Skip to main content
News Icon

Publication

Tuberculosis vaccine strengthens immune system

Study by the Universities of Bonn and Nijmegen explains how BCG vaccination reduces susceptibility to infections

A tuberculosis vaccine developed 100 years ago also makes vaccinated persons less susceptible to other infections. While this effect has been recognized for a long time, it is not known what causes it. Together with colleagues from Australia and Denmark, researchers from Radboud university medical center the universities of Nijmegen and Bonn have now presented a possible answer to this question. Their results are also interesting against the background of the Covid-19 pandemic: several studies are currently testing the use of the vaccine in preventing severe disease progression in populations at risk such as hospital staff and elderly individuals. The study is published in the journal "Cell Host & Microbe".


Publication

Branko Cirovic, L. Charlotte J. de Bree, Laszlo Groh, Bas A. Blok, Joyce Chan, Walter J.F.M. van der Velden, M.E.J. Bremmers, Reinout van Crevel, Kristian Händler, Simone Picelli, Jonas Schulte-Schrepping, Kathrin Klee, Marije Oosting, Valerie A.C.M. Koeken, Jakko van Ingen, Yang Li, Christine S. Benn, Joachim L. Schultze, Leo A.B. Joosten, Nigel Curtis, Mihai G. Netea und Andreas Schlitzer: BCG vaccination in humans elicits trained immunity via the hematopoietic progenitor compartment; Cell Host & Microbe; DOI: 10.1016/j.chom.2020.05.014

Related news

Microglia interacting with T cells in the central nervous system of SPG15-deficient mice

Publication

Immune Cells Drive Congenital Paralysis Disease

—Patients with spastic paraplegia type 15 develop movement disorders during adolescence that may ultimately require the use of a wheelchair. In the early stages of this rare hereditary disease the brain appears to play a major role by over-activating the immune system, as shown by a recent study published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine. The study was led by researchers at the University of Bonn and the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE). These findings could also be relevant for Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative conditions.
View entry
Scientists that contributed to the study

Publication

New way to prevent duodenal cancer

—People with the hereditary disease familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) have a greatly increased risk of developing a malignant tumor of the duodenum. Researchers at the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) and the Cluster of Excellence ImmunoSensation2 at the University of Bonn have now discovered a mechanism in the local immune system that can drive the development of cancer. They see this as a promising new approach to preventing duodenal carcinoma in people with FAP. The results have now been published in the journal "Nature Communications".
View entry
Kathrin Leppek Publication PM

Publication

Starting points for the control of protein synthesis

—The research field of "cellular IRESes" lay dormant for decades, as there was no uniform standard of reliable methods for the clear characterization of these starting points for the ribosome-mediated control of gene expression. Researchers at the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) and the University of Bonn, in collaboration with Stanford University in California (USA), have now developed a toolbox as a new gold standard for this field. The results of their work have been published in The EMBO Journal.
View entry

Back to the news overview