Healthcare industry

Article - 07/12/2017

GoSilico: a formula for the industrial purification of biomolecules

“Stop experimenting – GoSilico” is the motto of a young start-up company from Karlsruhe. The founding team of GoSilico GmbH is causing a furore with a simulation software that would make many laboratory experiments obsolete. The chromatographic separation of biomolecules from organisms, samples and cell cultures can be reliably simulated after just a few starter experiments. This saves time, work, material and costs in pharmaceutical development.

Article - 24/07/2017

Cancer medicine development as a science and industry partnership

The German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and Bayer AG are collaborating on a strategic partnership focusing on the development of innovative cancer therapies. The two partners have developed an active substance which selectively blocks a mutation of a metabolic enzyme that occurs in certain types of cancer. The substance has been successfully tested in preclinical studies and is now also being tested in a clinical trial on patients with brain…

Article - 11/07/2016

Endogenous oxidants: biosensor monitoring of metabolic conditions in living organisms

The oxidation state of the cells in our body is very important for us: if the normal balance of the distribution of endogenous oxidants is disturbed or if they attack cellular structures, cells are either unable or only partially able to fulfil their functions, and diseases develop. Dr. Tobias Dick and his team of researchers at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) in Heidelberg have now developed a biosensor that facilitates real-time…

Article - 12/05/2016

Novel method for predicting the spatial structure of biomolecules

Biomolecules can only fulfil their functions in the cell when they fold into a characteristic native three-dimensional structure. Knowing this structure is not only of paramount importance for basic research, but also for medicine and pharmacology. Scientists from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have therefore developed a simple method to predict the three-dimensional structure of biomolecules from the analysis of readily available…

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…

Article - 01/06/2015

A protein complex that maintains order in the cell

Researchers believe that the defective transport of proteins can be linked with diseases such as Alzheimer’s. Prof. Dr. Elke Deuerling and Dr. Martin Gamerdinger, molecular biologists from the University of Konstanz, have now discovered what is necessary to prevent erroneous protein transport.

Article - 09/03/2015

Malaria: when an antimalarial drug is no longer fit for purpose

Malaria can be treated with atovaquone a drug that inhibits a particular enzyme in Plasmodia. However the parasites are becoming increasingly resistant to the drug. Carola Hunte and Dominic Birth from the Institute for Biochemistry at the University of Freiburg have shown how atovaquone binds to the protein and what happens at the molecular level in resistant plasmodia. Their research provides an impetus for structure-based drug design aimed at…

Article - 16/02/2015

The cellular power station of the cholera pathogen – from the structure to new antibiotics

The bacterium Vibrio cholerae causes cholera, a severe disease that affects up to 3.5 million people a year. A team of scientists from the universities of Freiburg, Hohenheim and Konstanz have now gained new insights into the way the bacterium produces energy. They have elucidated the structure and function of the bacterium’s energy-production machinery. The research results provide new insights into biochemical energy production and the…

Article - 15/12/2014

From HIV structure to new AIDS therapies

The building blocks of the viral protein capsid are rearranged as HI viruses mature into infectious AIDS-causing agents. Researchers from Heidelberg have made these structural changes visible on the molecular level. The findings could potentially be used for developing much-needed new AIDS therapeutics.

Article - 28/11/2014

Martin Plenio - turning Ulm’s quantum biology into a technology forge

Quantum biology has the potential to become the next big research coup. Professor Martin Plenio, 46, director of the Institute of Theoretical Physics at Ulm University and one of the world’s leading quantum technologists, is right at the forefront. He has been Alexander von Humboldt Professor since 2009, and holds a part-time professorship at Imperial College London, where he was formerly chair of quantum physics.

Article - 05/05/2014

Magnetic amino acids for measuring proteins

Dr. Malte Drescher and Dr. Daniel Summerer, two chemists from Konstanz University, have developed an innovative method for studying protein structures using magnetic labels inside cells. The method is based on non-canonical magnetic amino acids that are directly incorporated into the protein as it is biosynthesised in the cell. A patent has been filed for the method, which could potentially lead to major progress in the field of structural…

Article - 13/01/2014

Mechanisms of membrane protein insertion

Prof. Dr. Irmgard Sinning, biochemist and structural biologist at the University of Heidelberg, will be awarded the 2014 Leibniz Prize from the German Research Foundation (DFG) for her work on the structure and function of complexes that transport different membrane proteins to the correct cellular compartments in the appropriate target membranes. Her research is primarily focussed on the co-translational SRP pathway mediated by signal…

Article - 22/02/2013

Malte Drescher provides insights into cells

Electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy can deliver information about the structure and dynamics of large molecules and was used by Dr. Malte Drescher from the University of Konstanz to develop a method for the structural analysis of biological macromolecules inside cells. It provides insights into the complex structure of molecules under physiological conditions and is a promising approach for the development of cancer drugs.

Article - 05/11/2012

Biophysicist Jens Michaelis takes a look into the molecular machine room

Jens Michaelis is extremely interested in the molecular machines that control the gene expression process. He has developed a method that enables basic researchers to localise biomolecules in real time as well as gaining insights into their spatial order. In fact what the method does is actually allow researchers to watch proteins at work.

Article - 14/02/2011

Marilena Manea: targeted chemotherapy to treat cancer

After cardiovascular diseases cancer is the second leading cause of death in Germany. At the University of Konstanz Dr. Marilena Manea and her research group are working on the development of bioconjugates for targeted cancer chemotherapy. The researchers goal is to improve the efficiency and tolerability of the chemotherapeutic drugs that are already being used in hospitals.

Press release - 01/11/2010

A virus discloses its secret: how does JCV infect body cells?

Viruses can infect cells when they detect specific attachment sites on the cells’ surface. An international group of researchers, including biochemists from Tübingen, have now discovered the molecular mechanism by which the JCV polyomavirus attaches to these receptors. The researchers deciphered the atomic structure of the virus and for the first time ever were able to prevent the virus from attaching to the host cell and causing infection.

Article - 09/08/2010

Quick and early detection of rare diseases

Lysosomal storage diseases LSD are a group of around 50 rare inherited metabolic disorders. Only 12 LSDs have been described biochemically and microbiologically. Prof. Dr. Michael Przybylski from the Steinbeis Transfer Centre for Biopolymer Analysis and Proteomics at the University of Constance now hopes to change this situation. In a project carried out in cooperation with the biotech company Genzyme CEE Konstanz and the University of Timisoara…

Article - 09/01/2009

Kay Diederichs – important insights in the fight against bacterial antibiotics resistance

Bacteria will always find ways to defend themselves against substances such as antibiotics, thus inhibiting their effect. Many bacteria have pump systems that they use to actively remove antibiotic drugs from the cell. Prof. Kay Diederichs at the University of Constance is working on the elucidation of these mechanisms in order to produce useful information for the development of bacterial pump inhibitors.

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.

The directors of the Tübingen Max Planck Institute MPI for Developmental Biology are pleased to have a Leibniz prizewinner in their ranks for the second year running. Dr. Elisa Izaurralde and her colleague Dr. Elena Conti have both been awarded the 2008 prize for their outstanding work in the field of RNA research.

Article - 30/01/2008

How cells communicate

Prof. Valentin Wittmann professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Constance is investigating carbohydrates. At present his major area of interest is carbohydrate-RNA and carbohydrate-protein interactions where he is trying to understand the biological functions of complex sugar molecules glycans.