Research Highlights

Immunotherapies strengthen the body’s own anti-cancer defenses in a highly targeted manner. In...

Nikolaus Rajewsky and his team have built a search engine that can scan data from millions of single cells from thousands of experiments worldwide in seconds. The tool, described in “Nature,” makes it possible to answer previously impossible questions about RNA biology.

A seven protein “signature” in blood can indicate successful treatment for vasculitis. The Mertins, Forslund and Kettritz labs report in “Nature Communications” how they used proteomics and AI to identify biomarkers, which could enable more personalized treatment with fewer side effects.

Researchers in the lab of James Poulet have uncovered how the nervous system senses cool and warm temperatures. The findings, published in “Neuron” challenge a long-standing view of temperature sensing and could guide future research into pain and sensory disorders.

Reporting in “Nature,” a team led by Gary Lewin at the Max Delbrück Center has found that naked mole-rat queens produce an odorous chemical that ensures that only they can reproduce. The queen odor also prevents rivalry within colonies — even when the queen is not physically present.

Oxalic acid might do more than just contribute to the formation of kidney stones — it may also be an underappreciated driver of inflammation and heart damage in people with impaired kidney function. Researchers from Berlin and Würzburg report their findings in “Cardiovascular Research.”

Max Delbrück Center researchers have discovered a previously unknown genetic switch that affects RBM20, an important protein in heart cells. The findings, published in “Nature Communications,” suggest a potential new target for treating cardiomyopathies more precisely in the future.

The true cause of RBM20 cardiomyopathy, a severe inherited form of heart failure, is not the gene defect itself, but an overactive protein, concludes a study led by researchers at the Helmholtz Institute for Translational AngioCardioScience and published in “Nature Cardiovascular Research.”

In “Nature Communications,” Max Delbrück Center researchers show how immune cells initiate zebrafish heart regeneration, highlighting the possibility that precisely timed inflammatory signaling of specific immune cells — rather than broad suppression — could inform new approaches to cardiac repair.

Helmholtz researchers have created the first detailed protein map of specific sensory neurons that trigger pain. Their study, published in “Nature Communications,” will help researchers better understand the molecular mechanisms of chronic inflammatory pain and identify new drug targets.