Parasitic worms help Professor Clarissa Prazeres da Costa and her team better understand the human immune system in order to find solutions to global health problems.
Why do blood clots develop in the first place—and why do they tend to recur? LMU researcher Konstantin Stark believes that the answers lie in the immune system.
At RCI, the Regensburg Center for Interventional Immunology, international research groups develop immunotherapies and cellular therapies in order to help treating patients suffering from tumors, chronic inflammation or autoimmunity.
From junior research group leader to full professor and spokesperson of the Research Center for Infectious Diseases (ZINF) at the University of Würzburg. This is the scientific career path of Cynthia Sharma.
Immunotherapy using CAR T cells is finding ever more applications. In addition to their use in the treatment of blood and lymphatic cancers, CAR T-cells are now also being investigated for solid tumors and various autoimmune diseases. With the growing number of indications and patients, the issue of side effects associated with this innovative therapy is becoming even more pressing. A team led by Dr. Kai Rejeski from the LMU University Hospital Munich has proposed a new strategy in the renowned journal Nature Medicine to systematically and more rapidly address novel and emerging side effects. The strategy is called IAGO – like the villain in Shakespeare’s Othello.
Two international clinical studies led by PD Dr Norbert Heinrich at the Institute of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine at LMU University Hospital Munich with international partners have shown the safety and efficacy of two promising antibiotics as potential alternatives to linezolid in the treatment of tuberculosis.
In modern immunotherapy, modified immune cells are introduced into the body to attack tumors and other targets. Researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have developed a method for tracking these cells in the body. This new approach could deepen our understanding of cellular therapies and help make future treatments safer.
• Mass spectrometer identifies pathogens directly in tissue and stool samples • So far 232 medically important bacterial species detectable • Database must now be further expanded Speed and reliability are crucial in the diagnosis of diseases. Researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and Imperial College London have developed a new method to identify bacteria with unprecedented speed. This means that the waiting time can be reduced from several days to just a few minutes.
Physicists from the Universities of Bayreuth and Grenoble have discovered a new mechanism of cell mobility. Their findings challenge the classical dogma that the molecular motor myosin is essential for the movement of mammalian cells. This insight paves the way for new strategies to control cell movement, with potential implications for the treatment of diseases. The team reports their findings in the leading physics journal Physical Review Letters.
Even in the case of uncomplicated infections, the body prepares itself early on for the possibility of a more severe course. A research team from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and Helmholtz Munich has now uncovered this mechanism. The scientists showed that, right at the onset of mild illness, the body also produces special T cells previously known only from chronic, severe infections and tumors.
