An innovative combination therapy can force malignant breast cancer cells to turn into fat cells. This can be used to prevent the formation of metastases in mice, as researchers at the University of Basel’s Department of Biomedicine recently reported in the journal Cancer Cell.
The most deadly aspect of breast cancer is metastasis. It spreads cancer cells throughout the body. Researchers at the University of Basel and the University Hospital of Basel have now discovered a substance that suppresses the formation of metastases. In the journal Cell, the team of molecular biologists, computational biologists, and clinicians reports on their interdisciplinary approach.
Publications of Prof. Alex Schier from the Biozentrum, University of Basel, and Harvard University were named "Breakthrough of the Year 2018" by the magazine “Science”. In their studies, his research team was able to reconstruct the developmental trajectories of individual embryonic cells for the first time.
The pneumonia causing pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa has developed a twin-track strategy to colonize its host. It generates two different cells – motile spreaders and virulent stickers. Researchers at the University of Basel’s Biozentrum have now elucidated how the germ attaches to tissue within seconds and consecutively spreads. Just like the business model: settling – growing – expanding.
Buruli ulcer is a neglected tropical disease (NTD) resulting in debilitating skin lesions and disabilities. The current antibiotic treatment is long and has severe adverse side effects. Researchers from the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH), which is associated with the University of Basel, together with colleagues from Singapore have discovered a highly effective compound against Buruli ulcer. This compound has the potential to become a powerful alternative to the existing treatment options, as the researchers report in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Communications.
Researchers from the University of Basel have reported a new method that allows the physical state of just a few atoms or molecules within a network to be controlled. It is based on the spontaneous self-organization of molecules into extensive networks with pores about one nanometer in size. In the journal small, the physicists reported on their investigations, which could be of particular importance for the development of new storage devices.
This year’s Ružička Prize has been awarded to Christof Sparr, Assistant Professor
at the University of Basel. The 38-year-old chemist was honored for his outstanding achievements in the development of new synthesis methods.
A widely used diabetes medication combined with an antihypertensive drug specifically inhibits tumor growth – this was discovered by researchers from the University of Basel’s Biozentrum two years ago. In a follow-up study, recently published in “Cell Reports”, the scientists report that this drug cocktail induces cancer cell death by switching off their energy supply.
Professor Georg Holländer and Professor Sai Reddy will head the Botnar Research Centre for Child Health.
