News Archive

Sir Roger Penrose speaks at ETH on 4 April, 26.03.12

On 4 April at 16:00 – 18:00 Prof. Penrose, University of Oxford, will give a talk on “From Quantum Foundations to Neuronal Microtubules: New Clues to the Basics of Conscious Mentality” at the ETH main building, HG F30 (Audimax).

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ZNZ participates at Schweizer Jugend Forscht, 28.02.12

The research labs of Richard Hahnloser and Dominik Straumann will host four students for a study week from 11 – 17 March 2012.

More details can be found at http://www.sjf.ch/datei/Biologie%20und%20Medizin%202012.pdf

ERC Advanced Grant 2011 for Martin Schwab, 26.01.12

Martin Schwab, brain researcher at the University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, convinced the ERC with his past research. Schwab analyzes the mechanisms of cell regrowth after an injury or stroke and how lost functions in the brain and spinal cord can be reestablished. «The ERC Advanced Grant is very important for our research. It allows us to look into the exact mechanisms behind the regrowth of neurons after an injury and how new neural circuits are formed.», says Martin Schwab.

In 1998 already, Schwab discovered at the University of Zurich that nerve fibers do not only have growth factors but also growth inhibitors. Schwab determined the most potent growth inhibitor and named it Nogo-A. In cooperation with Novartis, Schwab and his team have developed antibodies against human Nogo-A, thereby laying the foundation for a new therapeutic approach against paraplegia.

Gaining new therapeutic options

The ERC Grant amounting to 2.5 million Euros is to be invested in the coming five years in achieving a better understanding of the functionality of Nogo-A. As Schwab explains: «We know a lot about Nogo-A already. For example that Nogo-A interacts with a complex of membrane proteins on growing nerve fibers. But we only know partially how, exactly, the receptor complex acts on Nogo-A.» In the project financed by the grant, the composition of this receptor complex will be analyzed. Schwab’s hope is that « the molecular analyzes will provide us new possibilities of stopping the nerve fibers’ growth inhibition caused by Nogo-A.»

Read more in German >>

Prof. Dr. Max Cloëtta Foundation, 6.12.11

Adriano Fontana is the new president of the board of the Prof. Dr. Max Cloëtta Foundation.

Muskelermüdung im Kopf, 5.12.11

Bei ermüdenden Ausdauerleistungen spielt der Kopf eine wichtige Rolle. Read more>>

Jeder Schritt ein Fortschritt, 23.11.11

Interview with Martin E. Schwab about his promising research in the field of post-injury nerve regeneration. Read more >>

ZNZ is on Facebook, 14.11.11

Check out our presence on Facebook >>

EMBO Young Investigator Award 2011 for Sebastian Jessberger, 7.11.11

ZNZ Member Sebastian Jessberger, Professor at the Institute of Cell Biology ETHZ, is the only scientist in Zurich to join the EMBO Young Investigator Programme in 2011. Read more>>

"Das Hirn ist ein Vielfrass", 3.11.11

UZH News talks to ZNZ PhD Student Anand Singh about his research project Research. Read more >>

The Cost of Brain Disorders, 3.11.11

Brain disorders cost Europe almost €800 billion (US$1 trillion) a year — more than cancer, cardiovascular disease and diabetes put together. That's the conclusion of a report (1) commissioned by the European Brain Council that provides the most comprehensive assessment of the financial consequences of mental ailments so far. A report produced by the European Brain Council in 2006 (2) estimated that Europe spent about the same amount on brain research as on cancer research (about €4 billion each), despite the much higher cost of brain disorders.

1 Gustavsson, A. et al. Eur. Neuropsychopharmacol. 1. 21, 718-779 (2011).

2 Sobocki, P. et al. Eur. J. Neurosci. 24, 2691-2693 (2006).

The Role of TGF-beta in Gliobastoma, 2.11.11

ZNZ Member Michael Weller Discusses the Role of TGF-beta in Glioblastoma

Dioxin-like Chemical Messenger Makes Brain Tumors More Aggressive, 6.10.11

Source: Presse- und Oeffentlichkeitsarbeit UniversitätsKlinikum Heidelberg

A research alliance of Heidelberg University Hospital, the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research in Leipzig and with participation of ZNZ Prof. Michael Weller, discovered a new metabolic pathway which makes malignant brain tumors (glioma) more aggressive and weakens patients’ immune systems. Using drugs to inhibit this metabolic pathway is a new approach in cancer treatment. The group’s results have been published in the prestigious specialist journal Nature.

Glioma is the most frequent and most malignant brain tumor in adults. In Germany, about 4,500 people are newly diagnosed with glioma every year. About 75 percent of such tumors are considered particularly aggressive with an average life expectancy of eight months to two years. The standard treatment is surgery to remove the tumor as completely as possible, followed by radiotherapy, usually in combination with chemotherapy. However, results are unsatisfactory, because these tumors are very resilient and soon start growing back. Therefore, there is an urgent need for new treatment approaches.

The Helmholtz Junior Research Group “Experimental Neuroimmunology” led by Professor Dr. Michael Platten of DKFZ and the Department of Neurooncology of Heidelberg University Hospital and the National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT) headed by Professor Dr. Wolfgang Wick have come across the kynurenin molecule in their studies of human cancer cells and in the mouse model. Kynurenin is formed when the amino acid tryptophan – a protein component taken in with food – is broken down in the body. “We have been able to detect increased levels of kynurenin in cancer cells of glioma patients with particularly aggressive tumors,” Professor Michael Platten explained. The current research results from Heidelberg show that this link also appears to exist in other types of cancer such as cancers of the bladder, bowel or lungs.

It was even more astonishing for the investigators to find that kynurenin activates a protein known as dioxin receptor. This, in turn, triggers a cascade of chemical reactions which ultimately promote tumor growth and weaken the immune system. So far, it had only been known that the dioxin receptor, scientifically called aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR), is activated by environmental toxins. “Why this receptor is even present in body cells and which is its activation partner in the body, was yet unknown,” says Dr. Christiane Opitz, first author of the research article. “Kynurenin seems to have very similar effects as dioxin, but it is formed by the body itself,” said Professor Platten.

Please see: “An endogenous tumour-promoting ligand of the human aryl hydrocarbon receptor”,  Christiane A. Opitz et al, Nature 478, 197-203 doi:10.1038/nature10491, Oct 2011.