A multidisciplinary study led by Vanja Nagy (LBI-RUD/CeMM/MedUni Vienna) and Josef Penninger (UBC/IMBA) characterized a novel gene, known as FIBCD1, to be likely causative of a new and rare neurodevelopmental disorder. Using data from two young patients with neurological symptoms, the researchers from both groups found evidence of a novel function for the FIBCD1 gene in the brain, and a potentially pivotal role in diseases such as autism, ADHD, schizophrenia, and neurodegenerative disorders including Alzheimer's. The study makes an important contribution to the understanding of the extracellular matrix in the brain and its associated neurological diseases.
RNA sequencing is a powerful technology for studying cells and diseases. Scientists from the research group of Christoph Bock, principal investigator at the CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and professor at the Medical University of Vienna, developed a new method for sequencing huge numbers of single cells in an efficient manner. The study has now been published in Nature Methods.
Credit: Tatjana Hirschmugl
A new study exploits the characteristic epigenetic signatures of childhood tumors to detect, classify and monitor the disease. The scientists analyzed short fragments of tumor DNA that are circulating in the blood. These liquid biopsy analyses exploit the unique epigenetic landscape of bone tumors and do not depend on any genetic alterations, which are rare in childhood cancers. This approach promises to improve personalized diagnostics and, possibly, future therapies of childhood tumors such as Ewing sarcoma. The study has been published in
Nature Communications.
A study led by scientists from St. Anna Children s Cancer Research Institute (St. Anna CCRI) in collaboration with CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences provides an innovative method for liquid biopsy analysis of childhood tumors. This method exploits the fragmentation patterns of the small DNA fragments that tumors leak into the blood stream, whi
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IMAGE: Tamara Weiss, PhD, and Sabine Taschner-Mandl, PhD, discover that the uncontrolled growth of neuroblastomas (green tumor cells) is stopped by a signal molecule produced by Schwann cells (magenta). view more
Credit: Photo: Sabine Taschner-Mandl, PhD, and Tamara Weiss, PhD
Copyright: St. Anna Children s Cancer Research Institute
Image: Immunofluorescence image of Schwann cells (magenta) and neuroblastoma cells (green)
Copyright: Weiss T, Taschner-Mandl S et al.,.
A factor that turns malignant tumors into benign ones? - That is exactly what scientists at St. Anna Children s Cancer Research Institute have discovered. Together with colleagues from the Medical University of Vienna and the University of Vienna (Faculty of Chemistry), they studied tumors of the peripheral nervous system in children, namely neuroblastomas. The scientists discovered that the uncontrolled growth of benign neuroblastomas is stopped by a signal molecule produced by Schwann cells
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IMAGE: First authors Taras Afonyushkin (left) and Georg Obermayer (right) with Last author Christoph Binder (middle) view more
Credit: Laura Alvarez/CeMM
Thrombotic occlusion of blood vessels, which leads to myocardial infarctions, strokes and venous thromboembolisms, is the major cause of death in the western hemisphere. Therefore, it is of critical importance to understand mechanisms preventing thrombus formation. A new study by the research group of Christoph Binder, Principal Investigator at the CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and Professor at the Medical University of Vienna, now explains the important role of immunoglobulin-M (IgM) antibodies in preventing thrombosis. The study published in the journal