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Displaying results 661 to 670 of 674.
Structural Infection Biology
To understand and eventually manipulate pathways that control the interaction of pathogens (e.g. bacteria, virus, parasite) with their hosts (e.g. human, plants) requires an interdisciplinary research approach, which often combines different fields of research such as cell biology and microbiology. In our laboratory, however, we take a closer look at the processes occurring during an infection at the cellular and atomic level by harnessing a variety of modern biophysical methods that allow addressing the spatio-temporal dynamics of an infectious disease at a high resolution. The department is located at the Center for Structural Systems Biology ( CSSB ) at the heart of the Germany’s largest accelerator center DESY (Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron) in Hamburg.
Structure and Function of Proteins
Structural biology is a powerful method to derive an understanding of the molecular basis of biological phenomena by visualizing the involved biomacromolecules at atomic resolution. The Department Structure and Function of Proteins uses protein crystallography to investigate proteins that play a role in infectious disease, e.g. by controlling the production of toxic molecules or by acting as toxins themselves. Our research in structural biology is complemented by biochemical and biophysical methods, and we employ all of these technologies to also aid drug discovery projects at the HZI.
RNA Biology of bacterial infections
The Vogel lab strives to chart the diversity of noncoding RNA functions and RNA-binding proteins in major bacterial pathogens and in the hundreds of different bacteria that make up the human microbiome. We develop new RNA deep sequencing-based techniques to capture the RNA world of any microbe, ideally at the single cell level. We want to understand how and why bacteria use RNA as a regulator during infection and exploit this knowledge to target pathogens and edit the microbiota with precision. Projects focus on several bacteria from our major workhorse Salmonella Typhimurium to anaerobic microbes that are associated with colorectal cancer such as Fusobacterium nucleatum . This Department is located at the Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research (HIRI).
Recoding Mechanisms in Infections
Many important viruses such as Ebola, Influenza, and HIV use RNA as genetic material. These viruses have an extremely small genome size compared to the eukaryotic host genomes, and therefore employ various alternative translation strategies such as stop codon read through, leaky scanning, non-IRES initiation and ribosome frameshifting to express their genes by the host translation machinery. Interestingly, the same strategies are also used in the host’s cellular gene expression. With our research we aim to understand how translational recoding changes the rules of standard decoding, allows simultaneous encoding of multiple proteins from the same mRNA and regulates gene expression in time and space. This group is located at the Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research (HIRI).
Personalised Immunotherapy
Our motivation is to address fundamental questions of human immunology and translate them into personalized therapies and diagnostics. Specifically, our laboratory discovers new applications of antibodies and B cells to treat and prevent human infectious diseases. Effective vaccines against some viruses that escape antibody responses remain elusive. To tackle this challenge, we develop methods to better understand B cell responses, the cells that produce antibodies. We design tailored vaccines and provide novel solutions for infection diagnostics. This Department is located at the Centre for Individualised Infection Medicine ( CiiM ).
One Health Surveillance
The One Health Surveillance Core Unit facilitates the comprehensive long-term collection of samples and data on human, animal and environmental health. This sample collection serves as the basis for research in HIOH‘s departments, as well as for collaboration with our partners.
Epidemiology
Epidemiology conducts research on health and disease at the population level – infection epidemiology is concerned with contagious diseases. Their tools and methods are systematic queries, clinical examinations and laboratory diagnostic documentation for both healthy and afflicted individuals, as well as statistical analysis of the compiled data. Causes and risk factors for infections can thus be identified. Infectious diseases epidemiology contributes to the development of preventive measures, early detection and therapy for diseases. Moreover, it examines the efficacy of such measures. Thus epidemiology ties in with scientific findings in basic research as well as medicine, and examines these processes at the population level.
Ecology and Emergence of Zoonoses
Zoonoses, diseases transmitted between animals and humans, substantially threaten human health, but also domestic animals and wildlife. Influenced by climate change, globalization, anthropogenic disturbance and habitat fragmentation, contacts at human-animal interfaces become more frequent, thus increasing the risk of zoonotic emergence and, ultimately, pandemics. Our research aims to understand emergence and ecology of such zoonoses, i.e., how pathogens are transmitted between populations, landscapes and ecosystems. By incorporating data on the biotic and abiotic context of these transmissions, we generate evidence that allows us to contribute to pandemic preparedness and prevention. This department is located at the Helmholtz Institute for One Health (HIOH) .
Neuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration
What kind of role play infections and the associated inflammatory reactions for the progression or even for the onset of neurodegenerative diseases? Recurrent infections and the involved inflammation may trigger a series of processes in the brain that finally lead to neuronal damage due to the immune response. Thus, better understanding of neurodegenerative processes could improve the therapeutic approach in neurodegenerative disease.
Natural products from underexplored pathways and extreme environments
Drugs with new chemical entities are urgently needed to tackle the emerging antibiotic resistance. We investigate natural products from underexplored pathways and extreme environments to characterize bioactive molecules with true structural novelty and their biosynthetic enzymes to bioengineer and improve potent anti-infectives.
