Current news

Dr. Jennifer Knaus wurde mit dem Reichart-Preis ausgezeichnet

Die Akademie gemeinnütziger Wissenschaften zu Erfurt verlieh am 15. Juni 2019 den mit 2.000 Euro dotierten "Reichart-Preis – Erfurter Nachwuchspreis für anwendungsbezogene Wissenschaft". Die 1754 gegründete Akademie würdigt mit diesem disziplinübergreifenden Preis jährlich Abschlussarbeiten von Fachdisziplinen, die sich durch einen deutlichen Anwendungsbezug auszeichnen.

Die diesjährige Preisträgerin ist Dr. Jennifer Knaus, Laborleiterin des Medizintechnikunternehmens StimOS GmbH. Die…

Read more

 

 

Poster Prize for Anna Lena May

Anna Lena May (AG Cölfen) was awarded a poster prize at the annual conference of the German Bunsen Society for Physical Chemistry

Jährlich ausgezeichnete Spitzenforschung am Fachbereich Chemie

Der European Research Council (ERC) fördert aus den Mitteln des Forschungsrahmenprogrammes der EU exzellente Forschung in Europa. Seit 2013 wurden die Projekte von einer Wissenschaftlerin und sechs Wissenschaftlern des Fachbereichs Chemie mit diesen Fördermitteln ausgezeichnet. Im Schnitt ging jährlich ein ERC-Grant an den Fachbereich.

Prof. Dr. Helmut Cölfen

Würdigung für Konstanzer Chemiker

Prof. Dr. Helmut Cölfen vom Fachbereich Chemie der Universität Konstanz ist mit einer Ehrenprofessur der Qingdao University of Science and Technology (QUST) in China ausgezeichnet worden.

Aggregation of PolyQ35 protein in C. elegans is suppressed by NAC. The images show the head region of worms expressing a Huntington’s disease related polyglutamine-expanded protein (PolyQ35). Overexpression of NAC in the worm (right image) prevents aggregation and toxicity of PolyQ35. Copyright: Karina Gense

Protein complex prevents toxic aggregation of proteins

A protein complex within the cell has been found to play a key role in preventing the toxicity of proteins which build up amyloid plaques and can lead to neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Huntington’s disease.

Prof. Stefan Mecking, Chair of Chemical Materials Science. Copyright: University of Konstanz

Degradable plastics

Professor Stefan Mecking, Chair of Chemical Materials Science at the University of Konstanz, receives an Advanced Grant from the European Research Council to study degradable plastics

In-cell distance determination by EPR reveals essential structural information about biomacromolecules under native conditions. For the first time, the pulsed EPR technique RIDME (relaxation induced dipolar modulation enhancement) was utilized for distance measurements inside cells. It provides a five-times improved sensitivity as compared to the previously used double electron-electron resonance approach. Copyright: Research group Professor Malte Drescher, University of Konstanz

New technique for in-cell distance determination

Researchers from the University of Konstanz, Bielefeld University and ETH Zurich demonstrate for the first time that the pulsed EPR technique RIDME (relaxation-induced dipolar modulation enhancement) can be used for in-cell distance determination in biomacromolecules. Applied within the cell, RIDME improves significantly on conventional double electron–electron resonance (DEER) measurements.

Left: How the ribozyme-based genetic switch works. A self-cleaving tetracycline-dependent ribozyme results in mRNA decay and down-regulation of gene expression. Adding tetracycline inhibits ribozyme activity, which stabilises the mRNA and induces gene expression. Right: Application of the genetic switch in the animal research model C. elegans. Tetracycline-induced expression of the fluorescence (mCherry)-tagged Huntingtin protein (Htt) with an abnormally long polyglutamine sequence that causes Huntington’s disease in humans. Htt aggregates, which are typical of Huntington’s disease, can be observed to form in the animal model. Copyright: L. A. Wurmthaler, M. Gamerdinger, J. S. Hartig

First genetic switch for C. elegans developed

Researchers from the Departments of Biology and Chemistry at the University of Konstanz close a research gap in the field of genetic switches – Development of the first inducible system for C. elegans to switch on genes – Potential medical research applications – Publication in the online journal Nature Communications