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“One year after the treatment, I feel as good as I did before my diagnosis, except for a few colds,” says Uresa A. today. In June 2023, Uresa (who was 15 years old at the time) received CAR-T cells at Universitätsklinikum Erlangen. The treatment was the last resort to slow down systemic lupus erythe...

As part of our innate immune system, the complement system plays a role in destroying tumor cells. Paradoxically however, an activated complement system can also also promote the growth and formation of metastases in certain types of tumors such as sarcomas. How radiotherapy influences the complemen...

A heart attack is a life-threatening condition, with patients remaining at risk of premature death long after the actual attack: 50 to 60 percent of patients die subsequently as a result of sudden cardiac death, triggered by cardiac arrhythmia. The most effective treatment currently available – a pa...

How a “date” between immune cells makes rheumatism disappear Dates don’t always work out the way you would like. This is the premise on which scientists at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) have developed a new approach towards treating autoimmune diseases. They brought two ty...

Tracking down the secret behind the successful yellow fever vaccine Yellow fever, dengue fever, tick-borne encephalitis, Japanese encephalitis and other infectious diseases, some of them dangerous, are triggered by pathogens from the flavivirus family. A very effective vaccine is available for yell...

How the body switches out of “fight” mode 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, Unikli...

Researchers at FAU find no negative effects on immune system Researchers at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) and Universitätsklinikum Erlangen have examined a man who has received more than 200 vaccinations against Covid-19. They learned of his case via newspaper reports. Unt...

FAU researcher receives an award for his contribution to treating bone marrow cancer Macrophages that “gorge themselves” on a certain protein may promote the progression of cancer rather than fight it. PD Dr. Heiko Bruns, immunologist at FAU, discovered this mechanism in connection with bone marrow...

Virologist Überla and occupational medicine specialist Kaifie-Pechmann involved in decisions on German recommendations for immunizations Prof. Dr. Klaus Überla and Prof. Dr. Andrea Kaifie-Pechmann are members in the newly convened Standing Committee on Vaccination (STIKO): Prof. Dr. Andrea Kaifie-P...

One single infusion with CAR-T cells replaces immune-suppressive medicines In March 2021, doctors from FAU treated a young woman with a severe autoimmune disease with chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cells, the first time a treatment of this kind has been attempted anywhere in the world. Today, ne...