30.04.2014 - (idw) Max-Delbrck-Centrum fr Molekulare Medizin (MDC) Berlin-Buch

Four researchers from the U.S., Italy and Germany, among them Professor Nikolaus Rajewsky from the Max Delbrck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch, have been awarded a grant of more than 1.2 million dollars from the Human Frontier Science Program Organization (HFSPO), Strasbourg, France, for a project in cancer research.* In collaboration with Professor Brian Brown from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, USA, the researchers aim to decipher non-coding RNA regulatory networks and their role in the onset of cancer. In 2014, HFSPO is awarding about 35 million dollars to the 34 winning teams that have been selected in a rigorous selection procedure out of 844 proposals. A non-coding RNA (nc-RNA) is an RNA molecule which is not translated into protein. The geneticist Professor Brown and systems biologist Professor Rajewsky, together with their collaboration partners in Rome and Boston, aim to shed light on the complex interactions and possible competition situations of non-coding RNAs. These provide fundamental insights into the function of gene-regulatory networks and their role in the pathogenesis of cancer and other diseases. To achieve this, an interdisciplinary approach is necessary for which the team combines complementary expertise and applies molecular biological, genetic and biochemical methods along with computer-based methods.

*Deciphering non-coding RNA regulatory networks and their role in cancer cell biology

Contact: Barbara Bachtler Press Department Max Delbrck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch in the Helmholtz Association Robert-Rssle-Strae 10 13125 Berlin Germany Phone: +49 (0) 30 94 06 - 38 96 Fax: +49 (0) 30 94 06 - 38 33 e-mail: presse@mdc-berlin.de http://www.mdc-berlin.de/ Weitere Informationen:http://www.hfsp.org/about-us/press-and-media-centre/news-items/hfsp-2014-awards-...

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HFSP Grant for International Research Team MDC Participates