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How immune cells kill bacteria with acid

The first line of immune defense against invading pathogens like bacteria are macrophages, immune cells that engulf every foreign object that crosses their way and kill it with acid, in a process called phagocytosis. In their quest to systematically study proteins that transport chemicals across cellular membranes, researchers at CeMM characterized the critical role for transporter SLC4A7 in this process, providing valuable new insights for many pathologic conditions from inflammation to cancer. Their results were published in Cell Host & Microbe.

Among the many different kinds of immune cells that patrol the body, macrophages are the first…

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CeMM Landsteiner Lecture 2018 with Yasmine Belkaid

At the 12th CeMM Landsteiner Lecture, held by Yasmine Belkaid, Director of the NIH Center for Human Immunology and Director of the NIAID Microbiome Program, everything revolved around one of the most important emerging fields of research in life sciences: the microbiome. Yasmine Belkaid explained how microorganisms living in and on our bodies influence every aspect of our immune system, and why research in this field will change the medicine of the future.

We carry around nearly the same number of microbes as we have cells in our body, yet those microscopic symbionts express a hundred times more genes than human cells. This ratio, which…

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Tracing the footprints of a tumor: genomic “scars” allow cancer profiling

DNA mutations driving cancer development are caused by different mechanisms, each of them leaving behind specific patterns, or “scars” in the genome. Using CRISPR-Cas9 technology, researchers at CeMM and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute at Cambridge, UK were able to show for the first time in cell culture that specific genetic alterations indeed lead to the predicted pattern of mutational signatures observed in human cancers. The results were published in Nature Communications (DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-04052-8).

When a cell develops into a tumor, something has gone terribly wrong: the uncontrolled growth, invasion of nearby tissues and…

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Picture by Klaus Pichler

“Livable Cities for the 21st century” - 8th CeMM S.M.A.R.T. Lecture with Jan Gehl

The 8th CeMM S.M.A.R.T. Lecture held by architect and urban design consultant Jan Gehl was exceptionally entertaining and inspiring. It illustrated with many captivating examples the problems cities developed in the 20th century by pursuing an object- instead of a people-centered city planning and how simple measures can make cities livable.

“We knew more about the natural habitat of the mountain gorilla or the Siberian tiger than about the Homo sapiens’ living space” – with this provoking citations, Jan Gehl displayed the vast lack of knowledge that lead to some of the 20th centuries biggest challenges for modern cities. By building in an…

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How a virus becomes chronic

Lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) served as an indispensable model system for chronic viral infections over the last 80 years; two Nobel prizes were awarded for its exploration. However, the molecular interactions during the life cycle of the virus were hitherto poorly understood. In a new study, published in PLOS Pathogens, CeMM scientists revealed the comprehensive set of cellular proteins that physically interact with the LCMV polymerase – a key enzyme for the development of a chronic infection. 

Chronic viral infections like HIV or hepatitis are among the biggest threats to human health worldwide. While an acute viral infection…

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Promotion sub auspiciis praesidentis of Barbara Mair

We congratulate Barbara Mair to the highest possible honor for achievements in university studies - the promotion sub auspiciis praesidentis rei publicae, Alexander Van der Bellen. The ceremony was held in the Van Swieten Hall of the Medical University of Vienna.

Straight A´s from high school until the end of the doctorate, graduation within a given time scale, accompanied by exemplary moral character – in order to qualify for the honor of a promotion sub auspiciis praesidentis, an individual has to meet the highest possible demands. Since 1952, slightly more than 1000 students graduated sub auspiciis. Barbara Mair now belongs to this…

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WWTF Life Science Call 2017 for Chemical Biology

Congratulations to Giulio Superti-Furga, CeMM´s Scientific Director, Miriam Unterlass, Technical University of Vienna, and Stefan Kubicek, CeMM for winning one of the WWTF 2017 Life Science Grants on Chemical Biology. In the project called “3C - Cellular color chart” the research team aims to generate new fluorescent molecules that probe intracellular processes with a full molecular understanding of their biological specificity.

This proposal is made possible by the existing expertise and infrastructure of the project partners. The laboratories of Giulio Superti-Furga and Stefan Kubicek, especially the Platform Austria for Chemical Biology…

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CeMM International PhD Program 2018

The next PhD Program at CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna will start in October 2018. We offer 15 fully funded PhD positions and are looking for exceptionally motivated PhD candidates with a keen interest in genomics, medicine and interdisciplinary teamwork.

+++ Apply now! The application deadline is 2nd February 2018 +++

The 2018 CeMM PhD Program will focus on the thematic areas of Infection, Immunity, Metabolism, Cancer and Network Medicine. These areas are built on the pillars of epigenetics and genome integrity, bioinformatics and systems biology, chemical biology, high-throughput…

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CeMM-PI Stefan Kubicek. Picture by Michael Sazel

How nuclear metabolism controls (cancer) genes: ERC Consolidator Grant awarded to CeMM-PI Stefan Kubicek

What impact do the nuclear components of metabolism have on gene expression? And how does the distribution of metabolites contribute to the emergence of cancer? To answer those key questions, a Consolidator Grant of the European Research Council ERC was awarded to Stefan Kubicek, Principal Investigator at CeMM.

Genes need to be controlled. This very basic principle for a well-functioning cell – and thus a healthy organism – has been investigated thoroughly during the last decades. Huge progress in disciplines like epigenetics has revealed that in the cell´s nucleus various kinds of biomolecules are highly compartmentalized to occupy distinct…

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Visualization of the DNA repair proteins XPC (in green) and MUTYH (in red) to sites of UV-induced DNA damage within the nucleus (in blue) of a human cell (© CeMM/Abdelghani Mazouzi)

Diabetes drug helps repair UV-damaged DNA in cells of "Moon children"

The severe and debilitating genetic disease Xeroderma pigmentosum impedes cells to repair UV-induced DNA damage. Scientists from CeMM found a drug approved for diabetes treatment to alleviate the impact of the gene defect in cell culture, which led to the discovery of a previously unknown DNA repair mechanism. The study was published in Molecular Cell.

The destructive force of UV radiation on DNA molecules is only fully visible, when repair mechanisms fail: patients with the rare genetic disease Xeroderma pigmentosum – also known as “Moon children’ - develop inflammations upon exposure to only small amounts of sunlight, rough-surfaced…

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