The Pfizer Research Prize Foundation distributed a total of CHF 195,000 at the anniversary event. The balance since 1992 shows: 283 award winners have been honored and young researchers thus rewarded for their excellent work results. This is important incentive and motivation, but also material support for further research work.
The independent scientific committees evaluated submitted papers in the fields of cardiovascular, urology, nephrology, infectious diseases, rheumatology, immunology, neurosciences and diseases of the nervous system, and oncology. This year, the Pediatrics Department was also awarded prizes for the first time. These are briefly described below.
Quick help for poisoning
The goal of Dr. Vincent Forster’s research is to be able to treat poisoning more quickly. He developed a new type of peritoneal dialysis fluid which, thanks to the liposomes it contains, is able to remove harmful substances from the blood more quickly and effectively.
What is a common cause of diabetes and hypertension? Dr. Philipp Krisai and Stefanie Aeschbacher from Basel found that this could be the protein GLP-1. The result of the study conducted in about 1500 people showed that the higher the blood pressure, the higher the GLP-1. However, the causality of this relationship is not yet clear.
Healthy bacteria cocktails?
Dr. Eva Gollwitzer is convinced that children can benefit from the administration of a special bacteria cocktail and thus prevent asthma. Newborn mice given Treg cells were less prone to allergic reactions to house dust mites than untreated young mice. Transferring the research approach to humans could protect them from developing asthma, similar to vaccination in babies.
Moana Mika and Dr. Insa Korten also deal with protective germs for the respiratory tract. They showed for the first time that microbiota change over time and vary from child to child. The comparison between healthy children and children with asthma could help in the future to develop asthma therapy with a cocktail of bacteria.
A trio from Geneva and Lausanne, consisting of Corinne Chaparro, Dr. David Longchamp and Dr. Marie-Hélène Perez, is researching how personalized nutrition can save children’s lives in the intensive care unit. Current dietary recommendations are based only on studies of adults. Thanks to the researchers’ work, a new method – measuring the amount of nitrogen in urine – can now be used to determine a composition of the necessary amount of calories and protein that is appropriate for the needs of the child.
A research collaboration between ETH Zurich and the Friedrich Miescher Institute, Basel, aims to “trick” the flu virus. The marker ubiquitin was found to play a role in breaking the capsule of cells in the airways. As the cells break open, the genetic information enters the cell nucleus and hundreds of new viruses are created. Now, Dr. Indranil Banerjee’s team is developing a substance that blocks HDAC6 and thus no longer binds ubiquitin, which would prevent the flu viruses from replicating in the first place.
Felix Hartman and Dr. Laura Codarri from Zurich discovered new potential drug targets for MS. They were able to demonstrate that interleukin-2 stimulates T-helper cells to release more GM-CSF. The GM-CSF factor is thought to be partly responsible for the onset of inflammation. If a blockade of this factor succeeds, the disease could be delayed.
Surges against addiction
In drug addiction, nerves communicate in an uncoordinated way and send disturbed electrical signals. This leads to a constant craving for the drug. Deep brain stimulation resulted in normalization of signaling circuits in experiments with cocaine-dependent mice when a drug was administered simultaneously. This could play a crucial role in the treatment of drug addiction, as the two Geneva researchers Dr. Meaghan Creed and Dr. Vincent Pascoli found out.
Dr. Mirko Santello and Prof. Dr. Thomas Nevian have discovered a new cellular mechanism in the brains of mice that may explain the chronification of pain. For the overshooting pain impulses, an ion channel that influences the electrical impulse propagation could be identified as the cause. In chronic pain, the function of the canal is reduced. By specifically manipulating the channel, the researchers were able to restore the neurons to their normal state.
In a study of 42 stroke patients, the research team led by Pierre Nicolo of Geneva found that the exchange of electrical signals appears to contribute to how well the brain is repaired. With the development of a method using a computer and electrocephalogram, this electrical communication can be quantified. On the one hand, this could be used in the future to predict how well patients will recover after a stroke, and on the other hand, to develop therapies that specifically interfere with the electrical signals.
New nose from the lab
A newly regrown nose from the lab – that’s what Dr. Ilario Fulco wants to make a reality, helping people who have undergone disfiguring surgery due to white skin cancer. The developed nostril arises from a tiny piece of nasal cartilage. Now, for the first time, five patients have been successfully treated and large parts of the nose have been replaced.
Dr. Diletta di Mitri and Dr. Alberto Toso, Bellinzona, found that immune cells can keep tumor cells from going dormant. Mice with prostate cancer had a large amount of myeloid cells that produce the messenger IL-1RA. This prevents cancer cells from entering the dormant state. Blockade of IL-1RA could inhibit tumor growth.
In breast cancer at high risk of metastasis, tumor cells produce more CCL2. Dr. Marie-May Coissieux and PD Dr. Kirsten Merz tested the administration of CCL2-blocking antibodies. Mice treated in this way had fewer lung metastases than untreated mice, but significantly increased metastatic growth was observed after discontinuation of therapy. The finding: anti-CCL2 therapy should be used with caution, as its discontinuation can rapidly lead to metastasis and thus death.
Source: Pfizer Research Prize 2016, January 28, Zurich
HAUSARZT PRAXIS 2016, 11(3): 7
