Press Releases of the Mann Department

Study focused on cancer-associated fibroblasts by researchers from Germany and USA exposes new tumor targets. [more]

Researchers from Germany and Denmark uncovered a set of proteins that are enriched in pre-symptomatic non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. [more]

Chronic excessive caloric intake leads to the deposition of fat droplets in the liver. This condition, known as fatty liver, can cause permanent damage to the organ. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry (MPIB) in Martinsried have now investigated the effects of this fat overflow on liver proteins. They showed that fatty liver is associated with changes in the location and activity of numerous cellular proteins. The study, which was published in the journal Developmental Cell, shows the effect of lipid deposition on fundamental cellular processes in the liver. [more]

The diagnosis of ovarian cancer is still comparable to a death sentence. Only one in six patients survives more than 10 years after diagnosis. In a new study, an international research team from Germany, the USA, and Denmark, identified a molecular mechanism that is linked to patient long-term survival for those roughly 20% of the patients. By proteomic analysis, the protein CT45 was identified as a novel prognostic cancer cell marker. The authors further showed that the protein itself increases cancer cell death after platinum chemotherapy and activates the patient’s immune system. This work will be published in the renowned scientific journal Cell. [more]

Opioids are powerful painkillers that act on the brain, but they have a range of harmful side effects including addiction. Researchers have developed a tool that gives deeper insights into the brain’s response to opioids. Using mass spectrometry, they determined changes of proteins’ phosphorylation patterns – the molecular switches of the proteins – in five different regions of the brain and assigned them to the desired and the undesired effects of opioid treatment. Their results, which are published in the journal Science, will lead the way for the identification of novel drug targets and the design of a new class of painkillers with fewer side effects. The study was performed by researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry (MPIB) in collaboration with researchers from the Medical University of Innsbruck, Austria, University of Innsbruck, and Temple University, USA. [more]

Atlas of the Heart - A healthy heart beats about two billion times during a lifetime – thanks to the interplay of more than 10,000 proteins. Researcher from the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry (MPIB) and the German Heart Centre at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have now determined which and how many individual proteins are present in each type of cell that occurs in the heart. In doing so, they compiled the first atlas of the healthy human heart, known as the cardiac proteome. The atlas will make it easier to identify differences between healthy and diseased hearts in future.   [more]

Circadian is the latin meaning for “about a day”. Circadian clocks have evolved to adapt our lives to the daily environmental changes on earth: light and warmth during the day and darkness and cold at night. Scientists at the Max-Planck-Institute of Biochemistry in Martinsried discovered with the help of the mass spectrometry, that more than 25 percent of the molecular protein switches in mouse liver cells change in a daily manner. These rhythmic switches are binding sites for phosphate molecules, that regulate the function of proteins, and thereby the daily metabolic processes in the organ. The study was published in the journal Cell Metabolism. [more]