Research Program Immunology and Cancer - News & Notices
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AWARDS
More information (in German only) can be found here: https://www.dkfz.de/de/presse/pressemitteilungen/2019/dkfz-pm-19-49c-Preis-fuer-die-Weiterentwicklung-von-zellulaeren-Immuntherapien.php
The price was awarded for Dr. Murugans work on immune responses to Plasmodium falciparum (causative agent of malaria) antigens.
Details can be found under
https://dgfi.org/ausgezeichnet-deutsche-gesellschaft-fuer-immunologie-dgfi-ehrt-herausragende-nachwuchswissenschaftler-2/ (in German only)
and
in Murugan, Buchauer et al., Science Immunology 2018 as well was Scally, Murugan et al., Journal of Experimental Medicine 2018.
More information can be found under https://dgfi.org/ausgezeichnet-deutsche-gesellschaft-fuer-immunologie-dgfi-ehrt-herausragende-nachwuchswissenschaftler-2/ (in German only) and
in Schumacher, Bunse et al., Nature 2014 and Bunse, Pusch, Bunse et al., Nature Medicine 2018.
IMMUNOLOGY@DKFZ SEMINAR SERIES
NEW SEMINAR SERIES:
Starting in the fall of 2019, we are initiating the IMMUNOLOGY@DKFZ seminar series that will bring you exciting science from within the department as well as from external speakers.
Our first seminar was on the 31th of October: Prof. Thomas Höfer (Division of Theoretical Systems Biology, Bioquant) presented "Panta rhei: Cellular flows in immune responses, hematopoiesis and leukemia".
NEXT:
28.11.2019, Chong Sun (new FSP-D PI), Title t.b.a.
The seminar takes place at 3.30 pm in the 6th floor seminar room (DKFZ main building)
Upcoming Seminars:
26.12.2019 - no seminar - Happy Holidays!
30.01.2020 - Christian Busse (B cell immunology) Title t.b.a.
PAST SEMINARS
"Panta rhei: Cellular flows in immune responses, hematopoiesis and leukemia"
NEWS + ANNOUNCEMENTS
APPLICATION FOR THIS YEARS DGFI JUNIOR RESEARCHER AWARDS IS OPEN
Every year the DGfi announces multiple awards for junior researches at different levels and in various areas of immunology. More information can be found at https://dgfi.org/preise/ and on the poster linked below.
Deadline: 31th of January 2020
Immunoretreat 2019 - Three days of exciting immunology on beautiful Rothenfels Castle
From 13-15 of May 2019, FSD scientists gathered at the Castle of Rothenfels for our annual retreat.
Many thanks to Thorsten Feyerabend for the fantastic organization!
© T. Feyerabend
GRADUATES AND ALUMNI
On the 10th of September 2019, Stefanie Dünnbier defended her doctoral thesis entitled "The role of Thioredoxin-interacting protein in T cell receptor signalling".
Abstract: T cell receptor (TCR) engagement and subsequent signalling are a prerequisite to initiate a T cell immune response. This study examined the role of Thioredoxin-interacting protein (TXNIP) in TCR signalling and shows that TXNIP acts as transcriptional inhibitor. Hence, TXNIP might be considered as a potential therapeutic target to shape T cell responses e.g. in autoimmune or tumour diseases.
Congratulations on this excellent work!
On the 10th of Mai 2019, Csilla Kongsaysak-Lengyel defended her PhD. The title of her thesis is "Importance of Notch1 PEST domain mutations in T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia".
Abstract: My PhD work was focusing on the characteristic frameshift mutations of the Notch1 PEST domain, leading to the expression of a truncated, hyperactive Notch1 protein. These mutations are found with very high frequencies in human T-ALL, and also in our spontaneous T-ALL mouse model. To investigate the importance of such frameshift mutations in leukemia pathogenesis, we developed a modified Notch1 allele, where frameshift mutations are non-functional. Interestingly, mice bearing such a modified Notch1 allele overcome frameshift disability by specifically acquiring direct STOP mutations leading to a truncated PEST domain. Overall, our results reveal an enormous selection pressure for mutations leading to a hyperactive Notch signaling in T-ALL pathogenesis.
Congratulations Dr. Kongsaysak-Lengyel!
On the 29th of April 2019, Ann-Kathrin Fanti defended her PhD thesis entitled "Fate Mapping of Hematopoietic Stem Cell Activity under Challenges".
Abstract: In my PhD project I investigated the regulation of the hematopoietic system, and in particular HSC, under stress conditions. To enable HSC fate mapping, I employed a Cre knock-in reporter mouse and performed time-resolved analysis of hematopoietic compartment sizes and label propagation. Our findings show that the activation of HSC, in terms of differentiation, depends strongly on the nature of the challenge, giving important insights on the hematopoietic response to severe insults such as sepsis and irradiation.
Congratulations on this great work!