news 2016

Due to a shortage of natural predators, wild animal populations are often controlled through hunting. Whether a hunter shoots at an animal depends not only on specific hunting criteria, but is also significantly influenced by social factors - such as competition with other hunters. This was demonstrated in a study directed by Florian Diekert, economist at Heidelberg University.

An international team of researchers has shown why a standard treatment for the aggressive blood-cell cancer AML so often fails. The study uncovers a new biomarker that predicts the efficacy of the chemotherapy and identifies a new drug target. Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a cancer that is characterized by the uncontrolled proliferation of certain types of white blood cells.

Research news Fungal infections are a serious health risk. They can be harmful especially to patients whose immune system is compromised through illness or chemotherapy. A team working at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has discovered an important mechanism in the body's defenses against fungi.

Research news New cancer therapies harness the immune system to fight tumors. One of the main principles behind these therapies is to find out precisely which molecules on cancer cells trigger an immune response. A team at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry has for the first time identified suitable protein structures directly from patients` tumor cells.

Little is known about the role of the brain's immune system in Alzheimer's disease. Researchers at Ludwig Maximilian University (LMU) Munich and the Munich site of the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) have now found an early immune response in individuals with a genetic predisposition to Alzheimer's: their brain's showed abnormal immune reactions as early as about seven years before the expected onset of dementia.

A stressful job, trouble with the children and a near-empty bank account. When everything starts to get too much again, it can help to make a fresh start. If cells are under a lot of stress, for example as a result of injuries, they also undergo a fundamental reorganization. It's all about their cytoskeleton, which again and again forms new structures from many individual components in a highly flexible way, for example in order to support the cell or to transport molecular charges.

Cells of the immune system can distinguish between protein molecules that are "self" and "non-self". ­For example, if we are exposed to pathogens such as bacteria or viruses that carry foreign molecules on their surface, the body reacts with an immune response. In contrast, cells are "tolerant" of the body's own molecules.

Geologists Found Traces of Microorganisms in Rock Layer Several Billions of Years Old / Findings Published in "Geology" ' 389/2016 from Nov 11, 2016 According to a recent study, life on Earth took hold on land at least 3.2 billion years ago - 300 million years earlier than previously thought.

For observations based on sensory data, the human brain must constantly verify which "version" of reality underlies the perception. The answer is gleaned from probability distributions that are stored in the nerve cell network itself. The neurons are able to detect patterns that reflect acquired knowledge.

The ultimate aim in biomedical research is the transfer of results from experiments carried out in animals to patients. Researchers at the Cells-in-Motion Cluster of Excellence (CiM) at the University of Münster have succeeded in doing so. For the first time, they have been able to image ongoing inflammation in the brain of patients suffering from multiple sclerosis (MS).

Research news Before RNA copies of genes can program the synthesis of proteins, the non-coding regions are removed by the spliceosome, a complex molecular machine. The correct regulation of the splicing plays a central role for many cellular processes. By means of nuclear spin measurements and single-molecule fluorescence microscopy, a team of scientists has now discovered an unexpected mechanism in the assembly of the spliceosome.

Research news In type 1 diabetes, the body attacks its own insulin-producing cells. Scientists at Technical University of Munich (TUM), at Helmholtz Zentrum München and the German Center for Diabetes Research have now reported in the journal 'PNAS' about a mechanism used by the immune system to prepare for this attack.

LMU researchers have identified a pair of interacting molecules which play a critical role in the pathogenicity of Helicobacter pylori. H. pylori infections can cause peptic ulcers and are associated with stomach cancer. The rod-shaped bacterium Helicobacter pylori colonizes the surface of the cells that make up the lining of the stomach, and can cause gastritis, peptic ulcers and gastric cancer.

Research news Helicobacter pylori is a bacterium that can colonize the human stomach - sometimes with fatal consequences. A research group led by Prof. Markus Gerhard of the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and Bernhard B. Singer of the Institute for Anatomy at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Duisburg-Essen has discovered a completely new approach to preventing or treating infections with this bacterium as well as secondary complications.

Research news Watching millions of neurons in the brain interact with each another is the ultimate dream of neuroscientists. A new imaging method now makes it possible to observe the activation of large neural circuits, currently up to the size of a small-animal brain, in real time and three dimensions.

Research news Sequencing data from biological samples such as the skin, intestinal tissues, or soil and water are usually archived in public databases. This allows researchers from all over the globe to access them. However, this has led to the creation of extremely large quantities of data. To be able to explore all these data, new evaluation methods are necessary.

Some HIV-infected - and untreated - children do not develop AIDS. A new study shows that they control the virus in a different way from the few infected adults who remain disease-free, and sheds light on the reasons for this difference. Children who are HIV-positive but remain free of AIDS are very rare.

Research news Pancreatic cancer is an exceptionally aggressive type of cancer. Frequently, metastases already start to grow in other organs, particularly often in the liver, before the original tumor was even detected. Scientists from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have now discovered a molecular mechanism, which is responsible for the prominent susceptibility of the liver to metastases at such an early stage.

Research news Plants cannot simply relocate to better surroundings when their environmental conditions are no longer suitable. Instead, they have developed sophisticated molecular adaptation mechanisms. Scientists at the Technical University Munich (TUM) in cooperation with the Helmholtz Center Munich and the University of Nottingham have been able to demonstrate that brassinosteroids, which until now have mainly been regarded as growth hormones, increase the resistance of plants against frost.

Research news Countless microorganisms live in the intestinal tract. Researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have been able to demonstrate that intestinal bacteria also play a role in determining the strength of anaphylactic reactions to food allergens. The scientists present their results at the annual convention of the European Society for Dermatological Research (ESDR), which is hosted by and at TUM this year.