Newsroom

Scientific data indicate that many COVID-19 cases are not recorded due to mild or asymptomatic infections. For this reason, there is at the time no sufficient data on how many people in Germany have already been infected and thus have established a presumed immunity against SARS-CoV-2. However, these data play an important role in assessing and forecasting the further course of the pandemic.

Virologists at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig have identified a crucial survival factor in viruses. Their results were recently published in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and could lead to a paradigm shift in virus immunology.

In meningococci, the RNA-binding protein ProQ plays a major role. Together with RNA molecules, it regulates processes that are important for pathogenic properties of the bacteria. Meningococci are bacteria that can cause life-threatening meningitis and sepsis. These pathogens use a small protein with a large impact: The RNA-binding protein ProQ is involved in the activation of more than 250 bacterial genes. ProQ ensures that meningococci can better repair their DNA if damaged and it makes them resistant to oxidative stress. Both these factors contribute significantly to the bacteria's pathogenic properties. This was reported by research groups led by the Würzburg scientists Christoph Schoen from the Julius-Maximilians-Universität (JMU) and Jörg Vogel from the Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research (HIRI) in the journal Nature Communications. The HIRI is a joint institution of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig and the JMU.

Federal Minister of Education and Research Karliczek and Lower Saxony’s Minister for Science and Culture Thümler were guests at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig today. The scientists at the HZI provided them with an overview of the current state of research on COVID-19, in particular a new nationwide epidemiological antibody study.

Interferons are important messenger molecules in the immune system, assisting in the fight against pathogens such as influenza viruses and probably also SARS-CoV-2. However, interferon might also be involved in immune-brain interactions unrelated to an infection and may have an influence on learning ability. This is indicated by a study with mice from the Technische Universität Braunschweig, which is published today in the scientific journal Cell Reports. The Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research in Braunschweig and TWINCORE in Hannover are also involved in the study.