UNIVERSITY OF COLOGNE

Prof. Dr.Ingolf Sack (Charité – University Medicine Berlin.) talk within the "Science and Sandwiches" seminar successfully created a seamless transition between clinical studies and research. We would like to sincerely thank Prof. Dr. Ingolf Sack for his contribution.

Congratulations to Steffen Luetke from the M1 project of FOR2722 for winning the Best Oral Presentation Award at the European Elastin Meeting in Reims! The award was presented for his talk, "Characterization of New Functional Interactions of Hemicentins within the Elastin/Fibrillin Microfibril Network." A fantastic achievement and a well-deserved recognition of his excellent work!

We congratulate Constantinos Demetriades Project D3 and his collaborators on the publication of the new paper "Spatial and functional separation of mTORC1 signalling in response to different amino acid sources".

The Annual Meeting 2024 was a great success! A huge thank you to all participants for presenting their innovative projects and to our invited guests for their insightful and thought-provoking talks. We are excited about potential collaborations and the many future opportunities that lie ahead

Congratulations on the outstanding collaboration between Prof. Dr. Brunhilde Wirth (Project D1) and her colleagues on the recent publication titled Functional Insights in PLS3-Mediated Osteogenic Regulation.

Congratulations to the M1 PhD student Isabell Bleile for winning the poster prize at the DGMB conference!
We are very proud of Isabell and wish her continued success in the future.

The presentation by Alina Hinderks, a PhD student from Project C1 of FOR2722, on “Matrix-mediated Fibroblast Activation in Rheumatoid Arthritis” was very successful and highly interesting for the attendees. The research group is pleased to support junior scientists in their presentations and is thrilled with the success of the talk.

Congratulations to Tanvi Parashar on being awarded the DGMB travel grant to attend the 2024 Annual Meeting of the DGMB in Regensburg! 

Congratulations to our PI and Vice-Speaker of FOR2722, Prof. Dr. Anja Niehoff! As of June 21, 2024, she has been appointed as the Network Spokesperson for the "Musculoskeletal Biomechanics" cluster within the Basic Research Section of the German Society for Orthopedics and Trauma Surgery.

The lecture by Tobias Siebert and André Tomalka from the University of Stuttgart, Motion and Exercise Science, titled: "The relationship between muscle fiber structure, force generation, and muscle function," was particularly interesting for the members of FOR2722 and sparked several discussions.

Congratulations to our PI and Vice Speaker of FOR2722 Prof. Dr. Anja Niehoff on being appointed as the designated President of the German Society for Biomechanics on April 25, 2024!

In their study "ANTXR1 deficiency promotes fibroblast senescence: implications for GAPO syndrome as a progeroid disorder", the researchers from projekt B1 Schiavinato A., Paulsson M. along with other collaborators have discovered an unanticipated link between ANTXR1 – a cell receptor involved in anthrax toxin uptake – and cellular senescence. Mutations in ANTXR1 cause GAPO syndrome. Based on their results, the researchers identify GAPO syndrome as a form of progeroid disorder. This finding opens the door for future studies aimed at investigating the mechanistic roles of anthrax toxin receptors in human aging and potential therapeutic interventions. 

We were delighted to welcome Li Zeng from the Immunology department at Tufts University, Boston, to our FOR2722 Seminar Series. Li Zeng was delivering a talk on the exciting topic of "Regulators of Osteoarthritis."

The presentation by Muzamil Majid Khan, a member of the Pepperkok Group at EMBL in Heidelberg, on "Exploring Pulmonary Fibrosis: From Model Systems to Drug Discovery," has generated significant interest and sparked lively discussions.

Congratulations on the outstanding success in Project D1: Prof. Dr. Brunhilde Wirth and colleagues have published the article titled “Osteoclast-specific Plastin 3 knockout in mice fail to develop osteoporosis despite dramatically increased osteoclast resorption activity.”

Dr. Serife Akgül from the Center of Biochemistry at the Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing, presenting on "Elucidating the role of Netrin-1 as a novel modulator of FGF signaling during embryonic development of C. elegans" as part of the FOR2722 seminar series.

Congratulations to our PI Anja Niehoff on being elected member of the DFG-"Fachkollegium" 2024 and many thanks to our PI Thomas Pap for supporting the  "Fachkollegium" in the last period from 2019 to 2023!

In 2023, the Cologne Center for Genetic Skin and Connective Tissue Disorders became a member of the newly established Ehlers-Danlos Society Centers and Networks of Excellence Program (EDS CNE). The Center is a subcenter of the Cologne University Center for Rare Diseases and offers an interdisciplinary care for children and adults with Ehlers-Danlos-Syndromes.

The goal is to improve the clinical care for the German Ehlers-Danlos patients and together with the FOR2722 Musculoskeletal Extracellular Research Group to create a translational platform for studying these rare disorders.

Congratulations to Kristina Bubb on the successful defense of her doctoral thesis with the topic "Crosstalk between mitochondrial respiratory chain, metabolic signaling, and cartilage homeostasis" with distinction! We are extremely grateful for her outstanding work over the past years and wish her much success on her future journey.

FOR2722 Seminar Series Get-together: Prof. Véronique Lefebvre (Translational Research Program in Pediatric Orthopaedics, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia) in discussion with junior PhD students after her successful presentation. An opportunity for professional exchange and networking.

Alice Stephan from project D2 has been awarded with a travel grant from the ISMB. Alice will present her research at the GRC "Cartilage Biology and Pathology" meeting 19-24 March 2023 in Lucca.
Congratulations Alice!

Kristina Bubb has been rewarded with a travel grant from IUBMB for a short research stay at the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot and participation in the international conference “ISF Workshop on Mitochondria: past and present”.
Congratulations Kristina!

Together with the Wagener, Paulsson, Schiavinato and Niehoff groups, Gerhard Sengle has published a new paper with the title:
"EMILIN1 deficiency causes arterial tortuosity with osteopenia and connects impaired elastogenesis with defective collagen fibrillogenesis"

Congratulations to Julian Nüchel for winning the Dick Heinegård Young Investigator Award at Matrix Biology Europe 2022. Well done Julian!

Congratulations to Daniela Mählich from the Niehoff lab on being awarded the “Young Investigator Award” from the German Society for Biomechanics with her project “The influence of plastin 3 on mechanotransduction in articular cartilage”. Well done Daniela!

Impressions from the latest FOR2722 Seminar where Thorsten Hoppe from the Institute of Genetics and CECAD at the University of Cologne inspired us all with his exciting talk about protein homeostasis and aging. It was wonderful to meet again in person and discuss science.