The University of Bonn is once again featured on the international “Highly Cited Researchers” list: According to Clarivate Analytics, the information service provider that compiles the list, a total of ten researchers are among the top one percent of the most influential in their field worldwide.

The Faculty of Medicine at the University of Bonn and the Research Institute for Medical Innovation at Radboud University Medical Center (Radboudumc) in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, plan to further deepen their international cooperation. To this end, Prof. Bernd Weber, Dean of the Medical Faculty in Bonn, traveled to the Netherlands for a two-day visit with a delegation of highly qualified researchers. The meeting followed the visit of Radboud University Rector Prof. José Sanders to Bonn earlier this year.

Researchers from the LIMES Institute at the University of Bonn, the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) and the University Hospital Cologne have decoded the immunological properties of what is known as extrapulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB) in the blood of patients suffering from the condition. Their findings, which have now been published in the journal “Nature Communications,” could help to develop new treatments and methods for diagnosing the illness.

Myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody-associated disease (MOGAD) is a rare autoimmune condition in which the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks the protective myelin sheath of nerve fibers in the central nervous system. Although MOGAD induces symptoms similar to multiple sclerosis (MS), its underlying biology appears to be fundamentally different. Understanding these distinctions is crucial for developing effective, disease-specific treatments. A new international study under contribution of ImmunoSensation2 member Prof. Anne-Katrin Pröbstel and her team now sheds light on these immune differences. The results have been published in Science Translational Medicine. 

Researchers at the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) and the University of Bonn have discovered how a small, naturally occurring RNA molecule in the kidney activates a mutated immune receptor, triggering a chain reaction. In cooperation with Nanyang Technological University Singapore and the University Hospital Würzburg, among others, the study provides an explanation for how a point mutation in the immune receptor RIG-I transforms the body's defense system into a self-destructive force and causes severe organ-specific autoimmune diseases. The results have now been published in the journal Science Immunology.

How do the circuits of the human brain work – and what happens when they are disrupted? To investigate these questions, researchers at the Eye Clinic of the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) and the University of Bonn, together with colleagues from the University of Münster and Harvard Medical School, have developed an innovative platform that allows the function of neural networks to be studied in a targeted manner. The results have now been published in the journal ACS Nano.

Will it be possible to treat severe kidney inflammation with fewer drugs in the future? A new study by the University Hospital Bonn (UKB), the University of Bonn, and the University of Hamburg gives cause for hope. The researchers show that even low, repeated doses of steroids could be enough to stop inflammation in particularly aggressive crescentic glomerulonephritis (cGN). The findings, which have now been published in Science Translational Medicine, could fundamentally change the treatment of many patients – and significantly reduce side effects.

What effects does severe obesity have on the lungs? A research team led by Prof. Dr. Veronika Lukacs-Kornek from the ‘ImmunoSensation2’ Cluster of Excellence at the University of Bonn and the Institute for Molecular Medicine and Experimental Immunology (IMMEI) at the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) investigated this question. The results suggest that obesity causes the lungs to age faster. The findings have been published in the journal ‘Cell Reports’.