—The annual "Girls' & Boys' Day" (former "Girls' day") sets out to introduce children and young addults to careers their respective gender is still underrepresented in. To celebrate this special day and offer insights into the work of a biomedical researcher, we welcomed students from all over Germany to our laboratories. Besides hands-on science, career options and perspectives in research were discussed.
Study reveals dynamic interactions between brain tumors and immune cells
—Glioblastoma, the most common and aggressive brain tumor in adults, is difficult to treat because this cancer can invade the surrounding brain tissue and spread far beyond the original tumor mass. Researchers from the DZNE, the University Hospital Bonn (UKB), and ImmunoSensation³ at the University of Bonn have observed this infiltration process in the living brain using high-tech microscopy. Their study is based on research in mice with a form of brain tumor that closely resembles human glioblastoma.
New Findings on Immunotherapy for a Rare Brain Infection
—Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) is a rare but very serious brain disease. It is caused by the reactivation of the widespread JC virus when the immune system is severely weakened. There is currently no targeted antiviral therapy available, which is why new treatment approaches are urgently needed. In recent years, so-called immune checkpoint inhibitors have been increasingly used; these “unlock” the immune system and reactivate the body’s own immune cells. The results were recently published in the journal JAMA Neurology.
Two years of the Marvin Supercomputer: Researchers in Bonn present their projects
—Two years after it went into operation, the University of Bonn celebrated the Marvin Supercomputer with a community event at the Research and Technology Center for Detector Physics (FTD). Researchers from various disciplines presented projects that had been carried out using high-performance computing and used the event as an opportunity for interdisciplinary exchange. A team lead by ImmunoSensation³ members Prof. Dr. Michael Hölzel (Institute of Experimental Oncology) and PD Dr. Gregor Hagelueken (Institute of Structural Biology) use Marvin to design new proteins.
—The “SxDiagnostics” project from the University of Bonn and the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) prevailed against over 100 competing teams in the start2grow competition and placed in the (shared) 4th to 10th spots. Start2grow is organized nationwide by the Dortmund Economic Development Agency and celebrated its 25th anniversary this year.
Millions in funding for the new MikrobiomProCheck research project
—The human gut microbiome is as unique as a fingerprint. It plays a central role in chronic inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. Yet its potential for diagnostics and personalized therapy for patients remains untapped. The MikrobiomProCheck research project aims to change this. To this end, the Leibniz Institute for Analytical Sciences (ISAS), the Universities of Bonn, Bielefeld, and Duisburg-Essen, Biofidus AG, and Lead Discovery Center GmbH are receiving approximately 3.4 million euros from the state government of NRW and the European Union.
—A recent study by the Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences and the University of Bonn shows that pH plays a crucial role in sperm motility in sea urchins and salmon. A rise in pH activates the enzyme soluble adenylyl cyclase (sAC), which produces the messenger molecule cAMP and thereby regulates sperm movement. This mechanism may be widespread in many marine invertebrates and fish. The findings have now been published in the Journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
—A new AI-based method reconstructs spatial information about where immune cells were originally located in an organ, even after these cells have been removed from the tissue and analyzed individually. To accomplish this, Researchers at the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) and the University of Bonn use the transcriptome, i.e., the entirety of all messenger RNA transcripts produced by genes within a cell at a given time. The work has now been published in the journal Advanced Science and introduces the new MERLIN algorithm.
B cells maintain antigen presentation in the splenic marginal zone
—A team of international researchers, including ImmunoSensation³ members Prof. Niels Lemmermann and Prof. Andreas Schlitzer, shows that B cells support antiviral CD8⁺ T-cell responses beyond antibody production. In a murine CMV model, B-cell deficiency weakened virus-specific CD8⁺ T-cell responses. Mechanistically, B-cell-derived lymphotoxin β maintained CD169⁺ macrophages and Langerin⁺ cDC1 cells in the splenic marginal zone, enabling efficient T-cell priming. The study was published in Cellular & Molecular Immunology.
