Cancer

Berlin-based research project MSTARS is entering its second round. Matthias Selbach and Fabian Coscia explain how the Max Delbrück Center is contributing, why the collaboration with Charité is so important, and how studying proteins in cells can help identify the best therapy for a patient.

A team of scientists led by Martin Janz and Klaus Rajewsky at the Max Delbrück Center has successfully generated genetically defined mouse models for two subtypes of multiple myeloma. These models will contribute to a better understanding of how the disease develops in humans. The team has now published their findings in the journal PNAS.

Six sites are now collaborating with the Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum (German Cancer Research Center) in the National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT). In Berlin, a central partner is the Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, in close cooperation with the Berlin Institute of Health at the Charité (BIH) and the Max Delbrück Center.

Combining single-cell data with a self-learning algorithm reveals how structural changes in chromosomes can trigger cancer. This new method could pave the way for personalized cancer treatments, writes a team led by Ashley Sanders in “Nature Biotechnology”.

They have their sights set on serious diseases: Gabriele G. Schiattarella analyzes mechanisms of heart failure, Simon Haas wants to improve immunotherapies for leukemia and Michael Sigal would like to prevent gastrointestinal diseases. Now, the ERC is awarding the researchers with a Starting Grant.

Ulrike Stein is searching for molecules that play a key role in metastasis, aiming to use them as therapeutic targets for solid tumors and to improve cancer prognosis. The Metastasis Research Society has recognized her work with this year’s Women in Science Achievement Award.

Klaus Rajewsky has received two awards recognizing his lifetime achievement in science. Both came in October: The German Society for Hematology and Medical Oncology awarded him honorary membership at a ceremony in Vienna, while Masaryk University awarded him the Mendel Medal in Brno, Czech Republic.

Walter Birchmeier has spent many decades researching how cells organize themselves in tissues and how these processes go awry in cancer. Now 80, and just as he is approaching the end of his third decade at the Max Delbrück Center, Birchmeier is retiring.

And a celebration it was: After two years of virtual graduation ceremonies due to Covid-19, doctoral students at the Max Delbrück Center were once again able to receive their graduation certificates live on stage.

A new therapeutic agent may offer hope to young people suffering from a severe form of muscle cancer. As a research team led by Anton Henssen reports in “Nature Communications”, this agent prevents the repair of DNA damage in cancer cells, ultimately causing their death.