Cell Biology

Max Delbrück Center and Helmholtz Imaging scientists have developed open-source software that simplifies the study of cell polarity with fluorescence microscopy. Published in “Nature Communications,” the innovation may streamline research on many basic biological processes such as tissue repair.

Jan Philipp Junker’s new full professorship at Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin will enable him to push the boundaries of tissue regeneration research. Using single-cell sequencing, microscopy and genetics, he hopes to unlock ways to enhance organ regeneration in mammals.

Researchers from Mount Sinai, Max Delbrück Center and other international institutions have identified a novel cancer cell state that fuels resistance to therapy in colorectal cancer. The findings, which were published in “Nature Genetics,” reveal a new mechanism and potential drug target.

An open-source platform developed by researchers in Nikolaus Rajewsky’s lab at the Max Delbrück Center creates molecular maps from patient tissue samples with subcellular precision, enabling detailed study and potentially enhancing routine clinical pathology. The study was published in “Cell.”

In a study led by Professor Jan Korbel, Senior Scientist and Head of Data Science at the European...

If waste DNA or RNA remains in cells, it can lead to diseases such as Alzheimer’s and autoimmune conditions. Writing in Nucleic Acids Research, scientists led by Oliver Daumke of the Max Delbrück Center describe the role one enzyme plays in removing this waste.

When the PRDM16 gene mutates, heart muscle cells undergo changes in their metabolism. This increases the risk of congenital heart failure in women more than men, as a ECRC research team led by Sabine Klaassen and Jirko Kühnisch reports in “Cardiovascular Research.”

It borders on the miraculous how an entire animal emerges from a single egg cell. In order to understand the underlying molecular mechanisms, Markus Mittnenzweig is establishing the Computational and Developmental Biology Lab at the Max Delbrück Center.

Ten years ago, researchers at the Max Delbrück Center came up with an idea for producing synthetic fatty acids. They launched a spin-off company to develop a drug for inflammation and mitochondrial dysfunction. Now the therapeutic agent will be tested in a clinical trial. The BMBF is providing a €2.5 million grant.

Cells continually renew themselves by “digesting” unused cellular material. This mechanism is called autophagy – an area in which immunologist Katja Simon has specialized. She has devised ways to use it to slow down the aging of immune cells.