Using melanoma cells from patients, a research team from the University of Regensburg has observed that during early metastasis of skin cancer cells, an embryonic stem cell program is activated as a defense against the body's own immune response. The body's own defenses are weakened and the cancer can spread to the new tissue.

Researchers from ETH Zurich led by Pedro Beltrao, Professor at the Institute of Molecular Systems Biology, have presented an atlas that shows which proteins work together in which tissues. These findings help to identify disease genes more specifically and to develop drugs that act specifically at the target site.

A team of researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology (MPI) in Dortmund, led by Dr. Malte Gersch, has used cell cultures to elucidate the mode of action of a promising Parkinson's drug candidate. The work serves as a basis for the development of targeted therapies against Parkinson's disease.

A team of scientists from Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB) led by Prof. Christian Schwamborn has presented a promising midbrain-hindbrain assembloid model that can be used to mimic the spread of alpha-synuclein pathology as observed in Parkinson's patients.