Single cell sequencing deciphers pathogenic immune cell interaction in inflammatory pseudotumors of the brain. A platform developed at the Department of Neurology at the University Medical Centre Mannheim and the German Cancer Research Center now provides surprising insights into the pathology of IgG4-associated diseases. read more …

From 7^th to 10^th June Ph.D. and M.D. candidates immersed themselves in a virtual event at the final symposium and spring school 2021 of the research training group 2350 on the Impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences on Psychosocial and Somatic Conditions across the Lifespan. read more …

Researchers discovered, that brain tumor cells carrying a certain but common mutation, reprogram invading immune cells and thereby suppress the body’s immune defense against the tumor. The research team also identified a way of reactivating the paralyzed immune system to fight the tumor and provide evidence that therapeutic vaccines or immunotherapies against brain tumors are more effective, if the suppressed immune system is simultaneously treated and thereby supported by pharmacological substances. read more …

To process information in our brains, neurons produce brief electrical impulses, called action potentials, triggered from one highly specialized region at the cell’s axon, called the axon initial segment (AIS). Scientists from the Institute of Neuroanatomy at the Mannheim Center for Translational Neuroscience (MCTN), together with researchers from the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience in Amsterdam and the University of Göttingen now show that the AIS surprisingly changes with experience: It shrinks with increasing experience and, vice versa, elongates when less input arrives in the brain. This reversible effect could contribute to balancing all neuronal activity generated within a distinct functional network in the brain. read more …