Dresdner Biologen und Bioinformatiker entwickeln Zellzyklusre­porter zur Analyse des Zellzyklus und Vorhersage über das zukünftige Verhalten von Zellen

The research group of Dr. Jörg Mansfeld at the BIOTEChnology Center, TU Dresden, together with the group of Dr. Ingmar Glauche at the Institut für Medizinische Informatik und Biometrie (IMB) at TU Dresden, has developed a novel "all-in-one" reporter that can be used to detect cell cycle phases in growing and dividing cells using only one fluorescent protein (marker). This reporter can also be used to differentiate dividing cells from cells that do not divide anymore or are in an idle state (quiescence). With this reporter, researchers can track cells and their daughter cells in all phases of the cell cycle. This process takes place automatically and enables the parallel analysis of further factors, like the protein Cyclin D1 - a protein that is overexpressed in many forms of cancer.

"Our results indicate that the increased amounts of Cyclin D1 observed in many types of cancer could shift the balance between cell division and quiescence in favor of cell division and thereby may contribute to cancer growth. With our research we aim to develop a basis for a better understanding of clinical patterns and thus enable the treatment of diseases like cancer", explains Jörg Mansfeld. The results were recently published in the renowned science journal Cell Reports