Liver disease associated to alpha1-antitrypsin deficiency: a paper by Molinari’s lab published in the EMBO Journal uncovers the signals encoding clearance of ATZ polymers
About 10% of the children with alpha1-antitrypsin deficiency must undergo liver transplantation. Their hepatocytes fail to properly degrade polymers of mutant alpha1-antitrypsin (ATZ), whose accumulation is highly toxic to cells. In these patients, elusive genetic and/or environmental modifiers contribute to the harmful progression of the disease caused by the Z mutation, thus resulting in dramatic […]
LICTOR, a new powerful tool to prevent systemic light-chain amyloidosis
Systemic light-chain amyloidosis (AL) is the most common form of a group of diseases associated with protein misfolding, leading to deposition of insoluble structures in different organs. Due to the AL non-specific symptoms, an early diagnosis is often not possible. Nevertheless, a prompt detection is essential to prevent organ failure and death. A study published […]
Prof. Petr Cejka appointed member of EMBO
Bellinzona, June 8, 2021 – The European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) has appointed Prof. Petr Cejka, group leader at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB, affiliated to USI), as one of its new members. This is the third time that a researcher active in the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland has been appointed by the […]
Immunologists decipher the recognition of SARS-CoV-2 by CD4+ T lymphocytes in COVID-19 recovered patients
Bellinzona, May 18th 2021 – An international team of researchers from the Institute for Research in Biomedicine, affiliated to the Università della Svizzera italiana, has deciphered, at single cell resolution, the T cell responses occurring during COVID-19 infection. This study, which was performed at the Center of Medical Immunology under the leadership of Prof. Federica […]
The Ernst Jung Gold Medal for Medicine conferred to Prof. Antonio Lanzavecchia
Bellinzona, May 20, 2021. Antonio Lanzavecchia, founding Director of the Institute for Research in Biomedicine for 20 years, Professor of the Faculty of Biomedical Sciences at the USI and Professor at the D-BIOL’s Institute of Microbiology at the ETH Zurich, is given the Ernst Jung Gold Medal for Medicine from the Jung Foundation for his […]
Towards an institutional culture of Respect
From: EPFL, Lausanne, Founding member of the Global Health Institute, School of Life Sciences, EPFL; Vice President EPFL for Responsible Transformation Hosts contact: Maurizio Molinari, Silvia Monticelli Date: 17.05.2021 12:00 Speakers: Gisou van der Goot Virtual Conference
New paper from the Cavalli’s lab: computational identification of an allosteric binding site in TMPRSS2
A new paper from the Cavalli’s lab describes the computational identification of a novel putative allosteric binding site in the protein TMPRSS2. The membrane bound serine protease TMPRSS2 is one of the proteases responsible for the proteolytic priming of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein which leads to the release of the fusion peptide. Its inhibition represents, therefore, […]
IRB Summer school “artificial intelligence methods applied to intravital imaging analysis” 14-18 June 2021
This program will cover theoretical and practical aspects regarding the application of new A.I. -based methods for the analysis of migration and interaction of immune cells captured by 4D intravital imaging data. Basic knowledge in imaging is recommended. Organizers: Santiago F. Gonzalez; Diego Pizzagalli; Pau Carrillo Mandatory registration by May 22nd 2021. Register here. More […]
2021 International Day of Immunology: April 29, 2021
To mark the enormous contributions of immunology to health and well-being, IUIS and EFIS celebrate every year since 2005 the International Day of Immunology on April 29. For this exceptional 2021 DoI, a series of special events around the theme COVID-19 has been organized, among them, a Webinar entitled “Immunology in the time of COVID-19: […]
ERC Advanced Grant to Petr Cejka
Prof. Petr Cejka, group leader at the IRB and Associate Professor at the Faculty of Biomedical Sciences at USI, has been awarded a second highly competitive research fund by the European Union: an ERC Advanced Grant. This prestigious funding not only confirms the importance of his studies on DNA repair mechanisms in oncology, it also […]
