Press Releases
23 March 2023 | CUI Research Highlights
Another step in the fight against Alzheimer's disease
The course of Alzheimer's dementia can be positively influenced by various drugs - but the brain disease cannot yet be stopped or cured. In the research journal Scientific Reports, a team led by Prof. Christian Betzel of Universität Hamburg outlines a possible therapeutic approach .
[Article]
[Original publication]
4 Oktober 2022 | Folha de S.Paulo
Identificados três compostos naturais que impedem a replicação do coronavírus
A descoberta desse alvo terapêutico é uma alternativa ao que vem sendo feito na ciência
[Article: 2022-ciencia-folha.pdf]
[Video]
Researchers Discover Naturally Occurring Substances Against Coronavirus
Researchers at Universität Hamburg and DESY have identified 3 substances that are promising for the development of anti-corona medication. All of the substances have already been used in medications, writes the team in its article in Communications Biology.
[Article]
[Original publication]
18 August 2022 | News from the DESY research centre
Natural substances show promise against coronavirus
X-ray screening identifies compounds blocking a major corona enzyme
Three natural compounds present in foods like green tea, olive oil and red wine are promising candidates for the development of drugs against the coronavirus. In a comprehensive screening of a large library of natural substances at DESY's X-ray source PETRA III the compounds bound to a central enzyme vital for the replication of the coronavirus. All three compounds are already used as active substances in existing drugs, as the team headed by Christian Betzel from the University of Hamburg and Alke Meents from DESY reports in the journal Communications Biology.
[Article]
2 April 2021 | Newsroom Forschung der Universität Hamburg
Researchers identify promising candidates for COVID drugs
An international team of researchers, which on behalf of Universität Hamburg is coordinated by Prof. Dr. Dr. Christian Betzel and Prof. Dr. Arwen Pearson, has identified several candidates for drugs against the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 using DESY´s X-ray lightsource PETRA III. In addition, a new binding site on the virus was discovered. The results were published online in the journal "Science".
[Article]
[Original publication]
2 April 2021 | News from the DESY research centre
DESY X-ray lightsource identifies promising candidates for COVID drugs
Existing active substances bind to key virus protein
A team of researchers has identified several candidates for drugs against the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 at DESY´s high-brilliance X-ray lightsource PETRA III. They bind to an important protein of the virus and could thus be the basis for a drug against Covid-19. In a so-called X-ray screening, the researchers, under the leadership of DESY, tested almost 6000 known active substances that already exist for the treatment of other diseases in a short amount of time. After measuring about 7000 samples, the team was able to identify a total of 37 substances that bind to the main protease (Mpro) of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, as the scientists report online today in the journal Science.
[Article]
10 November 2020 | News from the DESY research centre
Supermicroscope for Protein Crystals
Combination of techniques locates microcrystals for structural analysis
A novel kind of microscope is able to detect tiny protein crystals, which are beyond the imaging power of even modern light microscopes. The innovative technique relies on various non-linear optical effects to image even nanocrystals, which are increasingly being used for protein structure analyses nowadays. The team that developed this method, headed by DESY’s Franz Kärtner, Christian Betzel from the University of Hamburg and Guoqing Chang from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, is presenting its “multimodal multiphoton microscope” in the journal Communications Biology.
[Article]
[Original publication]
11. Mai 2020 | Newsroom Presse der Universität Hamburg
Mit Röntgenscreening auf der Suche nach Corona-Wirkstoff
[German article only]
11. Mai 2020 | Newsroom Im Fokus der Universität Hamburg
Coronavirus-Proteine im Röntgenblick
[German article only]
26 March 2020 | NDR News
Hamburger Forscher suchen Mittel gegen Coronavirus
24 March 2020 | News from the DESY research centre
Scientists X-ray coronavirus proteins
Screening could greatly accelerate the search for a drug
Can the new coronavirus be stopped with drugs? So far, there is no cure for the infection. Research groups around the world are intensively searching for starting points for an active substance against SARS-CoV-2, as the virus was named by the World Health Organization (WHO). A series of experiments now beginning at DESY looks at three key proteins of the pathogen as possible drug targets. If the investigation is successful, it could considerably shorten the search for a drug.
[Article]
12 February 2020 | Newsroom Forschung der Universität Hamburg
Neuer Ansatz im Kampf gegen die Schlafkrankheit
[German article only]
[Original publication]
31 January 2020 | Aktuelle Meldungen des Fachbereichs Chemie der Universität Hamburg
Forscherteam findet neuen Ansatz für Mittel gegen Schlafkrankheit: Röntgenlaser liefert Struktur eines Schlüsselenzyms des Erregers Trypanosoma brucei
[German article only]
30 January 2020 | News from the DESY research centre
Research team finds possible new approach for sleeping sickness drugs
X-ray laser reveals structure of a key enzyme of the parasite Trypanosoma brucei
Using ultra-bright X-ray flashes, a team of researchers has tracked down a potential target for new drugs against sleeping sickness: The scientists have decoded the detailed spatial structure of a vital enzyme of the pathogen, the parasite Trypanosoma brucei. The result provides a possible blueprint for a drug that specifically blocks this enzyme and thus kills the parasite, as the team led by Christian Betzel from the University of Hamburg, Lars Redecke from the University of Lübeck and DESY and Henry Chapman from DESY reports in the journal Nature Communications.
[Article]
[Original publication]
5 August 2019 | Aktuelle Meldungen des Fachbereichs Chemie der Universität Hamburg
Forschungsprojekt AG Betzel: Hochdurchsatz Serielle-Femtosekunden-Kristallographie@EU XFEL
[German article only]
2 April 2019 | Aktuelle Meldungen des Fachbereichs Chemie der Universität Hamburg
Forschungsprojekt AK Betzel: Zelluläre Determinaten der Kondensation von Tau Proteinen
[German article only]
25 October 2018 | Aktuelle Meldungen des Fachbereichs Chemie der Universität Hamburg
Forschungsverbund Infectophysics - neue Mittel gegen Antibiotikaresistenzen
[German article only]
11 October 2018 | Newsroom Forschung der Universität Hamburg
Erste Experimente an neuem Röntgenlaser XFEL enthüllen unbekannte Struktur eines Antibiotika-Killers
[German article only]
[Original publication]
8 October 2018 | Aktuelle Meldungen des Fachbereichs Chemie der Universität Hamburg
Erste Experimente an neuem Röntgenlaser enthüllen unbekannte Struktur von Antibiotika-Killer
[German article only]
2 October 2018 | News from the DESY research centre
First experiments at Europe's new X-ray laser reveal unknown structure of antibiotics killer
DESY-led international collaboration obtains first scientific results from European XFEL
An international collaboration led by DESY and consisting of over 120 researchers has announced the results of the first scientific experiments at Europe's new X-ray laser European XFEL. The pioneering work not only demonstrates that the new research facility can speed up experiments by more than an order of magnitude, it also reveals a previously unknown structure of an enzyme responsible for antibiotics resistance.
[Article]
[Original publication]
July 2017 | RÅC Newsletter
In vivo cystallization: Finding the right key
Christian Betzel calls the small, grey house in the middle of the spacious DESY campus in Hamburg his outstation. To get there, you have to find your way through construction sites, huge building complexes and the parking lots of the research centre until you come upon the two-storey building on a little hill. In this house, Betzel and his postdoctoral researchers, PhD students and interns work on the new revolution of structural biology: in vivo crystallization.
[Article (PDF)]
7 February 2017 | CUI-News
Experiment in space
In a few days a carrier rocket will be launched to the International Space Station (ISS). Samples from Prof. Christian Betzel’s research group at Universität Hamburg will be aboard to be analyzed in the absence of gravity.
The experiment in the context of the CUI research is expected to be conducted on the ISS from mid-February to mid-March 2017 on behalf of Prof. Betzel’s group, aiming at optimizing the growth of micro- and nanocrystals (the launch originally scheduled for February 8 has been postponed at short notice). “In the absence of gravity, there is no convection or sedimentation which means that protein crystals can grow better and are of higher quality, lacking defects, and more pure,” the CUI scientist explains. It is exactly this process, the researchers want to analyze in detail.
7 February 2017 | Press releases Universität Hamburg
Analysis in outer space
On 8 February, a transport rocket will head off to the ISS space station. On board: samples from a research group under the aegis of Prof. Dr. Dr. Christian Betzel from Universität Hamburg. The group will analyze what happens to the samples at zero gravity.
[German article only]
16 August 2016 | CUI-News
From Living Cells to Nanocrystals
The contracts have been signed at the end of June, from September on the bio lab XBI (Integrated Biology Infrastructure) at the European XFEL in Schenefeld will be equipped. An interdisciplinary team led by CUI scientist Prof. Christian Betzel (Universität Hamburg) has been awarded almost one million Euro from the Federal Ministry of Research and Education (BMBF) for a joint research project in the future bio lab. Funding for the project, “BioXFEL: Sample Preparation and Scoring at XFEL and XBI: From Living Cells to Nanocrystals”, will be provided over a period of four years until 2019 within the framework of the German-Swedish cooperation (Röntgen-Ångström-Cluster) on “Materials Research and Structural Biology using Neutron and Synchrotron Radiation”.
Dezember 2015 | RÅC Newsletter
XBI bio lab in the making - Three phases before completion in 2017
Janos Hajdu, recipient of RÅC funding, has been one of the masterminds behind the proposed XBI bio lab together with Victor Lamzin of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL). The XBI bio lab is an integrated biology infrastructure in Life Sciences located at the European XFEL in Schenefeld, and it is currently in the process of being set up. ...
The recent RÅC funding awarded to Hajdu, together with Christian Betzel from Hamburg University, will allow them to develop new methods and instrumentation for sample preparation and scoring at the European XFEL and in the XBI bio lab.
[Article]
14 July 2016 | CUI-News
Nucleocytoplasmic shuttling controls the function of bacterial proteins in infected cells
Bacterial pathogens have developed sophisticated mechanisms to evade the immune system and spread in the human host. A team led by CUI member Prof. Martin Aepfelbacher of University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf in collaboration with groups around CUI Prof. Christian Betzel (Universität Hamburg) and Dmitri Svergun (European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Hamburg) has succeeded in analyzing an important mechanism of a bacterial infection strategy. The scientists report their findings in the journal PLOS Pathogens. The results could be important for immune therapy as well as an effective treatment of infections.
[Original publication]
13 June 2016 | Press releases Universität Hamburg
Two million euros for research alliance project
Universität Hamburg takes the lead in time-resolved structural biology
Universität Hamburg is to receive around two million euros from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) for a research alliance project using the X-Ray radiation source PETRA III at the DESY Research Centre. Involved in the project, entitled "Hadamard crystallography as a method for time-resolved investigations of the structural dynamics of biomolecules," are research teams in the excellence cluster The Hamburg Centre for Ultrafast Imaging (CUI) at Universität Hamburg, the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Hamburg, and the Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY). Funding is for three years.
[German article only]
11 May 2016 | Aktuelle Meldungen des Fachbereichs Chemie der Universität Hamburg
Maßgeschneiderte Wirkstoffe überlisten Krankenhauskeime
[German article only]
11 May 2016 | News from the DESY research centre
Custom-made drugs to outwit hospital germs
Analysis reveals promising approach in the battle against resistant bacteria
Together with colleagues from Brazil and China, Hamburg scientists working on DESY’s X-ray light sources have developed a promising approach for outsmarting hospital germs that are resistant to antibiotics. Instead of attacking such MRSA bacteria directly, the scientists meddle with a metabolic pathway that is essential to the survival of the germs. As a result, the bacteria produce a useless variant of the vitamin B1, and in the absence of functional vitamin B1 the germs die. The team surrounding Christian Betzel, a professor at the University of Hamburg, and Carsten Wrenger, a professor at the University of Sao Paulo, is presenting its findings in the journal Scientific Reports.
[Article]
[Original publication]
May 2015 | UHH Newsletter
Forschern gelingt Analyse neuartiger Entzündungshemmer
[German article only]
22 April 2015 | News from the DESY research centre
Scientists X-ray anti-inflammatory drug candidates
Study resolves molecular structures of Spiegelmers for the first time
Using DESY's ultra bright X-ray source PETRA III, scientists have decoded the molecular and three-dimensional structure of two promising drug candidates from the new group of Spiegelmers for the first time. The results provide a deeper understanding of the mode of action of these substances that have already entered clinical trials. The researchers from the Universities of Hamburg and Aarhus (Denmark) together with colleagues from the biotech company NOXXON in Berlin present their work in the journal Nature Communications.
[Article]
[Original publication]
11 November 2013 | Press releases Universität zu Lübeck
Biologische Infektions- und Entzündungsforschung
Erfolgreiche Zusammenarbeit: Gemeinsames Laboratorium der Universitäten Lübeck und Hamburg am DESY ist Finalist im Wettbewerb um den Norddeutschen Wissenschaftspreis.
[German article only]
June 2013 | RÅC Newsletter
Combining and optimizing protein in vivo crystallization and high-throughput serial crystallography for applications at the European XFEL and third generation synchrotron radiation sources
Project coordinator: Prof. Christian Betzel, University of Hamburg, Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; Laboratory for Structural Biology of Infection and Inflammation, c/o DESY | Prof. Henry N. Chapman, Center for Free-Electron Laser Science/DESY and University of Hamburg
The research project combines two topics aiming to optimize the future use of free electron laser (FEL) radiation and high-brightness synchrotron radiation in the field of structural biology.
[Article]
10 January 2013 | News - Fakultät MIN
Startschuss für die von der UHH geförderte Graduiertengruppe SIMOS
21 December 2012 |News from the DESY research centre
"Science" lists first protein structure from an X-ray laser among top ten achievements in 2012
The high profile scientific journal "Science" has chosen the first new biological structure solved by an X-ray free-electron laser as one of the ten most important scientific breakthroughs in 2012. "The advance demonstrates the potential of X-ray lasers to decipher proteins that conventional X-ray sources cannot", the journal states in a press release issued on Thursday. Last month, a team of scientists from Germany and the U.S. had revealed the structure of the inactive form of an enzyme that is key for the survival of the single-celled parasite Trypanosoma brucei that causes African sleeping sickness.
[Article]
[Original publication]
30 November 2012 | Press releases Universität Hamburg
Strukturbiologen entschlüsseln Bauplan für mögliches Mittel gegen Schlafkrankheit
[German article only]
30 November 2012 | Hamburger Abendblatt
Mit Röntgenlaser gegen die Schlafkrankheit
Hamburger Forscher analysierten ein Enzym des Parasiten und liefern so einen möglichen Bauplan für ein Medikament.
29 November 2012 | Press releases Deutschen Elektronen-Synchrotron
X-rays expose blueprint for possible sleeping sickness drug
First new biological structure solved by a free-electron laser
Using the world's most powerful X-ray laser, scientists have exposed a possible Achilles' heel of the sleeping sickness parasite that threatens more than 60 million people in sub-Saharan Africa. The sophisticated analysis revealed the blueprint for a molecular plug that can selectively block a vital enzyme of the parasite Trypanosoma brucei. Plugging such a tailor-made molecule into the right place of the enzyme would render it inactive, thereby killing the parasite. The team led by DESY scientist Prof. Henry Chapman from the Center of Free-Electron Laser Science (CFEL), Prof. Christian Betzel from the University of Hamburg and Dr. Lars Redecke from the joint Junior Research Group "Structural Infection Biology using new Radiation Sources (SIAS)" of the Universities of Hamburg and Lübeck report their findings in the journal "Science". "This is the first new biological structure solved with a free-electron laser," said Chapman.
[Article]
[Original publication]
3 September 2012 | DLR Newsletter
SIMBOX - Effects of Gravity on Life on Earth Revealed in Space
...SIMBOX enabled scientists to crystallise high-purity proteins in microgravity. Their structures are currently being analysed with the aid of synchrotron and neutron radiation. Because of the quality of the crystals, we may expect results that will help to develop active substances to combat malaria pathogens and the dangerous multi-resistant nosocomial germ Staphylococcus aureus.
[Article (PDF)]
30 January 2012 | Hamburger Abendblatt
Superlaser "fotografiert" Proteinstruktur
29. Januar 2012 | News from the DESY research centre
Scientists X-ray key enzyme of common pathogen crystallised in living cells
Free-electron lasers open new routes for structural biology
An international team of scientists has for the first time crystallised a key enzyme of the pathogen for African sleeping sickness in a living cell and investigated it with the world’s strongest X-ray laser. This new method will open new ways to study the structure of biomolecules, the scientists write in the professional journal “Nature Methods”. In the case of African sleeping sickness that affects more than 60 million people mainly in Central Africa this method might lead to a new treatment approach against the parasite Trypanosoma brucei.
[Article]
[Original publication]
27 January 2012 | Press releases Universität Hamburg
Superlaser enthüllen die Struktur von Schlüsselproteinen
Strukturbiologen aus Hamburg, Lübeck und Tübingen gehen neue Wege in der Erforschung von Proteinen in Krankheitserregern
[German article only]
18 November 2011 | DLR News Archive Space
Shenzhou-8: Safe touch-down with German SIMBOX experiments
... In addition to six German experiments, two were run in cooperation with China. Researchers from the universities of Erlangen and Wuhan examined material and energy flows in a closed miniature ecosystem populated by algae and snails. In the second German-Chinese experiment, scientists from Hamburg University and the Institute of Biophysics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing crystallised medically relevant proteins in microgravity. Researchers hope to find important starting points for developing substances to attack antibiotic-resistant bacteria and the vector-borne parasites that cause malaria.
[Article (PDF)]
1 November 2011 | DLR News Archive Space
Germany and China - joint experiments in space
On 31 October at 22:58 CET (on 1 November at 05:58 local time), the Chinese spaceship Shenzhou-8 was launched on board a Long March rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Inner Mongolia. On board is the SIMBOX (Science in Microgravity Box) experimental facility containing 17 experiments from the fields of biology and medicine, which will be conducted by German researchers together with their Chinese colleagues.
[Article (PDF)]
1 November 2011 | Hamburger Abendblatt
Deutsche und Chinesen forschen gemeinsam im All
Auch die Universität Hamburg ist mit einem biochemischen Experiment beteiligt
July 2010 | UHH Newsletter
Nachwuchsgruppe "Strukturelle Infektionsbiologie unter Anwendung neuer Strahlungsquellen (SIAS)"
Am 01.12.2009 wurde die Nachwuchsgruppe "Strukturelle Infektionsbiologie unter Anwendung neuer Strahlungsquellen (SIAS)" als gemeinsames Verbundprojekt der Universitäten Hamburg und Lübeck gegründet. Die vom BMBF für 5 Jahre geförderte Nachwuchsgruppe hat zum Ziel die strukturelle Infektionsbiologie optimal mit den neuartigen Methoden und Technologien, die derzeit am Deutschen-Elekronen-Synchrotron (DESY) in Hamburg entwickelt werden, zu verbinden. Am 17. Mai 2010 wurde die erfolgreiche Gründung der Gruppe im Rahmen eines wissenschaftlichen Symposiums auf dem DESY-Campus in Hamburg gefeiert.
[German article only ]
In December 2009, the universities of Luebeck (Prof. Rolf Hilgenfeld) and Hamburg (Prof. Christian Betzel) founded the junior research group "Structural Infection Biology Applying new Radiation Sources" (SIAS) financed by the German BMBF-foundation. The group was integrated into the joint laboratory for structural bioloogy of infection and inflammation of both universities which is located in building 22a on the DESY-Campus. The aim of the junior research group is the combination of the classical strucutral biology with novel techniques and methods which are currently developed on the DESY-Campus, creating globally unique radiation sources. The main focus will be on the analysis of dynamic protein complexes with a maximum of spatial and temporal resolution, providing new approaches for the design of effective drugs for treatment of several infection diseases.
LEXI-Excellence Initiative of the Federal State Hamburg:
Out of 21 proposals, the "Hamburg School for Structure and Dynamics in Infection (SDI)", an interdisciplinary facility for effective education of junior scientists, was choosen to be funded.
19 September 2007 | Hamburger Abendblatt
Das Geheimnis des Spiegelbildes enträtselt
Molekülstrukturen existieren in zwei Formen − als Bild und als Spiegelbild. Jetzt gelang der Nachweis, warum die Natur mal die eine, mal die andere Form bevorzugt
5 February 2007 | Hamburger Abendblatt
Europa baut am Desy ein Bio-Zentrum
29 January 2007 | Hamburger Abendblatt
Zentrum Infektionsforschung
29 January 2007 | Portal für Organische Chemie
Strukturelle Infektionsforschung erhält neues Labor am DESY
25 January 2007 | Pressemitteilungen Universität Hamburg
Strukturelle Infektionsforschung erhält neues Labor am DESY
Auf dem Gelände des Deutsche Elektronen-Synchrotrons DESY in Hamburg-Bahrenfeld wurde heute das neue „Laboratorium für Strukturbiologie von Infektion und Entzündung“ eingeweiht. Das neue Laboratorium wird gemeinschaftlich von Professor Christian Betzel vom Institut für Biochemie und Molekularbiologie der Universität Hamburg und seinem Kollegen Prof. Rolf Hilgenfeld, Institut für Biochemie der Universität zu Lübeck, zur Strukturanalyse von Proteinen genutzt.
[German article only]