Many human cell types have a precise calcium uptake mechanism. One gene in which part of the blueprint for these so-called calcium channels is encoded is also partly to blame for a rare human developmental disorder that triggers epilepsy and autism. A research group from Innsbruck is exploring these links and working on a potential […] Continue reading “Important jigsaw piece for the therapy of rare genetic diseases discovered”
Virologist Katrin Ramsauer is researching a vaccine against the new coronavirus. She is part of a consortium of research partners from Vienna, Paris and Pittsburgh, which is being financed with international funding. A marketable product is expected for next year. Continue reading “Measles viruses as a Trojan horse against Corona”
The virologist Christoph Steininger is involved in several EU-wide research projects on the coronavirus. In an FWF-funded project on the clinically highly relevant CMV virus, his research group has just achieved a scientific breakthrough. Both research areas show how important purely curiosity-driven basic research can be for the development of drugs. Continue reading “Coronavirus: from molecule to drug”
Calcium deposits in the abdominal and leg arteries – so-called media calcification – are a frequent complication of kidney failure or diabetes mellitus. With the support of the Austrian Science Fund FWF, researchers explored how cell cultures and mice react to inadequate blood purification and how to prevent the ossification of vascular walls. Continue reading “Cell recycling to fight atherosclerosis”
Armed with a Schrödinger fellowship and her cat, Corina Madreiter-Sokolowski moved to Switzerland. At ETH Zurich, the pharmacist investigates ageing processes at molecular level. The research environment of this top-notch university made the young scientist realise the importance of networking and exchanges, as she reveals in her report for scilog. Continue reading “Grüezi, Hoi and Salü – Greetings from Zurich!”
The aim of a European project (TRANSCAN) is to identify metabolite signatures that are associated with all stages in the development of colorectal cancer. Metabolomic analysis was performed on more than 2,000 plasma samples from individuals with colorectal cancer, colorectal adenoma and a control group. Continue reading “From metabolite profiles to molecular biomarkers for colorectal cancer”
The search for specific therapies for multiple sclerosis has prompted an international research group to investigate how immune cells can cross the blood-brain barrier and trigger inflammatory processes in nerve tissue. The results obtained by the Center for Brain Research in Vienna show that the development of this inflammatory disease is dominated by two types […] Continue reading “How immune cells cross the blood-brain barrier”
The ILEI protein transforms sedentary into mobile cells and is therefore regarded as an important signal inducer for the metastasis of cancer cells. ILEI is only one member of a protein family that has not been widely researched. With the support of the Austrian Science Fund FWF, cancer researcher Agnes Csiszar has demonstrated that one […] Continue reading “A power couple mobilises cancer cells”