News

The first Immunology & Inflammation Conference has been taking place at the MDC since yesterday, February 24, 2019. Over 300 scientists are participating, including the world’s elite immunology researchers. Over three days, they will present and discuss the latest findings from this emerging field of research.

A new MDC study may resolve a decades-old debate in immunology: A team led by Prof. Klaus Rajewsky reports in Science that distinct progenitor cells are not required for the development of B1 cells. Instead, the team’s experiments show that a particular type of B-cell receptor can reprogram B2 cells into B1 cells, suggesting that B1 cells emerge as a consequence of their special B-cell receptors.

In late February, the MDC will be hosting the first Immunology & Inflammation Conference in Berlin. We spoke with the two organizers, Professors Michela Di Virgilio and Klaus Rajewsky, about the conference’s aims and its program.

The fatty acid propionate helps defend against the effects of high blood pressure, including atherosclerosis and heart tissue remodeling, a study on mice has found. Gut bacteria produce the substance – which calms the immune cells that drive up blood pressure – from natural dietary fiber.

Breaks in our DNA are usually undesirable – unless the immune system is at work. A new study conducted by Michela Di Virgilio’s research group and published in „Molecular Cell“ shows how creatively and yet precisely cells can break up their genetic material and piece it back together.

Microglia, the immune cells of the central nervous system, differ in male and female mice. MDC researchers report on the sex-specific features in Cell Reports. Their findings could change how we treat neurological diseases.

In a new initiative, 23 groups from five Helmholtz Centers are joining forces to address some of the most complex problems in today's immunology in ways that can only be explored in collaboration.

On July 1, 2018, a new research group on Immune Mechanisms and Human Antibodies began its work at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC). The group is led by biologist Kathrin de la Rosa and is being funded by the Emmy Noether Programme of the German Research Foundation (DFG).

An international research team has succeeded in stopping the growth of malignant melanoma by reactivating a protective mechanism that prevents tumor cells from dividing.

Instead of defending the body against lymphoma, special immune cells sometimes have the opposite effect. The cancer reprograms the dendritic cells to promote lymphoma tumor growth.