MDC Newsletter 04/2019: Kidneys, hearts, muscles

Fluconazole in rat kidney cells, AQP2 marked green

Dear Reader, 

Did you know that a fungicide could help the kidneys transport water? And that a missing enzyme can be responsible for unusual skin colouring? Find out more in this newsletter.  

You will also read how we want to understand the heart at the molecular level, how we gain muscle stem cells, and what two MDC researchers did on the stage of the Berliner Ensemble. 

We also congratulate our scientist Jens Reich on his 80th birthday. He is not only a molecular biologist and bioethicist, but was also one of the best known civil rights activists in the GDR. 

Have fun reading! And as always: Please, recommend us to others!

Your Insights Team

 

 

RESEARCH

Fluconazole in rat kidney cells, AQP2 marked green
Press Release No. 14 Berlin

Kick-starting the kidneys with an established antifungal drug

An MDC research team has discovered surprising new properties in fluconazole, a long approved fungal drug. The substance helps to draw water from urine. The researchers found this in rodents. The fungicide could help patients with rare genetic diseases in whom the water transport of the kidneys is impaired. Nevertheless, the path to therapy is not easy.
Heart of a zebrafish embryo
Press Release No. 17 Berlin

Unlocking the secrets of heart cells

A heart seems to be pure physics: valves open and close, blood flows, electrical impulses control the heartbeat. A German-British research team is now looking at it in a different way. It will break down the heart into its smallest components - the cells - and unlock their secrets. The project is now being funded with 2.5 million euros for three years.
muscle cells
Science

Biobank for muscle stem cells

Professor Simone Spuler's team has developed a method to isolate muscle stem cells in such a way that they retain their regenerative potential. Dr. Verena Schöwel was awarded the Science4Life prize for her concept of using this technology for patients suffering from muscle diseases.
Breast cancer cells of the mouse
Science

Funds speed the path from the lab to the clinic

The research results of the MDC should benefit patients as quickly as possible. With the "Pre-GoBio" programme, the MDC is therefore funding three projects which are particularly promising for medical applications, with a total of 825,000 euros..

PEOPLE

Baby in the womb
Institute & Campus

Berlin, Texas, and back: Sandra Blois researches pregnancy complications

Dr. Sandra Blois and her new group at the Experimental and Clinical Research Center (ECRC) are investigating how sugar chains in the cell influence placental development and complications during and after pregnancy. The immunologist started her work at the MDC at the beginning of 2019.
Anton G. Henssen
Institute & Campus

Improving cancer treatments for children

Anton Henssen specializes in rare tumors in children. As the new group leader at the Experimental and Clinical Research Center (ECRC), the physician hopes to contribute to ensuring that the knowledge gained in cancer research benefits patients as quickly as possible.
Vasiliki Anastasopoulou
Institute & Campus

The student’s advocate

Vasiliki Anastasopoulou is a PhD representative for the interests of students at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine. Her most important goal is to ensure that young researchers are paid and treated fairly. For the series "We at the MDC" we spoke with the young scientist.
Jens Reich
Science By Jana Schlütter

📺 For the love of freedom

He is a molecular biologist and physician, GDR revolutionary and civil rights activist, bioethicist and still today a formative researcher and ombudsman at the Max Delbrück Center. On the 80th birthday of Professor Jens Reich.
Journals
Press Release No. 11 Berlin

Improving the quality of biomedical research

Professor John Ioannidis from Stanford University comes to Berlin as an Einstein BIH Visiting Fellow. Professor Martin Lohse, Scientific Director of the MDC, says he is looking forward to the discussions and exchanges with Ioannidis.

MDC ON STAGE

Berliner Ensemble · Podiumsgespräch mit Uwe Ohler
Institute & Campus

When Theater met Science: Curtain Up for Fake News

A theme day on distrust and responsibility in science, was organized by the Berliner Ensemble and Helmholtz. Our researchers Uwe Ohler and Andreas Ofenbauer discussed artificial intelligence and explained what humans can learn from tiny worms.

VIDEO

Elena Timoféeff-Ressovsky
Science

▶ Lecture by Jennifer Lippincott-Schwartz: Emerging imaging technologies to study cells

On April 1, Jennifer Lippincott-Schwartz of Howard Hughes Medical Institute Virginia spoke in front of a full house at the MDC. The title of her lecture: "Eukaryotic cell compartmentalization: Insights from imaging".