How deubiquitinases USP53 and USP54 cleave long polyubiquitin chains and how the former is linked to liver disease in children. Deubiquitinases (DUBs) are enzymes used by cells to trim protein modifications made from the protein ubiquitin, and thereby regulate proteins. Malfunctioning of DUBs could lead to diseases, including cancer and neurodegenerative disorders. A protein called USP53 has been recently linked with progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis, a hereditary liver disease in children, yet its mechanism of action has remained elusive. While…

Conceptual blueprint to analyze experimental catalyst data. Machine learning (ML) models have recently become popular in the field of heterogeneous catalyst design. The inherent complexity of the interactions between catalyst components is very high, leading to both synergistic and antagonistic effects on catalyst yield that are difficult to disentangle. Therefore, the discovery of well-performing catalysts has long relied on serendipitous trial and error. BIFOLD researcher Parastoo Semnani from the Machine Learning group of BIFOLD Co-Director Klaus-Robert Müller and a team…

The identification of genes involved in diseases is one of the major challenges of biomedical research. Researchers at the University of Bonn and the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) have developed a method that makes their identification much easier and faster: they light up genome sequences in the cell nucleus. In contrast to complex screenings using established methods, the NIS-Seq method can be used to investigate the genetic determinants of almost any biological process in human cells. The study has now…

Antibody that Neutralizes Inhibitory Factors Involved in Nerve Regeneration Leads to Enhanced Motor Function after Acute Spinal Cord Injury. Researchers at 13 clinics in Germany, Switzerland, the Czech Republic and Spain have investigated this with promising results. For the first time, it was possible to identify patient groups that displayed a clinically relevant treatment effect. A follow-up study will start in December 2024. The latest study results have been published online in the renowned “The Lancet Neurology” journal. Joint press…

How the body’s natural killer cells could fight leukemia. Every year, some 13,000 people in Germany are diagnosed with leukemia. Despite intensive chemotherapy, around one in two of them die. Therapies currently available have severe side effects and inhibit the formation of new healthy blood cells in particular. One alternative is therapy concepts that harness the immune system’s natural power. It is important to note, however, that tumor cells have mechanisms capable of slowing down the immune cells’ attack. Professor…

Wearables such as smart watches or sensor rings are already a routine part of everyday life and are also popular Christmas gifts. They track our pulse rate, count our steps or analyze our sleep patterns. How can they already influence our behavior today and what future developments are possible? In this interview, Can Dincer, who holds a Professorship of Sensors and Wearables for Healthcare at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) offers insights into his research. What do we mean…

Pancreatic cancer (pancreatic carcinoma) remains one of the most challenging forms of cancer to treat, spurring global efforts to explore new therapeutic avenues. One such groundbreaking initiative is the “mikroPank” research network, a collaboration between the University Medical Center Halle and the Institute of Pharmacy at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU). This innovative project is setting new standards in the development of realistic tumor models to enhance the effectiveness of treatment strategies. The ambitious scope of “mikroPank” is supported by…

… eco-friendly reactor converts air and water into ammonia. Producing enough ammonia to feed the world comes with a large carbon footprint;. process described in new UB-led study could help fix that. There’s a good chance you owe your existence to the Haber-Bosch process. This industrial chemical reaction between hydrogen and nitrogen produces ammonia, the key ingredient to synthetic fertilizers that supply much of the world’s food supply and enabled the population explosion of the last century. It may also…

Academic and industry scientists collaborate on a new method to characterize research antibodies. Structural Genomics Consortium researchers at The Neuro (Montreal Neurological Institute-Hospital) of McGill University, in collaboration with scientists from 11 major antibody manufacturers representing approximately 80 per cent of global renewable antibody production, have developed and standardized an Open Science platform to characterize research antibodies. This platform, designed to evaluate antibody specificity, aims to tackle a critical challenge in biomedical research reproducibility. Their approach was published in Nature…

Insights from the first global appraisal of microbiomes in earth’s subsurface environments. Which microbes thrive below us in darkness – in gold mines, in aquifers, in deep boreholes in the seafloor – and how do they compare to the microbiomes that envelop the Earth’s surfaces, on land and sea? The first global study to embrace this huge question, conducted at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL), Woods Hole, reveals astonishingly high microbial diversity in some subsurface environments (up to 491 meters…

…shows promise in treating serious lung disease. EMBL scientists discover that an FDA-approved, over-the-counter cough syrup ingredient has potential to treat fibrotic lung disease. A common over-the-counter ingredient in many cough syrups may have a greater purpose for people suffering from lung fibrosis that is related to any number of serious health conditions. Scientists from EMBL Heidelberg were part of a collaborative effort to discover an effective treatment for lung fibrosis and found that the best candidate may be one…

Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP) in Berlin, the Faculty of Medicine at Kiel University, and the Leibniz Institute of Virology in Hamburg are jointly receiving funding of nearly one million euros as part of the “Leibniz Cooperative Excellence” program. The goal of the project is to unravel fundamental mechanisms of two-pore domain potassium channels (K2P channels) – with potential new therapeutic approaches for cancer, autoimmune diseases, infectious diseases, central nervous system disorders, and cardiovascular diseases. Two-pore domain potassium channels (K2P…

Discovery could lead to new treatments for blood cancer patients currently facing limited options. Scientists at City of Hope®, one of the largest and most advanced cancer research and treatment organizations in the U.S. with its National Medical Center named top 5 in the nation for cancer by U.S. News & World Report, have collared a tricky culprit that helps cancer cells evade CAR T cell therapy. CAR T cell therapy harnesses the immune system to seek out and kill…

UO researchers unravel the mechanism behind an unpleasant symptom of digestive problems. After a meal of questionable seafood or a few sips of contaminated water, bad bacteria can send your digestive tract into overdrive. Your intestines spasm and contract, efficiently expelling everything in the gut — poop and bacteria alike. A new study from the University of Oregon shows how one kind of bacteria, Vibrio cholerae, triggers those painful contractions by activating the immune system. The research also finds a…

… by turning on a protein that halts immune response. Researchers have also found that blocking the protein reactivates immune cell function, restoring the effectiveness of vaccines in an animal model. Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is a major cause of skin and soft tissue infections that can sometimes lead to sepsis and toxic shock syndrome. The microbe poses a significant threat to public health, made worse by the spread of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteria (MRSA) in recent years. According to…

Brain waves that allow memory consolidation are synchronized by breathing. The first time a breathing rhythm in the human hippocampus found during sleep Breathing is the metronome that coordinates sleep oscillations Findings are important for people with disordered breathing during sleep Breathing is a fundamental rhythm of memory consolidation Just as a conductor coordinates different instruments in an orchestra to produce a symphony, breathing coordinates hippocampal brain waves to strengthen memory while we sleep, reports a new Northwestern Medicine study….