Thomas Krausgruber awarded the ÖGAI Karl Landsteiner Prize for Basic Research in Immunology 2020
Congratulations to Thomas Krausgruber, Senior Postdoctoral Fellow in Christoph Bock’s Group at CeMM, who has received the Karl Landsteiner Prize for Basic Research in Immunology 2020!Every year the Karl Landsteiner and Eisler-Terramare Foudation Commemoration Trust and the Austrian Society for Allergology and Immunology (ÖGAI) offer a prize of 4,000 € to recognize excellent publications in the field of basic immunology research. The publications…
Cancer in children with rare inborn immune defect: High cure rate if treated early
New research data highlight a marked predisposition to lymphoma, a type of cancer, in children harboring specific gene mutations. A significant fraction of these rare mutations also cause inborn immune defects associated with recurrent infections. Under the leadership of Kaan Boztug, LBI-RUD and CCRI Director and CeMM Adjunct Principal Investigator, and collaborating closely with leading centers across the world, researchers investigated patients…
SLC25A51 regulates the transport of the coenzyme NAD into the mitochondria
Previously poorly characterized gene proved to be an important regulator with potential for the development of new metabolic therapies against ageing and cancer. For their growth, cells need various nutrients and vitamins. So-called solute carriers (SLC), proteins that can transport such substances across the boundaries of cellular membranes, play a central role in metabolism. Scientists in Giulio Superti-Furga’s research group at the CeMM…
Austrian study provides deep insights into transmission and mutation properties of SARS-CoV-2
Learning from past SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks for future pandemic control In the COVID-19 pandemic, 57 million people have already been infected worldwide. In the search for vaccines and therapies, a precise understanding of the virus, its mutations and transmission mechanisms is crucial. A recent study by the research group of Principal Investigator Andreas Bergthaler at the CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of…
Christoph Bock among the world's most highly-cited scientists in 2020
Every year the “Highly Cited Researchers” list provided by Clarivate Analytics recognizes the most influential researchers with highly-cited papers that rank in the top 1% by citation in different scientific fields. This year 39 researchers in the list are working in Austria. Among them, CeMM PI Christoph Bock, who has been included in the cross-field category, highlighting the interdisciplinary nature of his work. Christoph Bock joined CeMM …
Stem cell transplantation: undesirable rejection mechanism identified
In the treatment of leukaemia, stem cell transplantation subsequent to chemotherapy and radiation can often engender severe adverse inflammatory reactions – especially in the skin or in the gut, since these so-called barrier organs are more frequently affected. Up until now, the reason for this was unclear. A MedUni Vienna team led by Georg Stary and Johanna Strobl from MedUni Vienna's Department of Dermatology, the CeMM (Research Center for…
Drug discovery: First highly scalable method developed to monitor protein levels and localizations in cells
Until now, scientists typically studied the changes of proteins and their roles in the cell by using a fluorescent tag to label and follow one protein at a time. This approach limited the number of proteins that could be studied and precluded unbiased discovery approaches. Researchers at CeMM, the Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, have now developed a highly scalable method which allows for the study of…
CeMM signs framework agreement with the Technology Transfer Fund KHAN-I and its subsidiary wings4innovation GmbH (w4i)
Worth EUR 60 million, the KHAN Technology Transfer Fund I (KHAN-I) has, since July 2019, been financing highly innovative drug discovery projects that open up new therapeutic options for patients, based on ideas and results from Austrian, German and other European research institutions. The projects are developed in line with industry standards together with the research institutions and are commercialized by KHAN-I. The current investment…
Congratulations to CeMM SAB Member Emmanuelle Charpentier for the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
We congratulate CeMM SAB Member Emmanuelle Charpentier for the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry obtained together with Jennifer A. Doudna for the development of the CRISPR genome editing method. Emmanuelle Charpentier is a French researcher and citizen of Europe recognized as a world-leading expert in regulatory mechanisms underlying processes of infection and immunity in bacterial pathogens. With her groundbreaking findings in the field of…
Allergic immune responses help fight bacterial infections
Researchers from CeMM Research Center of Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, the Medical University of Vienna and Stanford University School of Medicine, have found that a module of the immune system, which is best known for causing allergic reactions, plays a key role in acquiring host defense against infections triggered by the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus. This “allergy module”, constituted by mast cells and…
Solgate GmbH – a new spin-off company to develop drugs against solute carrier (SLC) proteins
The most direct and efficient way to modulate metabolism is regulating access to nutrients, building blocks and energy through interfering with the function of membrane transporters. Solgate GmbH will develop drugs against solute carrier (SLC) proteins, the largest family of transporters, focusing on the important roles of SLCs in neurological diseases, metabolic disorders and cancer. Through a proprietary discovery platform that combines several…
Jörg Menche becomes Professor at Max Perutz Labs and University of Vienna, and CeMM Adjunct Principal Investigator
On 1 September 2020, Jörg Menche and his team members joined the Institute of Mathematics of the University of Vienna, and the Department of Structural and Computational Biology at the Max Perutz Labs, a joint venture between University of Vienna and the Medical University of Vienna. After 5 successful years as PI at CeMM, Jörg will now become a CeMM Adjunct Principal Investigator. Jörg Menche studied physics in Leipzig, Recife and Berlin.…
New EU-funded Research Project “HCA|Organoid”: Toward a Single-Cell Atlas of Human Organoids for Biomedical Research
The HCA|Organoid project is one of six pilot actions funded by the European Commission to contribute to the worldwide Human Cell Atlas initiative An “Organoid Cell Atlas” will combine single-cell profiling and organoid technology HCA|Organoid is a new EU research project that combines single-cell profiling and organoid technology to validate organoids as faithful models of human biology. The project seeks to kickstart the development of an…
Deep learning on cell signaling networks establishes interpretable AI for single-cell biology
Researchers at CeMM, the Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, have developed knowledge-primed neural networks (KPNNs), a new method that combines the power of deep learning with the interpretability of biological network models. KPNNs learn multiple layers of protein signaling and gene regulation from single-cell RNA-seq data, thereby providing a much-needed boost in our ability to convert massive…
Drug discovery: First rational strategy to find molecular glue degraders
Targeted protein degradation (TPD) represents a novel paradigm in drug discovery that could lead to more efficient medicines to treat diseases such as cancer. “Molecular glue degraders” are an emerging but understudied class of small molecules that have been shown to induce degradation of proteins commonly considered “undruggable”. Researchers at CeMM, the Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, have described…
