Drug Testing with Artificial Brain Vessels

Screening method simulates filter effect of the “blood-brain barrier”

05-Sep-2022 - In the journal “Biomaterials”, DZNE researchers present a novel method for testing chemical agents that could help in the development of drugs against neurodegenerative diseases. This analytical technique allows to study in the laboratory whether new drug candidates have a realistic chance of ...

The Retina as a Potential Biomarker for Reduced Brain Matter

“There is evidence that the retina can serve as a window into the brain”

17-Mar-2022 - Researchers from the Department of Ophthalmology at the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) and Deutsches Zentrum für Neurodegenerative Erkrankungen (DZNE) have found a close connection between the dimensions of retinal structures and those of the brain. They report on this in the journal “Scientific ...

Corona: New Insights into Antibody Response against Viral Variants

Cross-reactivity could prove to be an important aspect of future vaccinations

27-Jan-2022 - In the journal Science, researchers from Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin and Deutsches Zentrum für Neurodegenerative Erkrankungen (DZNE) present new findings on the immune response against the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Their study is based on investigations of antibodies elicited by infection ...

In neurodegenerative diseases, brain immune cells have a “ravenous appetite” for sugar

The interpretation of certain brain scans needs rethinking

15-Oct-2021 - At the beginning of neurodegenerative disease, the immune cells of the brain – the “microglia” – take up glucose, a sugar molecule, to a much greater extent than hitherto assumed. Studies by the DZNE, the LMU München and the LMU Klinikum München, published in the journal Science Translational ...

Researchers Find Warning Signs for Dementia in the Blood

Levels of Certain microRNAs Indicate Risk for Cognitive Decline

14-Oct-2021 - Researchers at the DZNE and the University Medical Center Göttingen (UMG) have identified molecules in the blood that can indicate impending dementia. Their findings, which are presented in the scientific journal “EMBO Molecular Medicine”, are based on human studies and laboratory experiments. ...

DZNE’s First Spin-off “Neuron–D” Uses Innovative Technology for Drug Testing

Drug Screening with 3D Cell Cultures

24-Mar-2021 - On the basis of a license agreement with the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) and the Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden (IPF), the Dresden-based start-up “Neuron-D GmbH” is developing a high-throughput system for testing drug candidates to treat neurodegenerative ...

Early Prediction of Alzheimer’s Progression in Blood

23-Jan-2019 - Years before symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease manifest, the brain starts changing and neurons are slowly degraded. Scientists at the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), the Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research (HIH) and the University Hospital Tübingen now show that a ...

Cellular Mechanism Provides Explanation Model for Declining Memory Performance in Alzheimer's Disease

Loss of neuronal contacts impairs nerve cells that control activity of the hippocampus

22-Sep-2016 - Alzheimer’s disease triggers memory and learning disorders. To date, the causes are poorly understood. Now, researchers of the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) are shedding light on a possible mechanism: As Martin Fuhrmann and co-workers describe in the journal “Neuron,” loss ...

PET points to tau protein as leading culprit in Alzheimer's

14-Jun-2016 - Alzheimer's is a devastating and incurable disease marked by beta-amyloid and tau protein aggregations in the brain, yet the direct relationship between these proteins and neurodegeneration has remained a mystery. New molecular imaging research is revealing how tau, rather than ...