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Scientists from Goethe University Frankfurt am Main synthesized the isolable ion-like silylium compound tBu3Si-F-Al(OC(CF3)3)3. The compound represents one of the strongest Lewis acids and acts as supersilylium cation source in solution. Additionally, it exhibits improved solid-state stability in comparison to similar compounds.

A new method for biological hydrogen storage uses parts of the natural metabolism of acetic acid bacteria to convert hydrogen and carbon dioxide into formic acid. Additionally, the newly developed technology can be used to remove toxic carbon monoxide from hydrogen containing gas mixtures (e.g. synthesis gas) and to convert it to carbon dioxide, and consequently into formic acid.

Researchers from Goethe University and the Max Planck Institute of Biophysics in Frankfurt have developed new functionalized nanomembranes as smart transmission electron microscopy support films. These nanomembranes facilitate and accelerate structure analysis by enabling in situ separation/ isolation of tagged biomolecules from raw mixtures.

According to the invention the approach of an easy risk assessment of patients with diagnosed cardiac insufficiency is based on the measurement of concentration of a pro-tein in whole blood called MD-2 by using the ELISA-technology. ELISA (Enzyme-Linked-Immunosorbent-Assay) is a common and standardized immunological assay for the detection of specific molecules in body liq-uids. It is well known that for cardiac degen-eration the activation of toll-like receptor-4 (TLR 4) is important. TLR 4 and MD-2 then form a receptor complex.
By the additional use of MD-2 biomarker to the “gold-standard” biomarker BNP for risk stratification of cardiac insufficiency, an in-crease of sensitivity and specificity regarding to the long-term survival can be realized. The used biomarker for this assay, is a MD-2 protein (also called LY96) which relates to the group of so-called “Immune response receptors”.

Scientists from Goethe University of Frankfurt am Main have identified serum biomarkers that differentiate patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) from those with liver cirrhosis. The identified sphingolipid metabolites C16-ceramide and sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) provide an extraordinary high diagnostic accuracy (AUC value > 0.98). Current HCC tests measure levels of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) which show a significantly lower diagnostic performance.

The development of new drugs in oncology has shifted from unspecific cytotoxic drugs to highly specific substances with known targets and modes of action. A prominent group of these target specific cancer drugs are the kinase inhibitors. The invented substances are inhibitors of the kinase AKT which is involved in several pathways regulating cell functions in cancer, e.g. survival and proliferation.

The particular novelty of the invented compounds is based on their combined covalent-allosteric binding mode. These are first-in-class modulators of AKT with a novel mode of inhibition. Covalent-allosteric inhibitors show extended drug-target residence times.
AKT is a serine/threonine kinase and oncogene that has already been identified and addressed as a target in cancer therapy by several pharma companies. The invented substances are of high interest for any pharma company with an oncology pipeline and are of special advantage for those who seek to improve, broaden or supplement their kinase inhibitor portfolio.