Research

The results from a phase 3 trial involving 662 patients from 67 clinics led by Heidelberg University Hospital and the Heidelberg Medical Faculty at Heidelberg University indicate that a new immunotherapeutic approach keeps the disease under control for longer. The data has just been published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. The study has been […]

Acid reducing medicines from the group of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are best-selling drugs that prevent and alleviate stomach problems. PPIs are activated in the acid-producing cells of the stomach, where they block acid production. Researchers at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) made the surprising discovery that zinc-carrying proteins, which are found in all […]

Scientists at EMBL and DKFZ have discovered how cells in the liver maintain their identity and avoid becoming tumour cells Summary A collaboration between EMBL Heidelberg and the German Cancer Research Centre (DKFZ) led to the identification of a special protein in liver cells, which helps maintain the cells’ identity throughout their lifetime and prevents […]

A research team from the Heidelberg Medical Faculty, the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), the Berlin Institute of Health at Charité (BIH) and the Max Delbrück Center has discovered new details about the spread of the incurable bone marrow cancer “multiple myeloma” in the body: When the cancer cells break out of the bone and […]

New evidence points towards a forceful entry of HIV-1 capsid into the nucleus of human cells Researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Biophysics and Heidelberg University have observed largely intact HIV-1 capsids as they enter the cell nucleus through specialized channels called nuclear pores. In an exciting interdisciplinary study, they propose a new mechanism […]

Using a new method to study how carbohydrates modify proteins, scientists have discovered that gut bacteria can alter molecular signatures in the brain Summary Our guts are home to trillions of bacteria, and research over the last few decades has established how essential they are to our physiology – in health and disease. A new study […]

Structural biologists provide a first-time look at the atomic level into the quality control mechanism of this complex molecular machine A complex molecular machine, the spliceosome, ensures that the genetic information from the genome, after being transcribed into mRNA precursors, is correctly assembled into mature mRNA. Splicing is a basic requirement for producing proteins that […]

Researchers of the Heidelberg University, Heidelberg University Hospital (UKHD) and Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies (HITS) have developed a synthetic peptide based on the natural protein S100A1, a nearly universal “fuel” for weakened hearts. The researchers combined computer-aided methods with lab studies to investigate the therapeutic effect of the so called S100A1ct peptide molecule. The […]

Researchers from Mainz University and EMBL Hamburg present a new approach for structurally characterising disordered proteins by combining two different analysis methods. Proteins are the molecules that perform most ‘actions’ in the cell, and thus, are key for our body functions. Essentially, proteins are strings of amino acids, which, in most cases, fold like origami […]