Medizin

Cancer remains a major health burden and is the second leading cause of death globally (WHO). The microenvironment of cancer cells plays an important role in disease progression. In particular, the composition of the extracellular matrix regulates angiogenesis, cell proliferation, differentiation, cell survival and apoptosis. Dysregulation and accumulation of the extracellular matrix promotes cellular transformation and metastasis leading to cancer progression. A better understanding of the role ...

Anthrax is an acute infectious disease caused by the spore-forming bacterium Bacillus anthracis. B.anthracis can cause human disease via the gastrointestinal, cutaneous or inhalational routes. There is still a considerably high rate of mortality from inhalational anthrax of up to 75 percent, even though fluorquinolone class antibiotics (e.g., ciprofloxacin) are being administered as a first-line therapy. This strategy, in addition, is being threatened by the spread of plasmid-mediated ...

The semaphorin-plexin system consists of several classes of semaphorin ligands and of several classes of plexin transmembrane receptors that all together mediate cell-cell interactions in many different tissues in mammals under physiological conditions [1]. Beyond that, the semaphorin-plexin system also plays an important role in several pathophysiological processes, such as cancer, inflammatory and immune diseases, bone diseases and microvascular diseases [1]. In this respect, the semaphoring-plexin ...

A double KO, a conditional KO as well as single KO mouse models for FFA2 and FFA3 (free fatty acid receptors 2 and 3), novel targets for diabetes therapies.

A tRNA^ALA heteroplasmy mouse model to study mitochondrial disorders such as encephalomyophathies, that recapitulates symptoms as observed in human patients with disease-causing mutation in the same mitochondrial gene.

Extremely sensitive, reliable and fast novel KDAC assay, which can be performed in a continuous format. This novel KDAC assay is based on Firefly luciferase harboring an acetylation on an essential active site lysine, incorporated by genetic code expansion. We furthermore offer a bacterial selection system for KDACs, which uses a reporter enzyme inactivated by lysine modifications at an essential active site residue, thereby linking deacetylase activity to a selectable output.

Biomarkers of ageing have long been sought after to help assess the biological age and general health status of individuals. Considerable efforts have been invested to identify such biomarkers, including physiologic readouts, metabolic parameters, glycomic profiles and others. Nevertheless, markers with strong predictive power have remained elusive.

Work in model organisms has identified several conserved signaling pathways that extend life span, such as reduced insulin/IGF signaling and ...