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IZN Calls for 2021 Awards Nominations

ECNP Neuropsychopharmacology Award goes to Valery Grinevich for his exceptional research contributions to the study of neuropeptides

The European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP) is pleased to announce Valery Grinevich as the recipient of the 2021 ECNP Neuropsychopharmacology Award, in recognition of his outstanding achievements in advancing the knowledge of neuropeptide signalling in the brain. The ECNP Neuropsychopharmacology Award is presented annually and recognises distinguished research in applied and translational neuroscience.
 
Among his landmark scientific contributions is the discovery that the axonal release of neuropeptides, exemplarily shown for oxytocin, contributes to neuropeptide signalling in the brain, thereby extending a long-standing dogma of passive diffusion of peptides from the source of origin throughout the entire brain. In support of this concept, his team has successfully demonstrated the existence of an oxytocin engram of fear memory, with specific oxytocin circuits transmitting noxious and non-noxious stimuli into pain and social behaviours, respectively. More...

How “paralyzed” immune cells can be reactivated against brain tumors

Brain tumor cells with a certain common mutation reprogram invading immune cells. This leads to the paralysis of the body's immune defense against the tumor in the brain. Researchers from Heidelberg, Mannheim, and Freiburg discovered this mechanism and at the same time identified a way of reactivating the paralyzed immune system to fight the tumor. These results confirm that therapeutic vaccines or immunotherapies are more effective against brain tumors if active substances are simultaneously used to promote the suppressed immune system.

Diffuse gliomas are usually incurable brain tumors that spread in the brain and are difficult to completely remove by surgery. Chemotherapy and radiotherapy often only have a limited effect too. Oncologists are thus urgently trying to find innovative treatment approaches to fight the gliomas using the immune system – by means of therapeutic vaccines or immunotherapies.

"If we are to make progress in developing immunotherapies or therapeutic vaccines, we need to understand exactly how the immune environment behaves during tumor development. Moreover, we were interested in whether special genetic features of the gliomas have a particular influence on the function of the glioma-associated immune cells," explained Michael Platten, Director of the Department of Neurology of University Medicine Mannheim, Head of Division at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), and director of the current study. More...

Alzheimer Protein APP Regulates Learning and Social Behaviour in the Healthy Brain

Beyond plaques: Heidelberg scientists unravel the natural functions of the APP protein family

While the APP protein is well-known for its key role in Alzheimer’s disease, its contribution to healthy brain function, by contrast, has remained largely unknown until now. Recently, an international research team, led by molecular biologist Prof.Dr. Ulrike Müller from Heidelberg University, gained new insights on the physiological functions of the APP protein family by using a mouse model lacking APP. The absence of APP during brain development was shown to result in the malformation of important brain regions implicated in learning and memory. Consequently, these mice were severely impaired in their learning abilities and exhibited autistic-like behaviour. More...