Max Delbrück Center

TCR sensitivity shapes recognition of tumor antigen presented by host cells and TCR-T cell efficacy in solid tumors

Despite advances in adoptive T cell therapy, therapeutic efficacy in solid tumors remains inconsistent, and the mechanistic determinants of treatment failure are incompletely understood. Increasing evidence suggests that effective antitumor responses depend not only on direct rec...

MRI Characteristics of Myelin Oligodendrocyte Glycoprotein Antibody-Associated Disease

Importance Myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody-associated disease (MOGAD) is a demyelinating disease distinct from multiple sclerosis (MS) and aquaporin-4 antibody-positive neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (AQP4+NMOSD). Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is central t...

SpaCEy links spatial tissue patterns to clinical outcomes using explainable graph neural networks

Abstract Tissues are complex ecosystems organised in space, and alterations in this organisation underpin multiple diseases. Spatial omics enables molecular profiling of tissue organisation, but linking these patterns to clinical outcomes remains challenging. We present SpaCEy (...

Integrative structural modelling reveals the human Mic60-Mic19 subcomplex as a diffusion barrier in mitochondria

Abstract Mitochondrial crista junctions (CJs) operate as regulated gateways into the cristae microenvironment, whose protein, metabolite, and ion compositions are finely tuned for mitochondrial function. The Mic60-Mic19 complex of the mitochondrial contact site and cristae organi...

Type 2 Angiotensin II receptor (AT2R) deficiency exacerbates cardiac senescence and fibrosis in aging mice

Cardiac aging increases susceptibility to cardiovascular diseases. Cellular senescence may be involved in the development of age-related cardiac diseases. Extensive evidence derived from both clinical and experimental studies suggest that the Type 2 Angiotensin II receptor (AT2R)...

Gadolinium-based Contrast Agents Trigger Gadolinium Accumulation Within the Hippocampus In Vivo and Mitochondrial Alterations in Organotypic Hippocampal Tissue Cultures Ex Vivo

BACKGROUND: In multiple sclerosis (MS), mitochondrial dysfunction contributes to disease progression and may impair cognitive function, particularly in vulnerable regions such as the hippocampus. Gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs) are widely used for imaging-based diagnosis...

Intracellular Ca2⁺ dynamics are required for microglial process motility during surveillance and in response to injury

Microglia, the resident immune cells of the central nervous system, play pivotal roles in brain surveillance and injury responses through highly dynamic process motility. Here, we investigated the role of Ca 2 ⁺ signaling in mediating microglial process motility under both physio...

Volumetric reference data of the orbit: a deep learning MRI analysis in the German national cohort

Abstract Manual segmentation of orbital magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is labor-intensive, hindering large-scale morphometric studies. To overcome this, we developed a fully automated deep learning pipeline to segment orbital MRIs and establish age- and sex-stratified normative...

Nanobodies specific for Vβ11 enable detection and noninvasive imaging of antigen-specific T cells in vivo

Through screening of a VHH phage display library constructed from an alpaca immunized with the recombinantly expressed murine myelin oligodendrocyte (MOG)-specific 2D2 T cell receptor (TCR), we identified nanobodies that reduced antigen-driven 2D2 T cell activation in vitro. Immu...

Deep molecular profiling of lung neuroendocrine tumours and supra-carcinoids

BACKGROUND: Lung neuroendocrine tumours (NETs, also known as carcinoids) are rapidly rising in incidence worldwide but have unknown aetiology and limited therapeutic options beyond surgery. The current WHO classification, based on mitotic count and presence or absence of necrosis...

Longitudinal progression, metrics, age-dependence, and modifiers of ataxia severity in SCA27B: a multicentre study of 219 patients

Background Spinocerebellar Ataxia 27B (SCA27B) is a novel, frequent and likely treatable late-onset autosomal-dominant ataxia caused by GAA repeat-expansions in FGF14 . For understanding disease evolution and imminent trial planning, metrics of the most widely used clinical outco...

Cell surface remodeling caused by the loss of the flippase subunit TMEM30A in immune cells

Plasma membrane lipid asymmetry is tightly regulated and fundamental to mammalian cell physiology. TMEM30A is the β-subunit of P4-ATPases, flippase enzymes that maintain strict phosphatidylserine (PS) asymmetry by pumping it from the outer to the cytosolic leaflet. Loss of TMEM30...