Research Highlights

How do cancer cells differ from healthy cells? A new machine learning algorithm called “ikarus” knows the answer, reports a team led by MDC bioinformatician Altuna Akalin in the journal "Genome Biology". The AI program has found a gene signature characteristic of tumors.

Almost all human cells are equipped with the chloride ion channel ASOR. But what for? It is essential for the shrinkage of particularly large vesicles - and thus influences certain immune and cancer cells, the FMP and MDC team around Thomas Jentsch now reports in Nature Cell Biology.

The ability to perform complex movements is vital for animals. A team led by MDC researcher Niccolò Zampieri has now described in the journal “Current Biology” how little-studied sensory neurons near the central canal in the spinal cord help regulate such motor functions.

A technique called Deep Visual Proteomics helps shed new light on cancer cell properties, a German-Danish team now reports in “Nature Biotechnology”. Fabian Coscia co-developed the new method and will further refine it at the MDC – with the aim of finding therapies for even resistant tumors.

The mechanics of the heart rely significantly on an RNA-binding protein called RBM20. But how are such RNA-binding proteins regulated? MDC teams led by Matthias Selbach have identified corresponding phosphorylation sites, they report in "Molecular Cell”.

In a study published in "Cell", MDC researchers show how a cell is able to process hundreds of signals simultaneously. Andreas Bock and his colleagues believe their findings will open up a whole new field of research in cell biology.

Using pioneering methods of proteome analysis, an interdisciplinary team of Berlin researchers was able to decode a previously unknown mechanism which can cause bone marrow cancer to relapse. The teams led by Jan Krönke and Philipp Mertins report their results in “Nature Communications”.

The zebrafish is an important model organism for studying things like genetic diseases. A regulatory map of its genome has been successfully created using high-throughput experiments and AI methods, a team led by Uwe Ohler now reports in "Cell Genomics" and "Nature Machine Intelligence".

The acid-sensitive chloride ion channel ASOR is found in almost all our cells. But apart from its involvement in cell death, not much is known about its physiological role. Now, the Jentsch Lab at FMP and MDC reports astonishing insights about its structure and activation mechanisms in “Science Advances”.

In a genome-wide association study, an MDC research group led by Young-Ae Lee discovered several rare gene variants that increase susceptibility to eczema. The team has now published its findings in Nature Communications.