Center for Regenerative Therapies Dresden

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The Center for Regenerative Therapies Dresden or Center for Regenerative Therapies Dresden (CRTD) is a research center based in Dresden . It is one of the scientific institutions of the Technical University of Dresden . The CRTD is dedicated to research into human self-healing processes and the development of regenerative therapies for previously incurable diseases. In the first and second round of the federal government's Excellence Initiative, the CRTD was approved as a Cluster of Excellence of the TU Dresden.

The Center for Regenerative Therapies Dresden am Tatzberg

location

The research building is located in Johannstadt at Fetscherstraße  105 at the corner of Tatzberg in the vicinity of the bio-innovation center and the “Carl Gustav Carus” university clinic .

history

The CRTD was approved in 2005 as the "first DFG research center in the field of stem cell research" and established on January 1, 2006 as a DFG research center in Dresden. It was located at the TU Dresden, which had prevailed against ten competitors in the competition for the research center. The funding period of the German Research Foundation (DFG) runs from 2006 to 2019; [obsolete] the funding amount is around 60 million euros over the entire period. On October 13, 2006, as part of the first round of the federal government's excellence initiative, the CRTD received approval as a cluster of excellence at TU Dresden for its research project From cells to tissues to therapies: Engineering the cellular basis of regeneration . In the second round of the Excellence Initiative, the CRTD was confirmed as a Cluster of Excellence in 2012.

Founding director of the CRTD is Prof. Dr. Michael Brand. Since June 2016, the CRTD has been headed by Prof. Ezio Bonifacio as director. The CRTD consists of 20 research groups on site, led by six professors and eleven research group leaders, and more than 90 full research members at other institutes in Dresden and Saxony. These include employees of the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics , the Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems , the Helmholtz Center Dresden-Rossendorf , the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) at the Technical University of Chemnitz and the University Clinic "Carl Gustav Carus" .

In July 2007 it was decided to build a new building for the CRTD, the staff of which until then had been spread across various Dresden research institutions. The foundation stone was laid on August 21, 2009. The building designed by Gunter Henn in Dresden- Johannstadt is located in the vicinity of the University Hospital and the Bioinnovation Center and was opened in October 2011. In July 2012, the CRTD hosted the 4th International Stem Cell Congress.

As part of the Germany - Land of Ideas location initiative, in 2008 the CRTD was named as one of 18 locations in Saxony as a selected location in the Land of Ideas . In a survey by The Scientist magazine in 2011, the CRTD was ranked 6th among the best international jobs for postdocs outside the US. Spiegel-Online described the CRTD 2007 as a “unique institution for basic biomedical research”. "Sixteen interdisciplinary working groups are researching therapies for Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, and after less than four years the Dresdeners are already considered leaders in Europe," said Die Zeit 2009 about the CRTD.

research

The CRTD is dedicated to research into human self-healing processes and stem cell biology. The aim is to develop therapies for previously incurable diseases and injuries, for example to the brain and spinal cord , on the basis of stem cells . The main research areas are:

  • Hematology and Immunology - Research and application of hematopoietic stem cells e.g. B. against acute myeloid leukemia (AML), stem cell therapy of immunological diseases, including examination of the development of white blood cells and T cells
  • Diabetes - Research into causes and therapies for type 1 diabetes
  • Neurodegenerative diseases and regeneration of the retina - therapies for Parkinson's disease, investigation of the formation of new nerve cells in the brain, research on axolotl (regeneration of limbs) and zebrafish (regeneration of brain cells), research on nerve cell regeneration in the retina
  • Bone replacement - development of biomaterials for bone and cartilage replacement, therapies against osteoporosis , research on zebrafish (bone regeneration)
  • One interest group is dedicated to research in the field of cardiovascular diseases and possibilities for cardiac regeneration. Among other things, research is carried out on the zebrafish (regeneration of the damaged heart muscle).

Research is carried out in the fields of medicine, cell and developmental biology as well as biomaterials, nanotechnology and engineering. The mechanisms of stem cell physiology are being studied in axolotls , zebrafish and mice. The CRTD has its own zebrafish breeding facility with around 100,000 animals.

Research results included the creation of three-dimensional artificial nerve networks for the first time in 2008 (in collaboration with researchers from Berkeley ) and in 2009 the deciphering of the smp gene , which the zebrafish uses to activate the development of organs. The findings obtained in collaboration with researchers from the Max Planck Institute in Tübingen were published in the journal Developmental Biology . Also in 2009, the researchers at the CRTD were able to demonstrate for the first time that regeneration cells in the axolotl behave in a fundamentally similar manner to cells in mammals. The results of their study were published in 2009 in the journal Nature . In 2011, the source of the nerve cells was identified for the first time, which the zebrafish uses to regenerate large brain regions in the event of severe brain injuries. The findings on the origin of the new nerve cells and the mechanisms of regeneration were also published in Nature in 2011 . In 2011, for the first time, it was also possible to specifically multiply nerve cells in a mammalian brain - the researchers tested it on mice.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Laying of the foundation stone for the new research center of the German Research Foundation at the Technical University of Dresden. In: Press release from the Saxon State Ministry for Science and Art . August 21, 2009, accessed March 5, 2015 .
  2. ↑ See CRTD in numbers ( Memento from October 1, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  3. ↑ Mario Beck: Research Center TU Dresden stands out from Leipzig University . In: Leipziger Volkszeitung , September 3, 2005, p. 4.
  4. ↑ DFG research centers . In: Annual Report 2017 - Tasks and Results . iley-VHC Verlag, Weinheim [2018], p. 209.
  5. ↑ Funding was extended in 2009 (funding until 2013) and 2012 (funding initially until 2017).
  6. ↑ Lilo Berg: Regenerative Medicine from Dresden. First DFG center in East Germany . In: Berliner Zeitung , No. 206, September 3, 2005, p. 16.
  7. ↑ See press release (PDF; 43 kB)
  8. ↑ News archive. In: crt-dresden.de. June 13, 2016, accessed December 20, 2018 .
  9. ↑ Dresden institutes in top positions . In: Sächsische Zeitung , March 3, 2011, p. 6.
  10. ↑ Our hidden elite . In: Spiegel Online , April 8, 2007.
  11. ^ Maren Soehring: Laboratories of the pioneering spirit. Yesterday Harvard, today Dresden-Klotzsche: What attracts excellent researchers to Saxony's capital . In: Die Zeit , No. 48, November 19, 2009, p. 15
  12. ↑ See brochure Five for Life by the CRTD ( Memento from September 23, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 2.0 MB)
  13. ↑ See CRTD: Research
  14. ↑ Katrin Tominski: Zebrafish without stripes . In: Dresdner Latest News , December 23, 2011, p. 17.
  15. ↑ Dresdeners reproduce nerve networks . In: Sächsische Zeitung , July 23, 2008, p. 22.
  16. ↑ Read gene for new fin . In: Frankfurter Neue Presse , January 16, 2009, p. 1.
  17. ↑ Frank Essegern: Regeneration miracle amazes the researchers . In: Sächsische Zeitung , July 7, 2009, p. 23.
  18. ↑ See How the zebrafish brain mends itself on nature.com, doi: 10.1038 / 479271e
  19. ↑ dapd: Researchers grow cells . In: Thüringer Allgemeine , April 12, 2011, magazine.

Coordinates: 51 ° 3 ′ 23.3 "  N , 13 ° 46 ′ 33.5"  E