagonistic signals in a network that is still largely unknown. Disturbances in this delicate balance promote the development of diseases such as cancer. Dr. Miriam…

Article - 23/02/2015

Systems biology: Ulm scientists' search for molecules that delay ageing

As stem cells get older, they gradually lose their ability to grow and reproduce. They accumulate damage and lose their ability to regenerate, thus knocking tissue homeostasis off balance. If stem cell ageing could be delayed or, even better, reversed, organs would work longer more effectively. The SyStaR research consortium is using systems biology methods and tools to investigate the mechanisms of age-dependent reduction of stem cell function…

Article - 08/09/2014

Molecular effects of traumatic stress

After a traumatic experience, people often suffer not only mental, but also physical effects. Dr. María Moreno-Villanueva from the University of Konstanz has investigated the molecular effects of traumatic stress in people and has found a higher than normal number of DNA strand breaks. In the worst cases this can lead to diseases such as cancer. However, her study also shows that successful psychotherapy can reverse DNA damage. Her findings will…

Press release - 15/07/2014

amcure Receives EUR 5 Million Funding for the Development of New Tumour Therapeutic Agents

amcure GmbH, a spin-off from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), has closed a Series A financing deal amounting to a total of EUR 5 million. The funding comes from a consortium headed by LBBW Venture Capital, with participations from KfW, MBG Mittelständische Beteiligungsgesellschaft Baden-Wuerttemberg, S-Kap Beteiligungen Pforzheim, BioM AG as well as private investors. The company also receives subsidies from the German Ministry of…

Article - 10/06/2014

Mathematical models for predicting cellular signalling pathways

The micrometre-sized cells in organisms are biological systems in which countless vital processes take place. However little is yet known about most of these cellular metabolic chains because they interact with each other in a complicated manner. The research carried out by junior professor Nicole Radde and her doctoral student and engineer Patrick Weber from the Institute for Systems Theory and Automated Control IST at the University of…

Article - 28/04/2014

Sciomics: antibody microarrays and their broad range of applications

Sciomics GmbH is a start-up biotech from Heidelberg with a special focus on protein microarrays. Sciomics produces complex, high-density antibody microarrays for cancer-relevant proteins and offers services for medical research, diagnostics and the industry, including biomarker screening, the verification of biomarker candidates, the analysis and localization of drug targets and their signalling pathways as well as the characterization of…

Article - 14/04/2014

New insights into apoptotic signalling networks

Apoptosis, i.e. programmed cell death, is a precisely regulated process that leads to the elimination of surplus or damaged cells. The proteins of the Bcl-2 family play a key role in apoptosis. However, their complex interactions are not yet known in detail. A group of researchers from Germany, Austria and Switzerland is now trying to get to the bottom of this issue. Coordinated by the University of Konstanz, the researchers are jointly…

Article - 03/03/2014

Taking a drug taxi across the blood-brain barrier

The central nervous system CNS which integrates the information it receives from all parts of the body is perhaps the most sensitive organ we have. As toxic compounds are able to disturb brain function enormously the brain is separated from circulating blood by a highly selective permeability barrier known as the blood-brain barrier. However the downside of this protection is that 98 percent of all drugs targeting the CNS cannot pass the barrier.…

Article - 24/02/2014

Chemical tools for exploring cell division

The cell cycle, consisting of interphase and mitosis, forms the basis for eukaryotic growth and reproduction. Numerous control and regulatory mechanisms guarantee that the separation and distribution of the chromosomes happens synchronously with the formation of the daughter cells. Amongst other things, the two daughter cells only form when the chromosomes are far enough apart from each other. Professor Dr. Thomas Mayer from the University of…

Dossier - 20/01/2014

Optogenetics: switching cell activity on and off with light

What still sounds like science fiction to the general public has long been within reach for many years scientists have been able to manipulate neural activity selectively with light. They use different wavelengths to turn cells on and off as if they were a standard switch. Optogenetics is an emerging technology that combines optics and genetics. The technology is already used in many different ways for many different purposes by numerous research…

Article - 23/09/2013

Giorgos Pyrowolakis to investigate the playground of evolution

Amazing but true: the basic state of a cell theoretically enables it to develop into any other possible cell. However, certain signalling molecules (morphogens) and the quantity in which they are present cause cells to develop into specific cells. In the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, they may become part of the wing, part of a leg or an intestinal cell. Dr. Giorgos Pyrowolakis, a developmental biologist at BIOSS (Centre for Biological…

Article - 17/06/2013

Evolution of light perception networks in plants

Genetically identical plants develop rather differently depending on the light conditions in which they live. In the dark the plant grows in length in order to reach the sunlight needed for photosynthesis. Exposed to light the plant then switches to a different development programme becomes green and assembles its photosynthesis machinery. Prof. Dr. Andreas Hiltbrunner from the University of Freiburg is interested in finding out how the…