Developmental Biology, Stem Cells, Reproductive, Regenerative and Reparative Medicine

The ERC Advanced Grant is one of Europe’s most prestigious programmes for research financing. The grant has now been awarded to Ernest Arenas to tailor dopamine-producing brain cells for patients with Parkinson’s disease.

We are born with all the hair follicles that we will ever have in our lives, because after birth the skin loses the ability to create new hair follicles. If our skin is severely damaged it cannot form new hair follicles or associated sebaceous glands essential for keeping the skin moist. But now researchers have revealed that controlled activation of the so-called Hedgehog-signaling pathway leads to new formation of hair follicles and hair in mice.

The healing ability of the central nervous system is very limited and injuries to the brain or spinal cord often result in permanent functional deficits. Dr Christian Göritz and his colleagues have found a mechanism that explains why this happens, and they were also able to improve functional recovery following spinal cord injury in mice.

By using DNA-based design of precise nanostructures – so-called DNA origami – scientists ahave been able to demonstrate the most accurate distance between densely packed antigens in order to get the strongest bond to antibodies in the immune system.

An international team of researchers from academia and the biopharma industry has published a Phase 1a/b study, showing the therapeutic potential of mRNA encoding for regenerative angiogenesis in humans. The goal is to generate new blood vessels and improve blood flow in tissues where it is otherwise restricted.