People with the hereditary disease familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) have a greatly increased risk of developing a malignant tumor of the duodenum. Researchers at the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) and the Cluster of Excellence ImmunoSensation2 at the University of Bonn have now discovered a mechanism in the local immune system that can drive the development of cancer. They see this as a promising new approach to preventing duodenal carcinoma in people with FAP. The results have now been published in the journal "Nature Communications".

How will crops grow in the future under the intensified conditions of climate change? Upcoming research projects at the University of Bonn will use the new climate chamber greenhouse to explore this question. In this facility, temperature, humidity, and light can be adjusted with the highest precision for experiments. This new climate chamber greenhouse complex, covering 656 square meters, has now been inaugurated at the Faculty of Agricultural, Nutritional and Engineering Sciences and will be used by researchers from several faculties. 

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia. A promising approach for its treatment is the prevention of inflammatory processes in the brain. An international team of scientists around Dr. Róisín McManus, Prof. Eicke Latz and Prof. Michael Heneka now provide new evidence supporting this approach and potentially contributing to the development of more effective therapies. The results have now been published in the journal “Immunity”.

Our own immune system can become the enemy when mechanisms that are actually protective get out of control. In ANCA-associated vasculitis, excessive inflammatory reactions lead to pulmonary hemorrhages that can be fatal if left untreated. Researchers at the University of Bonn, together with colleagues from Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and England, have deciphered a mechanism in mice and patients that leads to the severe disease. The results are now published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine.

The transport of substances across the membrane into the cell is linked to specific membrane transport proteins. Researchers at the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) and the University of Bonn, in collaboration with an international team, have now succeeded in elucidating the molecular structure of a completely new class of such membrane transporters. In addition to the Bonn scientists, researchers from the University of York were also involved. The study has now been published in the journal Nature Communications.

Dendritic cells play an important role in setting the course of our immune system. However, what determines their heterogeneity and functional specialization is still not sufficiently understood. An international collaboration consisting of researchers from the University Hospital Bonn (UKB), the University of Bonn and the Technical University of Denmark, among others, has investigated the role of the transcription factor Bcl6 in dendritic cells in a mouse model and discovered that a subgroup is highly dependent on this protein. The findings contribute to a better understanding of immunological processes during infections, vaccinations, allergies and autoimmunity. The results have now been published in the renowned scientific journal "Nature Communications".

For successful fertilization, sperm should move forward rapidly and be shaped correctly. The unique structure of the sperm cells forms during spermiogenesis. Now, researchers from the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) and the Transdisciplinary Research Unit "Life & Health" at the University of Bonn have found that fertility problems in both mice and humans can be caused by loss of so-called cylicines. This causes defects in head and tail structure of sperm. The results of the study have now been published in the scientific journal "eLife".

Researchers from the University of Southern Denmark, the Novo Nordisk Center for Adipocyte Signaling (SDU), the University of Bonn and the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) have found a protein that is responsible for turning off brown fat activity. This new discovery could lead to a promising strategy for safely activating brown fat and tackling obesity and related health problems. The results of the study have now been published in the journal „Nature Metabolism“.