D-BSSE News

Metastases are formed by cancer cells that break away from the primary tumor. Researchers from the University of Basel in collaboration with the Cell Systems Dynamics Group at D-BSSE and the Genomics Facility Basel now identified lack of oxygen as the trigger for this process. The results reveal an important relationship between the oxygen supply to tumors and the formation of metastases. This research may open up new treatment strategies for cancer.

Researchers have revealed a new molecular mechanism by which bacteria adhere to cellulose fibers in the human gut. Thanks to two different binding modes, they can withstand the shear forces in the body. Scientists from the lab of Michael Nash (affiliated with University of Basel and D-BSSE) and Zhaowei Liu (University of Basel) published their results in the journal Nature Communications.

Scientists from Basel including from the D-BSSE group headed by Dagmar Iber have investigated the activity of stem cells in the brain of mice and discovered a key mechanism that controls cell proliferation. According to the researchers, the gene regulator Id4 controls whether stem cells remain in a state of rest or enter cell division. The results were published in Cell Reports and may be relevant for treating neurodegenerative disease in human brains.