News archive 2017

In November, CiM researchers Prof. Michael Schäfers and Prof. Stefan Schlatt demonstrated experiments with mice to journalists and gave insights into how different animals are kept at Münster University. The University has compiled an experience report and a collection of links to press articles.

During the development of an organism, individual cells are directed to perform specific tasks within the body of the adult organism. Researchers at the Cells-in-Motion Cluster of Excellence show now that the function of a certain protein is responsible for the development of sperm and egg cells.

Double success: two "Consolidator Grants" from the European Research Council (ERC) go to professors at the Cells-in-Motion Cluster of Excellence. Prof. Andrea Rentmeister, a chemist, and physicist Prof. Timo Betz each receive one of the coveted fundings – in total, almost four million euros.

Two scientific publications by physicists at the Cells-in-Motion Cluster of Excellence have made it onto the 2017 list of the 30 best papers worldwide in the fields of optics and photonics. One of the publications resulted from an interdisciplinary project undertaken by junior CiM researchers.

The German Research Foundation approved funding for the new Collaborative Research Centre 1348 „Dynamic Cellular Interfaces“. The positive assessment of this initiative which is headed by Prof. Christian Klämbt and involves many researchers at the Cells-in-Motion Cluster of Excellence gives additional momentum to the submission of a new proposal within the Excellence Strategy.

In order to be able to move, some cells form protrusions in the form of blebs. How do these blebs form? Researchers at the Cells-in-Motion Cluster of Excellence have discovered that folds in the cell membrane play a decisive role. The study has been published in the journal “Developmental Cell”.

One part of the foundation of the Cells-in-Motion Cluster of Excellence celebrates its tenth anniversary: the European Institute for Molecular Imaging. How has the institute developed over the past ten years? What were special moments? In an interview, the EIMI Directors look back.

At the Cells-in-Motion Cluster of Excellence there are lots of scientists doing work on and with zebrafish. These fish are perfect for research work because they grow outside the mother’s body and are transparent in the first five days of their life. What the scientists study in the tiny fish embryos is, for example, how bones, blood vessels and lymphatic vessels develop.

Prof. Ralf Stanewsky, a group leader at the Cells-in-Motion Cluster of Excellence, speaks with the University’s newspaper „wissen|leben“ about the research on the circadian clock. In December, the nobel prize for medicine will be awarded for insights into this topic. (Interview in German)

Two researchers from the Cells-in-Motion Cluster of Excellence travelled to Buenos Aires at the end of October to share their knowledge with schoolchildren and students there. 80 students from two German schools learned for example about the role played by chemistry when using imaging methods.

Prof. Hans-Christian Pape will be head of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation starting January 2018. The group leader at the Cells-in-Motion Cluster of Excellence is an expert on the neurophysiological underpinnings of emotional behaviour. Among others, he researches into anxiety and anxiety disorders.

Do chemicals that we take up from the environment impair the function of sperm? This is what Dr. Christian Schiffer, a junior researcher at the Cells-in-Motion Cluster of Excellence, is investigating. He has received the KlarText Prize for an easy-to-understand article about his research work.

Nearly one hundred "researchers of tomorrow" and their parents came to the labs of the Cells-in-Motion Cluster of Excellence for the "Türöffner-Tag" initated by the German TV show "Die Sendung mit der Maus". Visitors fed cells, wore protective clothing and isolated the DNA of bananas.

The German Research Foundation has announced a preliminary decision in the Excellence Strategy: “Cells in Motion” is one of the 88 Cluster candidates which can submit a full proposal for a new period of funding starting 2019. 195 draft proposals were submitted and reviewed in the first round.

Interdisciplinary research: At the Cells-in-Motion Cluster of Excellence, ten new projects are receiving funding worth a total of around one million euros. Two team leaders from different disciplines work together on each project and contribute their creative ideas to it.

Researchers at the Cells-in-Motion Cluster of Excellence have developed a new method for producing digital 3D reconstructions of blood and lymphatic vessels from tissue samples and then creating images of them for analysis. The study has been published in the “JCI Insight” journal.

Lulit Tilahun Wolde, a visiting academic from Ethiopia, is working in a research group at the Cells-in-Motion Cluster of Excellence. She brought microorganisms with her that can survive in one of the hottest regions on Earth. She wants to find out how modifications in RNA enable the microorganisms to survive.

During angiogenesis, new blood vessels are formed from existing ones. Research teams at the Cells-in-Motion Cluster of Excellence have shown that the Notch signalling pathway influences the sprouting of new blood vessels and the formation of arteries. Two studies have appeared in the latest issue of “Nature Cell Biology”.

The junior research groups at the Cells-in-Motion Cluster of Excellence have demonstrated convincing work with their research. After three and a half years, group leaders Dr. Milos Galic and Dr. Sebastian Rumpf are receiving financial support for a further two years.

The European Society of Microcirculation has granted its most prestigious award to Prof. Ralf Adams, a group leader at the Cells-in-Motion Cluster of Excellence. He investigates the development of the vascular system and stands out by high-ranking publications and scientific contribution in this field.

During development, some of the connections between nerve cells disappear. Researchers at the Cells-in-Motion Cluster of Excellence have discovered a physiological process that plays an important role in this. The study has been published in the current issue of “Embo Journal”.

What role does the correct size of endothelial cells play in the development of blood vessels? Researchers at the Cells-in-Motion Cluster of Excellence have been studying this and have identified a gene which enlarges endothelial cells and can lead to diseases. The study has been published in “Nature Cell Biology”.

Usually, interdisciplinary research is especially innovative. This is why the Cells-in-Motion Cluster of Excellence is funding five new pilot projects. Young researchers from several different disciplines have to apply for and implement the projects, for which they are themselves responsible.

In just three minutes at the end of April in Bielefeld, Dr. Olga Sin explained her protein research – and won over her audience. Olga Sin, a member of the Young Academy at the Cells-in-Motion Cluster of Excellence won the German final of the FameLab science competition.

“March for Science”: On April 22, scientists and citizens around the world will demonstrate for the vital role of science. CiM Prof. Stefan Luschnig knows that knowledge does not emerge overnight. He tells how he discovered a protein – years and years of systematic research work and discussions with colleagues.

When during development does the 3D organisation of the genom in the nucleus arise? A team of researchers around Dr. Juanma Vaquerizas, a group leader at the Cells-in-Motion Cluster of Excellence, and Clemens Hug, a CiM-IMPRS graduate student, have found new answers to this question. The study has been published in the journal "Cell".

For two years, working in the Translational Oncology lab, physician Dr. Jonas Lange investigated the properties of lymph node cancer in children. Job rotation provided by the Cells-in-Motion Cluster of Excellence enabled him to do the research.

Prof. Timo Betz is studying the mechanics of cells at the Cells-in-Motion Cluster of Excellence. For his research he has now received a prestigious research award from the “Human Frontier Science Program”. Together with colleagues from the USA and Canada he is receiving one million euros of funding.

“Four-dimensional imaging” is becoming increasingly important for the diagnosis and treatment of a variety of diseases. A new joint project funded by the German Ministry of Education and Science now aims to improve the methods of “4D-imaging”. Project coordinator is Prof. Martin Burger, a group leader at the Cells-in-Motion Cluster of Excellence.

Promising young researchers begin their careers in the international Graduate School of the Cells-in-Motion Cluster of Excellence and at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Biomedicine in Münster. Two of them are Jyoti Rao from India and Mitchell Duffy from the USA.

In her research group at the Cells-in-Motion Cluster of Excellence, scientist Julia Ghelman is studying which factors define the movement behaviour of cells in the central nervous system. Thanks to “LabAid” she was able to continue her research work while she was pregnant and after her child was born.

In stem cell transplantation, new stem cells are transferred to the recipient’s bloodstream and find their own way to the bone marrow. A research team headed by the CiM group leaders Prof. Ralf Adams and Prof. Dietmar Vestweber identified the blood flow conditions under which blood stem cells migrate from the vessels and can seek a niche in the bone marrow.

Using an optical method, researchers at the Cells-in-Motion Cluster of Excellence have investigated the mechanical features of cells in living zebrafish embryos and manipulated, for the first time, several components in the cells simultaneously. The study appears in the Journal of Biophotonics.

Which molecular mechanisms are at work when, in the case of inflammation, immune cells migrate from the blood vessel into the tissue? Researchers at the Cells-in-Motion Cluster of Excellence have gained new insights into this question. The study has been published in the journal “Cell Reports”.

Next Monday sees the beginning of building work for the MIC research centre in Röntgenstraße, which will bring imaging experts from a variety of faculties even closer together. The new research building gives a structural basis for the long-term establishment of the Cells-in-Motion Cluster of Excellence research concept at Münster University.