Skip to main content
News Preiffer 06.2020
Prof. Dr. Alexander Pfeifer (left) and Dr. Thorsten Gnad (right) from the Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University Hospital Bonn.
© Katharina Wislsperger/UKBonn

Publication

Receptor makes mice strong and slim

Study by the University of Bonn identifies molecule that regulates two side effects of aging

Increasing abdominal girth and shrinking muscles are two common side effects of aging. Researchers at the University of Bonn from the Cluster of Excellence ImmunoSensation have discovered a receptor in mice that regulates both effects. Experiments with human cell cultures suggest that the corresponding signaling pathways might also exist in humans. The study, which also involved researchers from Spain, Finland, Belgium, Denmark and the USA, has now been published in the renowned journal "Cell Metabolism".

Publication

Thorsten Gnad, Gemma Navarro, Minna Lahesmaa, Laia Reverte-Salisa, Francesca Copperi, Arnau Cordomi, Jennifer Naumann, Aileen Hochhäuser, Saskia Haufs-Brusberg, Daniela Wenzel, Frank Suhr, Naja Zenius Jespersen, Camilla Scheele, Volodymyr Tsvilovskyy, Christian Brinkmann, Joern Rittweger, Christian Dani, Mathias Kranz, Winnie Deuther-Conrad, Holger K. Eltzschig, Tarja Niemi, Markku Taittonen, Peter Brust, Pirjo Nuutila, Leonardo Pardo, Bernd K. Fleischmann, Matthias Blüher, Rafael Franco, Wilhelm Bloch, Kirsi A. Virtanen, Alexander Pfeifer: Adenosine/A2B receptor signaling ameliorates the effects of ageing and counteracts obesity. Cell Metabolism, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2020.06.006

Related news

Die künstlerische Abbildung zeigt Seeigel der Art Arbacia punctulata, die Spermien (weiße Wolke) und Eier (orangefarbene Wolke) ins Wasser abgeben. Von den Eiern freigesetzte Pheromone steuern die Synchronität des Laichens.

Publication

What Makes Sea Urchin and Salmon Sperm Swim

—A recent study by the Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences and the University of Bonn shows that pH plays a crucial role in sperm motility in sea urchins and salmon. A rise in pH activates the enzyme soluble adenylyl cyclase (sAC), which produces the messenger molecule cAMP and thereby regulates sperm movement. This mechanism may be widespread in many marine invertebrates and fish. The findings have now been published in the Journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
View entry
3 Wissenschaftler

Publication

Immune cells remember their location

—A new AI-based method reconstructs spatial information about where immune cells were originally located in an organ, even after these cells have been removed from the tissue and analyzed individually. To accomplish this, Researchers at the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) and the University of Bonn use the transcriptome, i.e., the entirety of all messenger RNA transcripts produced by genes within a cell at a given time. The work has now been published in the journal Advanced Science and introduces the new MERLIN algorithm.
View entry
News Icon

Publication

B cells maintain antigen presentation in the splenic marginal zone

—A team of international researchers, including ImmunoSensation³ members Prof. Niels Lemmermann and Prof. Andreas Schlitzer, shows that B cells support antiviral CD8⁺ T-cell responses beyond antibody production. In a murine CMV model, B-cell deficiency weakened virus-specific CD8⁺ T-cell responses. Mechanistically, B-cell-derived lymphotoxin β maintained CD169⁺ macrophages and Langerin⁺ cDC1 cells in the splenic marginal zone, enabling efficient T-cell priming. The study was published in Cellular & Molecular Immunology.
Full publication

Back to the news overview