Radically new

Prof. Dr. Andriy Mokhir, Chair of Organic Chemistry (Image: FAU/Georg Pöhlein)

Reactive oxygen species (ROS), more commonly known as oxygen radicals, are both a blessing and a curse: in a healthy organism they regulate cell growth, modulate inflammatory processes and help to capture and eliminate pathogens.

In high concentrations, however, ROS damage tissue, cause uncontrolled inflammation and are involved in triggering cancer and autoimmune diseases.

Paradoxically, however, amplifying oxygen radicals can indeed lead to a cure. In order to benefit from this effect in clinical applications, an innovative new medicine is being developed at FAU.

It deliberately increases the concentration of ROS in neutrophils, special cells in the congenital immune system. This can resolve inflammation or boost blood formation, thereby combating the destruction of stem cells in the bone marrow.

The project is being coordinated by Prof. Dr. Andriy Mokhir (Chair of Organic Chemistry II). Department of Medicine 3 – Rheumatology and Immunology at Universitätsklinikum Erlangen (PD Dr. Markus Hoffmann, Prof. Dr. Martin Herrmann and Prof. Dr. Georg Schett) and research institutions in Great Britain, France, Sweden, Spain and the Ukraine are also involved.

A detailed project description from the EU is available from the Cordis research platform.

Further information:
Prof. Dr. Andriy Mokhir
Phone: + 49 9131 85 65582
andriy.mokhir@fau.de

Media Contact

Dr. Susanne Langer idw - Informationsdienst Wissenschaft

More Information:

http://www.fau.de/

All latest news from the category: Life Sciences and Chemistry

Articles and reports from the Life Sciences and chemistry area deal with applied and basic research into modern biology, chemistry and human medicine.

Valuable information can be found on a range of life sciences fields including bacteriology, biochemistry, bionics, bioinformatics, biophysics, biotechnology, genetics, geobotany, human biology, marine biology, microbiology, molecular biology, cellular biology, zoology, bioinorganic chemistry, microchemistry and environmental chemistry.

Back to home

Comments (0)

Write a comment

Newest articles

BESSY II: New procedure for better thermoplastics

Thermoplastic blends, produced by a new process, have better resilience. Now, experiments at the IRIS beamline show, why: nanocrystalline layers increase their performance. Bio-based thermoplastics are produced from renewable organic…

Beta cells: New insights into the structure, interactions and neuronal networking of primary cilia

The beta cells of the pancreas are responsible for releasing the hormone insulin, which is vital for the absorption of glucose from the bloodstream. Various factors can impair the ability…

Targeted Printing

Single-cell technology… Bright prospects for personalized medicine: Experts from the Fraunhofer Institute for Microengineering and Microsystems IMM harness their know-how in microfluidics and single-cell technologies to print organ structures. They…