Scientists Unravel Life-saving Effect of Dexamethasone in COVID-19

New approach for targeted drug development

05-Jul-2024 - Dexamethasone is one of the most important drugs in the treatment of severe COVID-19, but patients respond very differently to the therapy. Researchers at the DZNE and Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin have now discovered how the cortisone compound influences the impaired inflammatory response ...

Molecular switch for the gradual reprogramming of immune cells decoded

19-Jun-2024 - The immune system activates certain white blood cells, the T helper cells (Th cells), to defend against pathogens and cancer. These cells are imprinted differently depending on the target (viruses, bacteria, parasites, tumor cells) and can promote or attenuate inflammatory reactions. A research ...

How the body switches out of “fight” mode

Study unlocks how cortisone inhibits inflammation

12-Apr-2024 - Cortisone and other related glucocorticoids are extremely effective at curbing excessive immune reactions. But previously, astonishingly little was known about how they exactly do that. A team of researchers from Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin and Uniklinikum Erlangen have now explored the ...

Coronavirus vaccination: body builds immune memory in organs

Memory cells in the liver, kidneys, and lungs

13-Oct-2023 - One shot in the arm, and the whole body is protected. But how? For one thing, the immune system produces antibodies and cells that patrol the entire organism by traveling through the bloodstream. For another, as shown by a recent Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin study of the mRNA coronavirus ...

T cells require healthy “power plants”

Some T cells of the immune system are especially sensitive to genetic disturbances within their mitochondrial power plants

07-Jul-2023 - All cells have their own power plants, called mitochondria. There are often more than 100 mitochondria per cell and each possesses their own genome, which in turn contains genes responsible for energy production. If errors creep into these genes, this can cause problems in the cell and result in ...

A win-win for cell communities: Cells that cooperate live longer

New insights into the study of aging processes and age-related diseases

10-Jan-2023 - When cells exchange metabolic products with other cells, they live longer. This new finding comes from a research team at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, which made the discovery in a study using yeast cells. The fact that these exchanges directly impact cell lifespans could play a ...

Prior exposure to common cold coronaviruses enhances immune response to SARS-CoV-2

03-Sep-2021 - Researchers from Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, the Berlin Institute of Health at Charité (BIH) and the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics (MPIMG) have shown that certain immune cells, which are found in people previously exposed to common cold coronaviruses, enhance the body’s ...

Strong antiviral immunity in the upper airways protects children from severe COVID-19

19-Aug-2021 - Children can also be infected with the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, but have a substantially lower risk for developing severe COVID-19 disease compared to adults. A team of scientists from the Berlin Institute of Health at Charité (BIH), Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, University of ...

How the immune system paves the way for SARS-CoV-2

SARS-CoV-2 uses an immune system defense mechanism as a port of entry

22-Feb-2021 - The immune system actually wants to fight SARS-CoV-2 with antiviral signaling molecules. But a research team from Charité and MDC has now shown how such a signaling molecule can promote the replication of the virus. Most people infected with SARS-CoV-2 are able to recover from the disease at home ...

COVID-19: Immune system on the wrong track

"Many indications suggest that the immune system stands in its own way during severe courses of COVID-19"

07-Aug-2020 - Contrary to what has been generally assumed so far, a severe course of COVID-19 does not solely result in a strong immune reaction – rather, the immune response is caught in a continuous loop of activation and inhibition. Experts from Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, the University of Bonn, ...