A new AI-based method reconstructs spatial information about where immune cells were originally located in an organ, even after these cells have been removed from the tissue and analyzed individually. To accomplish this, Researchers at the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) and the University of Bonn use the transcriptome, i.e., the entirety of all messenger RNA transcripts produced by genes within a cell at a given time. The work has now been published in the journal Advanced Science and introduces the new MERLIN algorithm.

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’.

The University of Bonn is continuously expanding its research infrastructure – thereby creating the foundation for the success of its researchers. Under the umbrella of the Bonn Technology Campus (BTC), 14 core facilities are now available for university-wide use, combining cutting-edge technologies, specialized expertise, and comprehensive services. They provide all researchers at the university with access to instruments and methods that would often be inaccessible or difficult to obtain for individual research groups. In doing so, the University of Excellence creates the conditions necessary to put research ideas into practice at the highest level.

Too much fat can be unhealthy: how fat cells, so-called adipocytes, develop, is crucial for the function of the fat tissue. That is why a team led by researchers from the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) and the University of Bonn investigated the influence of primary cilia dysfunction on adipocyte precursor cells in a mouse model. They found that overactivation of the Hedgehog signaling pathway causes abnormal development into connective tissue-like cells instead of white fat cells. Their findings have now been published in The EMBO Journal.

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”.

Children born to obese mothers are at higher risk of developing metabolic disorders, even if they follow a healthy diet themselves. A new study from the University of Bonn offers an explanation for this phenomenon. In obese mice, certain cells in the embryo’s liver are reprogrammed during pregnancy. This leads to long-term changes in the offspring’s metabolism. The researchers believe that these findings could also be relevant for humans. The study has now been published in the journal Nature. 

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".

Bonn researchers use nanobodies to elucidate pore formation by gasdermin D in cell membranesThe formation of pores by a particular protein, gasdermin D, plays a key role in inflammatory reactions. During its activation, an inhibitory part is split off. More than 30 of the remaining protein fragments then combine to form large pores in the cell membrane, which allow the release of inflammatory messengers. As methods for studying these processes in living cells have so far been inadequate, the sequence of oligomerization, pore formation and membrane incorporation has remained unclear. An international research team led by the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) and the University of Bonn has succeeded in answering this question with the help of antibody fragments, so-called nanobodies, which they have identified. They hope that this will lead to potential therapeutic applications. Their results have now been published in the journal “Nature Communications”.