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How does the body regulate the activity of insulin-producing cells in order to react quickly to changing conditions? Researchers at the University of Würzburg have investigated this question. The hormone insulin plays a central role in the metabolism of many living organisms. When food is plentiful, insulin promotes the absorption and storage of energy.

Scientists from DZNE, University Hospital Bonn (UKB) and the University of Bonn provide new evidence that preventing brain inflammation is a promising approach for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. Their findings, based on studies in cell culture, mice and tissue samples from patients, may contribute to the development of more effective therapies.

An enzyme called Ubiquitin-specific peptidase 5 is a key factor in protein quality in heart muscle cells A disrupted protein degradation process in heart muscle cells can lead to a range of severe heart diseases.

The stillbirth rate in Europe has been steadily improving over the last few decades, but there are some exceptions. In Germany and Belgium, rates have significantly increased since 2010, while other European countries have seen declines or stability. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR) have investigated how factors like increasing maternal age and multiple births may have influenced these trends and differences across Europe.

Adhesion GPCRs are a group of cell surface sensors that are associated with many bodily functions and diseases. However, they have not yet been sufficiently investigated in order to use them for therapies. The Collaborative Research Center 1423 at Leipzig University aims to change this. Scientists from the Faculty of Medicine have now developed an innovative numbering system for the GAIN domain, a protein domain that is common to all adhesion GPCRs.

New research shows how cancer develops in children who are predisposed to Wilms' tumor. This could help to predict the development of tumors before they fully form or to develop new, targeted therapies. Wilms' tumor is a form of kidney cancer that mainly affects children under the age of five. In Germany, around 100 children are diagnosed with it every year.

Study Reveals for the First Time That Membrane Tension Regulates Cellular Repair One moment of carelessness and bang - you have cut your finger. It bleeds, but after a while the wound heals by itself. Every day, individual cells in our body also suffer "wounds" in their protective layer, the cell membrane, and have to repair them again.

Researchers from around the world have studied the genome of over 150,000 people with bipolar disorder Genetic factors play a major role in the development of bipolar disorder. In an effort to better understand the underlying biology, researchers are constantly examining the genome of people with bipolar disorder.

An international team led by Harvard University, ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich has revealed in a new study that trust in scientists is at a moderately high level worldwide. The majority of those surveyed would like researchers to be involved in politics and society. Simone Dohle from the Research Laboratory for Health and Risk Communication (HRCL) helped collect the data for Germany.

For the first time, researchers have observed how HIV penetrates the nuclear pores to the genome of human immune cells Researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Biophysics and the University of Heidelberg have discovered how Hi viruses enter the nucleus of a human cell. The conical protein capsules in which the genetic material of the pathogens is packed accumulate at nuclear pores in human immune cells such as macrophages and pass through them.

Bonn researchers test the use of various large language models to analyze radiological reports Artificial intelligence (AI) and above all large language models (LLMs), which also form the basis for ChatGPT, are increasingly in demand in hospitals. However, patient data must always be protected. Researchers at the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) and the University of Bonn have now been able to show that local LLMs can help structure radiological findings in a privacy-safe manner, with all data remaining at the hospital.

Our genetic material contains tens of thousands of genes. Like a gigantic orchestra, their interaction is the basis for all vital processes in our body. Errors in this interaction can lead to serious illnesses and are one of the reasons why we age. Researchers in biology and medicine are therefore working hard to understand how the orchestra of genes is organized and how genes are activated or deactivated.

A new look at cancer cells: Würzburg researchers show in the journal 'Science' how therapeutic antibodies work - thanks to an innovative method of super-resolution microscopy. In blood cancers such as chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, B cells of the immune system multiply uncontrollably. One form of therapy involves labelling the CD20 protein on the surface of the B cells with customised antibodies.

Light Knowledge Transfer and Innovation Published: Cancer operations could become safer in future thanks to a new technology from Jena: An interdisciplinary research team has developed a new type of endoscope that can precisely detect and selectively remove tumour tissue - in real time during the operation.

An estimated four million people in Germany suffer from heart failure, and around half of these patients have heart failure with preserved pumping function. What influence does endurance and strength training have on the progression of this often life-threatening disease? The world's most comprehensive study to date, which was led by scientists from the German Heart Center at Charité Berlin, University Medicine Leipzig, University Medicine Rostock and TUM University Hospital Munich and published in the journal Nature Medicine, provides important insights into this question.

Bonn researchers show how disease-relevant genes can be identified more easily The identification of genes involved in diseases is one of the major challenges of biomedical research. Researchers at the University of Bonn and the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) have developed a method that makes their identification much easier and faster: they light up genome sequences in the cell nucleus.

International research team describes for the first time the structure and function of the Zorya system, a highly specialized antiviral protection mechanism against bacteria. Bacteria are constantly infected by viruses, so-called phages, which use the bacteria as host cells. However, in the course of evolution, bacteria have developed a variety of strategies to protect themselves from these attacks.

International research team describes for the first time the structure and function of the Zorya system, a highly specialised antiviral protection mechanism of bacteria.

Contactless diagnosis: research team develops innovative measurement technology to determine vital signs A research team from TU Ilmenau and the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Duisburg-Essen (UDE) has jointly developed an optical measurement system that can be used to monitor the health status of chronically ill or highly contagious people using vital parameters such as body temperature, respiratory rate or oxygen saturation without contact.

Bonn researchers decipher structure of coagulation factor XIII using cryo-electron microscopy A deficiency in blood plasma coagulation factor XIII leads to a disruption in the cross-linking of fibrin, the "glue" in blood coagulation. The enzyme therefore plays an essential role in blood clotting. Researchers at the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) and the University of Bonn, together with Thermo Fisher Scientific in the Netherlands, deciphered the previously unknown structure of the Factor XIII complex using cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), even at the atomic level.