Research Highlights

The ion channel PIEZO2 doesn’t just convey touch stimuli. It also plays a key role in the development of coronary vessels, a team led by Annette Hammes from the Max Delbrück Center reports in “Nature Cardiovascular Research.” The findings could improve our understanding of congenital heart defects.

Researchers from Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin and the Max Delbrück Center have detailed the precise mechanism through which the inflammatory signaling molecule IL-12 contributes to Alzheimer’s disease. The study was published in the journal “Nature Aging.”

A group of Berlin researchers in collaboration with international scientists have found differences in heart inflammation caused by COVID-19, anti-COVID-19 vaccination, and non-COVID-19 myocarditis. The find paves the way for more personalized therapies, they report in “Nature Cardiovascular Research.”

Researchers at the Experimental and Clinical Research Center in Berlin are developing a targeted treatment for muscular dystrophy with the help of gene-editing. Preclinical research led by the Spuler Lab published in “Nature Communications” now paves the way for first-in-human clinical trials.

Researchers at the Max Delbrück Center have used cryo-electron tomography to uncover new details of the molecular structure of synaptic vesicles, which help transport neurotransmitters in the brain. The study, published in “PNAS,” could inform therapeutic strategies for psychiatric disorders.

Researchers in the lab of Michael Sigal at the Max Delbrück Center and Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin have elucidated the role of the p53 gene in ulcerative colitis. The study, published in “Science Advances,” suggests a potential new drug target to stop disease progression to cancer.

Researchers at the Experimental and Clinical Research Center of Max Delbrück Center and Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin have found that microbial communities in the mouse GI tract are unevenly distributed, which influences immune cell populations. The work was published in “Gut Microbes.”

Misha Kudryashev’s lab at the Max Delbrück Center has identified a molecular intermediate of a serotonin receptor that is involved in diseases such as depression and schizophrenia. Published in “The EMBO Journal,” the study points to a potentially new target for therapeutics.

A team in the labs of Holger Gerhardt and Norbert Hübner at the Max Delbrück Center has elucidated how new arteries form, potentially helping to improve therapies aimed at regenerating heart muscle after a heart attack or stroke. The research was published in “Circulation Research.”

Researchers in Berlin and Düsseldorf have implicated a new gene in the progression of Huntington’s disease in a brain organoid model. The gene may contribute to brain abnormalities much earlier than previously thought. The study was published in “Nature Communications.”