How immune cells deliver their deadly cargo

24-Oct-2025 - When immune cells strike, precision is everything. New research reveals how natural killer and T cells orchestrate the release of toxic granules – microscopic packages that destroy virus-infected or cancerous cells. The study led by researchers from CeMM, St. Anna CCRI, MedUni Vienna, Med Uni ...

New Bioactive Compound for Difficult-to-Treat Allergies

Study leads to the discovery of a promising receptor blocker

02-May-2025 - Irritable bowel syndrome, chronic itching, asthma and migraine are in many cases hard-to-treat conditions. They have in common that they are triggered by an excessive immune response—which in severe cases can be life-threatening. A team of researchers led by the University of Bonn has now ...

New pathway in immune defense discovered

Interaction of monocytes and platelets decoded

09-Jul-2024 - Monocytes, a special type of white blood cell, secrete cytokines as inflammatory messengers that are crucial for an appropriate immune response. Researchers at the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) and the University of Bonn have now discovered that platelets, also known as thrombocytes, communicate ...

How the immune system learns from harmless particles

Researchers demonstrate how tiny, innocuous particles strengthen the immune response

01-May-2024 - Our lungs are bombarded by all manner of different particles every single day. Whilst some are perfectly safe for us, others—known as pathogens—have the potential to make us ill. The immune system trains its response whenever it encounters such a pathogen. Yet researchers at the University of ...

New findings on the immune system: Hope for highly effective vaccines and new therapies

Underlying mechanism for the development of T follicular helper cells deciphered

05-Mar-2024 - T follicular helper cells (Tfh) are essential for strong antibody-mediated reactions of our immune system during infections and vaccinations. However, if they get out of control, this can cause diseases such as autoimmunity, allergies or cancer. Researchers from the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) ...

Immune cells have a backup mechanism

If the TBK1 enzyme is mutated, susceptibility to viral infections increases – unless it is missing

14-Mar-2023 - The enzyme TBK1 is an important component of the innate immune system that plays a critical role in the defense against viruses. Upon mutation-induced loss of TBK1 function, patients show an increased susceptibility to viral infections. Strikingly, if TBK1 is not expressed at all, this clinical ...

Covid vaccination improves effectiveness of cancer treatment

Clinical study on nasopharyngeal cancer with unexpected result

14-Nov-2022 - Patients with nasopharyngeal cancer are often treated with drugs that activate their immune system against the tumor. Until now, it was feared that vaccination against Covid-19 could reduce the success of cancer treatment or cause severe side effects. A recent study by the Universities of Bonn ...

Hemophilia: Training the immune system to be tolerant

Study elucidates an important immune mechanism

02-Nov-2022 - Hemophilia A is the most common severe form of hemophilia. It affects almost exclusively males. The disease can usually be treated well, but not for all sufferers. A study at the University of Bonn has now elucidated an important mechanism that is crucial for making the therapy effective. The ...

Newly discovered process brings immune cells up to speed

Study identifies mechanism otherwise found in metastasizing cancer cells

18-Oct-2022 - Cancer cells use an unusual mechanism to migrate into new tissue and form metastases there. The same process probably also keeps some immune cells on their toes. This is the result of a recent study led by the University of Bonn. According to the study, certain structures, the centrioles, ...

DNA guardians out of control

Our own immune system can become the enemy when mechanisms that are actually protective get out of control

29-Aug-2022 - In ANCA-associated vasculitis, excessive inflammatory reactions lead to pulmonary hemorrhages that can be fatal if left untreated. Researchers at the University of Bonn, together with colleagues from Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and England, have deciphered a mechanism in mice and ...