MDC Berlin

Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction was previously considered largely untreatable. An MDC team led by Professor Michael Gotthardt has now succeeded for the first time in improving cardiac function with the help of a synthetic nucleic acid, as the researchers report in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

The heart can get weak in different ways. One form of the disease, heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), continues to be extremely difficult to treat. MDC researchers are involved in a new Collaborative Research Center, where they aim to change this and develop therapeutic approaches.

Once again three MDC scientists – Nikolaus Rajewsky, Sofia Forslund and Alexander Mildner – have been named to the global list of Highly Cited Researchers.

New chances to attract sought-after research talents to Berlin will soon be available to the MDC. The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation has recruited Nikolaus Rajewsky for the Henriette Herz Scouting Program.

Two studies from the research team led by Dominik Müller and Ralf Dechend have been granted the American Heart Association’s Paul Dudley White International Scholar Award. One of the lead authors is also the winner of the Dr. Sabine Oberhauser Prize.

Under the theme “Breaking Boundaries,” young musicians from the Barenboim-Said Akademie are giving concerts at the MDC in Mitte/BIMSB at irregular intervals, followed by seminars for PhD students. The inaugural concert on November 12 was a great success, with not a seat left empty.

A team led by MDC researcher Ana Pombo has deciphered the 3D structure of the genome in three cell types of the mouse brain. They not only discovered specific folding patterns but also found that very long genes almost completely lose their compact folded structure when most at work, as they report in “Nature”.

What does the delphinium flower have to do with proteins and corona? Why is diversity good for research? And, what are Berlin-based scientists doing to reduce animal testing? In 2021, Berlin Science Week once again offered plenty of food for thought and hands-on experiments. MDC’s contribution:

Titin is the largest protein in the human body which takes on a central role in muscle fibers. A DZHK team now reports in „Science Translational Medicine“ how mutations in the titin gene can cause a disease of the heart muscle, dilated cardiomyopathy.