Prof. Tobias Bald awarded with the Lisec-Artz Prize
—Professor Bald heads the research group „Tumor Immunobiology” as part of the Cluster of Excellence „ImmunoSensation²“, and is a member of the Transdisciplinary Research Area (TRA) "Life and Health“, both at the University of Bonn. He is now awarded with the Lisec-Artz price for his contributions to better understand the interactions between cancer cells and immune cells. His research focus is set on the role of the T-cell activating receptor CD226.
—Already in 2020, Cluster of Excellence ImmunoSensation² Member Prof. Dr. Peter Krawitz and his team showed, how artificial Intelligence can help in the diagnosis of lymphomas and leukemias. The machine learning method developed by the scientists has since been further developed. It is made freely accessible and may be utilized also by smaller laboratories. The respective study has now been published in "Patterns".
Epigenetics: Immunization is passed on to offspring
—Does an infection affect the immunity of subsequent generations? Prof. Andeas Schlitzer, member of the Cluster of Excellence ImmunoSensation² and the Life & Medical Sciences Institute (LIMES) at the University of Bonn, Prof. Dr. Mihai G. Netea from Radboud University (Netherlands), together with researchers from Saarland University, Lausanne (Switzerland) and Athens (Greece), have investigated this.
"Open doors" at the Institute of Structural Biology
—It all started with a curious orange mouse in the TV children’s program “Sendung mit der Maus”, explaining how toothpaste is produced, why leaves change color in fall and for which reason the sky is blue. Ten years ago, in 2011, the curiosity of children and parents to look behind doors that usually remain closed to the public resulted in a campaign of “open doors with the mouse”.
Patent-Prize awarded for programing of stem cells into Photoreceptors
—Prof. Volker Busskamp, Member of the Cluster of Excellence ImmunoSensation, is awarded with the Patent-Prize of the German Ophthalmological Society for his work on photoreceptors. The Biotechnologist and his team developed a technology, which allows the rapid programming of human stem cells to become photoreceptors. The resulting cells are used in retinal research and shall serve in clinical application to treat blindness in the near future.
—Microglial cells join together to better cope with threats
To break down toxic proteins more quickly, immune cells in the brain can join together to form networks when needed. This is shown by a joint study of the University of Bonn, the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) and the Institut François Jacob in France. However, in certain mutations that can cause Parkinson's disease, this cooperation is impaired. The findings are published in the renowned journal Cell.
'Falling Walls' Award for Nanobodies targeting Corona virus
—In early 2020, Florian Schmidt and Paul-Albert König at the University Hospital Bonn and an international team of researchers developed a special kind of antibody against SARS-CoV-2 with strong potential for therapeutic use. Today, the cluster scientists and their international team are recognized for their groundbreaking success. A success that would not have been possible without the help of an alpaca and a llama
Impaired function of white blood cells in severe COVID-19 courses
—The acute respiratory syndrome COVID-19, caused by coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), emerged in late 2019. Since then, a comprehensive understanding of both the virus itself and the respective host immune-response has rapidly been gained. Recent studies suggest a specific form of white immune cells, natural killer (NK) cells, to play a crucial role in the early antiviral immune response. But to what extend do NK cells…
How danger signaling is amplified in Influenza A-virus infected cells
—Influenza virus-induced acute respiratory infections occur in all parts of the world and represent a constant disease-burden. While the seasonal epidemic outbreaks are caused by Influenza-subtypes A and B, only Influenza-A strains are reported to have caused pandemic spreads. Overall, Influenza-A infections account for 250,000 to 300,000 deaths p.a.
