Press Releases
09.05.2012
Wirkstoffsuche gegen Parkinson im Hochdurchsatz
Innovationspreis für Münsteraner Max-Planck-Forscher: Neue Verfahren für phänotypisches Screening an Stammzellen entwickelt
Wissenschaftler des Münsteraner Max-Planck-Instituts für molekulare Biomedizin haben eine Methode weiterentwickelt und für den industriellen Einsatz verbessert, mit der potenzielle Medikamentenwirkstoffe gegen neurodegenerative Erkrankungen wie Alzheimer oder Parkinson schnell und zuverlässig identifiziert werden können: Das patentierte Verfahren ermöglicht es, Stammzellen so zu kultivieren, dass sich Wirkstoffkandidaten an ihnen in-vivo im Massendurchsatz testen lassen. Die Technologie hat der „Arbeitskreis der BioRegionen in Deutschland“ heute auf dem Deutschen Biotechnologietag in Frankfurt mit dem Innovationspreis 2012 ausgezeichnet.
Press release (PDF, ger)
29.03.2012
Culprit behind unchecked angiogenesis identified
Max Planck researchers unravel a critical regulatory mechanism controlling blood vessel growth that might help solve drug resistance problems in the future
Angiogenesis, the growth of new blood vessels, is a complex process during which different signaling proteins interact with each other in a highly coordinated fashion. The growth factor VEGF and the Notch signaling pathway both play important roles in this process. VEGF promotes vessel growth by binding to its receptor, VEGFR2, while the Notch signaling pathway acts like a switch capable of suppressing angiogenesis. Until recently, scientists had assumed that Notch cancels the effects of VEGF through the downregulation of VEGFR2. Now, researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine (MPI) and the Westphalian Wilhelms-University in Münster, Germany, were able to demonstrate that defective Notch signaling enables strong and deregulated vessel growth even when VEGF or VEGFR2 are inhibited. In this case, a different VEGF family receptor, VEGFR3, is strongly upregulated, promoting angiogenesis. "This finding might help explain drug resistance issues in certain types of cancer therapy and could become the basis for novel treatment strategies," suggests Professor Dr. Ralf Adams, MPI's Executive Director and Chair of the Department of Tissue Biology and Morphogenesis. The findings are published now in the renowned scientific journal "Nature" (DOI: 10.1038/nature10908).
Press release (PDF)
22.03.2012
Somatic stem cells obtained from skin cells for first time ever
Skipping pluripotency 'detour,' Schöler again takes lead in stem cell research
Breaking new ground, scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine in Münster, Germany, have succeeded in obtaining somatic stem cells from fully differentiated somatic cells. Stem cell researcher Professor Dr. Hans Schöler and his team took skin cells from mice and, using a unique combination of growth factors while ensuring appropriate culturing conditions, have managed to induce the cells' differentiation into neuronal somatic stem cells. "Our research shows that reprogramming somatic cells does not require passing through a pluripotent stage," explains Schöler. "Thanks to this new approach, tissue regeneration is becoming a more streamlined - and safer - process." The scientists' findings are published today in the prestigious scientific journal "Cell - Stem Cell".
Press release (PDF)
13.11.2011
Lokomotive fur Südkoreas Stammzellforschung
Max-Planck-Institut für molekulare Biomedizin richtet Partnergruppe am südkore- anischen Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) ein.
Das Max-Planck-Institut für molekulare Biomedizin (MPI) etabliert eine Partner- gruppe am „Hans Schöler Stem Cell Research Center“ (HSSCRC) im südkoreani- schen Ulsan. Das HSSCRC wurde im vergangenen Jahr am Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) gegründet und nach dem Münsteraner Stamm- zellforscher Professor Dr. Hans Schöler benannt. Die Max-Planck-Gesellschaft er- möglicht die Einrichtung der Partnergruppe, indem sie das Projekt zunächst bis Ende 2015 mit jährlich 20.000 Euro unterstützt. Nach positiver Evaluation besteht die Möglichkeit, die Finanzierung um weitere zwei Jahre zu verlängern. So soll die enge Zusammenarbeit zwischen den beiden Instituten weiter intensiviert werden.
Press release (PDF, ger)
21.10.2011
Max Delbrück Medal for Stem Cell Researcher Professor Hans Schöler
The stem cell researcher Professor Hans Schöler of the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine, Münster, has been honored in Berlin with the Max Delbrück Medal.
Hans Schöler, a leading scientist internationally in the field of stem cell research, received the medal for his research on the reprogramming of neural stem cells into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells). Pluripotent stem cells can give rise to each of the more than 200 cell types of an organism. That is why targeted, induced generation of these cells via reprogramming in the laboratory is of such great interest to researchers. They hope to be able to utilize these “all- rounder” cells in the future for the therapy of serious diseases.
Press release (PDF)
23.09.2011
Hans Schöler Will Give the Emil von Behring Lecture
The highest honour of the Society for Transfusion Medicine and Immunhaematology is bestowed on Hans Schöler for his accomplishments in stem cell research
The German Society for Tranfusion Medicine and Immunhaematology (“Deutsche
Gesellschaft für Transfusionsmedizin und Immunhämatologie”, DGTI) will honour
Professor Hans Schöler, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular
Biomedicine in Münster, Germany, for his outstanding accomplishments in the area
of stem cell research: The DGTI’s Executive Committee invited Schöler to give the
Emil von Behring Lecture during the opening ceremony of the 44th Annual
Conference of the German Society for Transfusion Medicine and
Immunhaematology. The title of Schöler’s lecture will be “Induced Pluripotent Stem
Cells in Regenerative Medicine and Reproductive Biology”.
Press release (PDF)
09.09.2011
Kazemi Award for Professor Hans Schöler
Professor Hans Schöler, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine in Münster, Germany, will be awarded the 2011 Kazemi Award. The molecular and developmental biologist is decorated for his outstanding achievements in the field of
The “Kazemi Award for Scientific Excellence in Biomedicine” is awarded by the Royan Institute, the leading Stem Cell Research Centre in Iran. The Royan Institute was founded by Saeid Kazemi Ashtiani in 1991. The Kazemi Award, which is endowed with 20,000 US$, commemorates the reproduction specialist who died in 2006. The first Kazemi laureate in 2010 was the molecular biologist and geneticist Rudolf Jaenisch, currently working at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research in Cambridge, Massachussetts, USA.
Press release (PDF)
02.05.2011
Max Planck scientists discover how the body bridles inflammation
Together with MHH scientists they found a survival factor after heart attack that could also be a therapeutic option in other organs
Scientists of the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine (MPI) in Münster and Hannover Medical School (MHH) have identified a factor that is indispensable for repair mechanisms of the heart after a heart attack: the body's own protein GDF-15. Thereby, the scientists discovered an entirely new mechanism by which the body prevents inflammatory reactions from getting out of control. The teams of Professor Dr. Dietmar Vestweber and PD Dr. Alexander Zarbock, MPI Münster, and Professor Dr. Kai Wollert and PD Dr. Tibor Kempf, Department of Cardiology and Angiology, published their results in the current online issue of the prestigious scientific journal Nature Medicine.
Press release (PDF; German)
28.02.2011
Special award of the Eva Luise and Horst Köhler Foundation for Münster-based Max Planck junior researcher Boris Greber
Greber receives special award for research on a rare genetic disease of the heart
The Eva Luise and Horst Köhler Foundation for People with Rare Diseases decided to honour the Münster-based junior researcher at the Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Molecular Biomedicine, Boris Greber, with a special award. The presentation takes place within the frame of the ceremony for the Eva Luise Köhler Research Award on February 28, 2011 in Berlin. The special award is endowed with a prize money of 15,000 Euros to the benefit of Greber's research project on a Rare Disease of the heart.
Press release (PDF; German)
23.02.2011
Honour for Max Planck director Hans Schöler
The Münster-based stem cell researcher was appointed corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences and Literature, Mainz
With the election to become a corresponding member of the Academy of Science and Literature, Mainz in their Plenary session on February 18, the academy is honouring Hans Schöler for his excellent achievements in stem cell research and his social-political involvement.
Press release (PDF; German)
