Feb. 01, 2012

National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training (NIBRT) - Location Ireland

The National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training (NIBRT) was officially opened in June 2011 in Dublin, Ireland to provide research and training solutions to the (bio)pharma industry. Ireland: One of the Largest Net Exporters of Medicines in the World moreSep. 18, 2011

MultiLabel - Multigene Expression in Mammalian Cells

The simultaneous expression of multiple proteins in mammalian cells is a key technology in modern biology. We developed MultiLabel, a modular plasmid-based mammalian expression system that allows the expression of several proteins. Independent expression vectors are assembled by a Cre/LoxP reaction into a single plasmid with multiple expression cassettes. moreAug. 21, 2011

Innate Immune Assay for the Examination of Receptor Activity

Pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) are the first defense line of the innate immune system. In the last years PRRs had been studied in different ways resulting in a lot of new insights. However, it was not possible to investigate individual combinations of PRRs and their specific ligands because of the complex network in immune signaling. A cell-based assay developed at Fraunhofer IGB allows a direct way to detect the activity of individual human PRR-receptors in a highly specific way. moreAug. 11, 2011

Electroextraction and Rapid Isolation of Bioproducts from Industrial Yeast

Yeast cells are important host systems for the industrial production of bioproducts, like proteins, enzymes, and nanoplexes. These products are, in many cases, accumulated in the intracellular space. Product release is usually performed by mechanical cell-disruption methods, which are lacking specificity. Thus, a range of impurities and proteases are liberated with the sought material. This situation negatively affects the purification operations downstream and compromise product integrity. moreJan. 18, 2011

Synthetic Attenuated Virus Engineering (SAVE)

Advances in synthetic biology pave the way for the creation of new vaccine candidates for a potentially wide range of viruses. The viruses are attenuated by means of recoding the sequences of portions of the genome such that they are codon pair deoptimized but still encode the wildtype amino acid sequence. The recoded sequences that contain hundreds of nucleotide changes compared to the wildtype, are generated by chemical synthesis. Thus far, results are very promising for poliovirus and influenza virus. moreNov. 04, 2010

Lost in Translation

Today, scientists are searching for proteins to be used as biopharmaceuticals in the most remote corners of the plant and animal kingdoms. Drug candidates are cloned, trimmed and modified and heterologously expressed in a handful of relatively well-known host organisms. moreAug. 25, 2010

Functional Relevance of GPCR Dimers

Practically all reports about G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) start with two statements, one describing that they are the largest family of proteins in chordates and the other that they are the targets for >40% of commercial drugs. Their importance is well valued since they regulate the senses of smell, touch, taste and vision, as well as mediate the actions of numerous neurotransmitters and hormones (e.g. gonadotropins and adrenaline). In addition, there is a number of "orphan" receptors for which no ligands and/or specific functions have yet been identified. moreAug. 16, 2010

MicroRNAs and Apoptosis

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs of 19-25 nucleotides that post-transcriptionally regulate the expression of target mRNA transcripts. They have been found involved in different processes commonly altered during tumorigenesis such as proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis. Here we will overview the last insights about microRNAs and apoptosis with the focus on two related miRs, miR-221&222, found involved in the resistance to TRAIL-inducing apoptosis and in the increased tumorigenesis of several types of cancers. Introduction more