Press Archive
13.01.12
Cancer Research Award for HZI Scientist
January 16th, 2012: Lars Zender receives Johann-Georg-Zimmermann Award
Prof. Dr. Lars Zender has received one of the most distinguished German cancer research awards. The Johann-Georg-Zimmermann Award, endowed with 10 000 Euro, highlights Zender’s findings on chronic liver damage and liver cancer development. Liver cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma) developed in livers after chronic infection with Hepatitis-B and -C virus. Zender is heading a research group at the...
03.01.12
Treasure Hunt in the Bacterial Genome
EU funds research on Actinomycetes with 1.5 million Euro
A research project aimed at finding new medical compounds in bacteria has now been granted financial support from Brussels. The European Research Council (ERC) will fund the work of Dr. Andriy Luzhetskyy, a junior scientist investigating the genetics of Actinomycetes. This particular group of microorganisms produces a variety of important natural products which play a pivotal role in modern...
04.12.11
Understanding the molecular production line
How natural polyketides are produced “in assembly lines”: HZI researchers decode the molecular structure of synthesizing enzymes
From deadly toxins to curative antibiotics: The polyketides, a class of biologically active compounds, comprise a multitude of metabolites from plants, fungi, bacteria and other organisms. How does nature produce this remarkably broad spectrum? Researchers of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI), Braunschweig, the Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS)...
09.11.11
Immune surveillance against cancer
Early stage tumor suppressionthrough immune surveillance: HZI researchers describe a new mechanism
Liver cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma) is one of the most common malignancies worldwide. In the majority of cases hepatocellular carcinoma develops after liver damage due to chronic Hepatitis B- or C virus infections. Researchers at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig and Hanover Medical School have now revealed how an intact immune system is able to recognize...
13.09.11
The Exhausted Immune Defence
Scientists from HZI unravel why immune cells tolerate bacteria during a chronic infection.
After an initial acute infection, Staphylococci can persist in our body for a long period of time leading to chronic disease. Scientists from the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung, HZI) in Braunschweig, Germany, have revealed why the body's defense mechanisms fail to completely eliminate the bacteria during a chronic infection. The continuous...
07.09.11
Intimate Binding to Intestinal Cells
Researchers from the HZI investigate the attachment of EHEC bacteria in detail.
Every year infections with "entero-hemorrhagic Escherichia coli" bacteria (EHEC) keep researchers in industrialised countries busy. During an infection the bacteria colonize the intestinal mucosa and produce a toxin that causes bloody diarrhoea, leading to severe complications. Scientists from the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung, HZI)...
25.08.11
The Lung in a Cell-Culture Model
New research project aims to help in replacing animal experiments
Following infections of lung cells through various pathogens in the culture dish: this is the goal of a new joint project of two Helmholtz research groups. The scientists are attempting to reconstruct lung cells from mice in a stable in vitro model, in order to conduct research on the intrusion of pathogens such as viruses and bacteria and to test new active pharmaceutical ingredients. The...
22.08.11
Dirk Heinz new Scientific Director of HZI
Successor of Jürgen Wehland now officially confirmed.
The Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung, HZI) in Braunschweig, Germany, has a new Scientific Director. The German Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) has appointed the structural biologist Prof. Dirk Heinz with effect from August 1 as successor of Prof. Jürgen Wehland who passed away a year ago. Heinz has been acting Scientific Director...
17.08.11
Molecular Tricks of the Motile Malaria Pathogen
How Plasmodium falciparum is able to quickly alter its cytoskeleton
It infects men and mosquitoes, changes its form multiple times, and moves very elegantly and rapidly through the body of its host: Plasmodium falciparum, the causative agent of malaria, shows an astonishing versatility and motility. Researchers from the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung, HZI) have now investigated the molecular basis behind this...
15.08.11
Hide and Seek in the Tumour
Researchers examine how bacteria form biofilms in cancerous tissue to hide from the immune system.
Salmonella bacteria cause several diseases – however, they have features that make them very interesting for cancer medicine: The germs migrate into tumours and lead to the death of aberrant cells. Scientists from the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung) in Braunschweig, Germany, now discovered that Salmonella form communities within the tumour....
