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Max Delbrück Center Wins EUR 1.8 Million Grant by the Helmholtz Association for a German-Israeli Research School

Thu, 03 May 2012 02:00:00 GMT

The Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch has long standing collaborative relations with two top Israeli universities: Technion – Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa and The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI). Now the MDC and its Israeli partners have succeeded in acquiring a grant of EUR 1.8 million over 6 years for the joint German-Israeli Helmholtz Research School “Frontiers in Cell Signaling & Gene Regulation” (SignGene). The grant is endowed by the Initiative and Networking Fund of the Helmholtz Association. Further partners are Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin. The Research School is an international PhD training program for young scientists, who will be working on joint German-Israeli projects. These enable closer collaboration between research groups from Berlin, Haifa and Jerusalem on current topics of modern molecular medicine. Helmholtz Research Schools provide doctoral training to 25 outstanding young doctoral students to conduct research on a specific topic.

Gene Mutation Leads to Impairment of Two Senses: Touch and Hearing

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 02:00:00 GMT

People with good hearing also have a keen sense of touch; people with impaired hearing generally have an impaired sense of touch. Extensive data supporting this hypothesis was presented by Dr. Henning Frenzel and Professor Gary R. Lewin of the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch, Germany. The two researchers showed that both senses – hearing and touch – have a common genetic basis. In patients with Usher syndrome, a hereditary form of deafness accompanied by impaired vision, they discovered a gene mutation that is also causative for the patients’ impaired touch sensitivity. The examination was preceded by various studies, including studies with healthy identical and non-identical human twins (PloS Biology, doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1001318)*. In total, the researchers assessed sensory function in 518 volunteers.

MDC-Researchers Elucidate Molecular Mechanism Contributing to Severe Forms of Cardiomyopathy

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 02:00:00 GMT

Cardiomyopathy comprises a deterioration of the heart muscle that affects the organ's ability to efficiently pump blood through the body. Previously researchers have tied forms of the disease to the alternative splicing of titin, a giant protein that determines the structure and biomechanical properties of the heart, but the molecular mechanism remained unknown. Professor Michael Gotthardt and Professor Norbert Hübner of the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch, Germany, and colleagues have found that the RNA binding motif protein 20 (RBM20), a gene previously tied to hereditary cardiomyopathy, regulates titin splicing. Understanding this molecular mechanism behind heart function and failure, could lead to more efficient molecular diagnosis and therapies for this sometimes insidious disease (Nature Medicine, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nm.2693xxx).*