Research Highlights

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”.

New biomarkers could predict which therapy is likely to be most effective in treating the distant metastases of colorectal cancer. Researchers from the MDC and Charité as well as from industry partners have identified the molecular signatures of such metastases using mouse and 3D models, as they now report in the journal “Molecular Cancer”.

Studies at the MDC and the BIH have revealed that the liver, gallbladder and pancreas arise from a common pool of progenitor cells and that the supply of cells from this pool is inexhaustible. These findings may contribute to the development of new regenerative therapies, the researchers write in the journal “Nature”.

The anaplastic large cell lymphoma is a type of leukaemia whose development is significantly influenced by the transcription factor BATF3 and its target genes. An international research team, including scientists from Berlin, has now described a new approach to therapy in "Nature Communications".

A team led by MDC researcher Marina Chekulaeva has figured out why protein production slows down in the nerve cells of people suffering from Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease. This discovery could lead to a new therapeutic approach, the scientists report in the journal "Nucleic Acids Research".

The severity of COVID-19 is primary result of a dysregulated immune response. A cellular stress response mechanism plays a major role in the derailed immune response: senescence, report Clemens Schmitt and his colleagues in “Nature“. This suggests novel treatment path.

MDC researchers have discovered a previously unknown cause of cardiac hypertrophy. As they report in the journal “Genome Biology”, genetic variation results in heart cell ribosomes not working properly. This disrupts protein production, which in turn causes the heart to grow too large.

Researchers at the MDC, the BIH and Charité have developed methods for performing comprehensive analyses of fixed tumor tissue samples. These analyses make it possible to shed new light on the clinical course of various cancer types, as the team reports in Nature Communications.

A research team at the MDC has succeeded in tracking genes through space and time within a one-cell zebrafish embryo – even before cell division occurs. They have now described a method in the journal “Nature Communications” that may one day allow scientists to measure cell response to drugs, for example, in organoids.

Small changes of sodium in the blood reduce the amount of energy produced in the mitochondria – the power plants of our cells. This has consequences for immune cells. An international research team has discovered the mechanism behind this phenomenon and published their findings in the journal "Circulation".