• 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 open access “Organoid Cell Atlas”. By creating well-characterized in vitro models of human organs, this resource will enable future discovery-driven and translational research on rare genetic diseases,…

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 single-cell atlas data into biological insights. These findings have now been published in the renowned scientific journal Genome Biology.

Computer systems that emulate key aspects of human problem solving are…

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 a strategy that, for the first time, enables the rational and highly scalable discovery of novel molecular glue degraders. Their findings have now been published in the renowned scientific journal Nat…

The human body is often seen as a “machine” that consists of specialized components: Bones and soft tissue provide structure, organs contribute physiological functions, and immune cells protect against pathogens. In reality, many cell types and organs may play more than one role. Researchers at CeMM, the Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, have now discovered a striking example of multi-tasking cells. In a paper published in the scientific journal Nature, CeMM researchers analyzed the epigenetic and transcriptional regulation in structural cells, including epithelium, endothelium, and fibroblasts. They…

RESOLUTE, a public-private partnership funded by the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) and coordinated by CeMM and Pfizer, has recently reached its second year’s milestone on working towards the advancement of basic research on Solute Carrier Transporters.

On 29-30 June 2020, the 4th RESOLUTE consortium meeting, initially to be hosted by Sanofi in Paris (France), took place virtually. More than 60 RESOLUTE members joined a “virtual tour” of the beautiful city of Paris. During the online tour, work package leaders reported their latest research progress and project milestones at iconic places, such as the Eiffel Tower, the Arc of Triumph,…

In June 2020, Joanna Loizou and her team members moved to the Medical University of Vienna to join the Institute of Cancer Research. Joanna will now become an Adjunct Principal Investigator at CeMM.

Joanna Loizou’s long-standing expertise is embedded in investigating the cellular pathways that respond to DNA damage, to maintain genome stability and suppress disease. Her important contributions within this field began during her PhD (2000-2004, UK) and continued during two postdoctoral positions (2004-2007 France, and 2007-2011 UK). During these training posts, Joanna consistently made seminal discoveries by identifying a novel kinase that…

On 19 June 2020, the “Innovation Awards 2020-2021 / Austria’s Beste” were announced by the Austrian Association for Consumer Studies (ÖGVS) and the business magazine Trend, in their special issue Top 500. CeMM, the Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences has been awarded with the “Special Prize/Sonderpreis” in the field of organic chemistry and obtained the second-best place in IP category Biochemistry. This acknowledgement confirms CeMM’s status as a leading biomedical research institute in the country and recognizes the institute’s important contribution to world leading innovations and inventions.

The…

<link eu-life.eu _blank external-link-new-window "Opens internal link in current window">EU-LIFE</link>, the alliance of 14 leading Life Science Research Institutes in Europe announces its vision based on the lessons learned by COVID-19 pandemics on how Europe can prepare for future health crisis.

The current COVID-19 pandemic dramatically highlighted how vulnerable Europe is regarding health safety. The health and wellbeing of European citizens requires a long-term vision and better coordination among European countries in order to be better prepared and respond more effectively to current, emerging and future global health crises.

The human Mediator complex is selectively required for cell-type-specifying transcription

Using targeted protein degradation technology, researchers at CeMM, the Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, set out to understand the primary role of a key regulator of transcription, the human Mediator complex. Mediator, a 30 subunit molecular machine, was thus far positioned as a factor that is generally required for the transcription of all protein-coding genes in human cells. In contrast, the recent study by Georg Winter’s group at CeMM discovered that Mediator particularly safeguards the transcription of a…

216 SARS-CoV-2 genome sequences have now been completed and released in the framework of the “Mutational Dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 in Austria” project from CeMM, the Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, in close collaboration with the Medical University of Vienna, the Medical University of Innsbruck and the Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES). This data represents another milestone in the project and will help to understand the mutational landscape and evolution of the Austrian SARS-CoV-2 strains. Together with this release, CeMM researchers have published a dedicated website that offers…