Wiesbaden, April 12, 2010 (PMS). Findings regarding the "alarm systems" in the human immune system point the way to more effective vaccines and new pharmaceuticals against autoimmune diseases. For significant contributions in this respect, Prof. Dr. med. Veit Hornung from the University Clinic, Bonn, and Adjunct Professor Dr. med. Jürgen Ruland from Technical University Munich and Helmholtz Center, Munich, were awarded the Paul Martini Prize today. The award celebration took place during the annual meeting of the German Society for Internal Medicine (DGIM) in Wiesbaden. The prize worth EUR 25,000 is awarded every year by the Paul Martini Foundation, Berlin, for outstanding achievements in pharmaceutical research.

The immune system is supposed to protect the body from infections. For this purpose, it has alarm systems that report the invasion of bacteria, viruses or fungi and initiate defensive measures immediately. In this respect, there are far-reaching parallels to the alarm system of a car: It consists of sensors (e.g. motion sensors), a switchbox and a warning siren. The human alarm systems also have sensors, but these are tiny: They consist of individual molecules on and in the immune cells, which specialize in the identification of typical properties of pathogens. If they go off, they make contact with molecular switches that trigger a kind of chemical alarm siren, which warns surrounding cells based on messenger compounds such as interleukine-1beta.

Independent of each other, Hornung and Ruland identified a large number of sensor and switching molecules of the alarm system and demonstrated how they work together.

Prof. Dr. med. Veit Hornung, professor at the Institute for Clinical Chemistry and Pharmacology at the Bonn University Clinic, discovered a long-sought sensor molecule and a second, independent way to recognize viruses by their genetic make-up. "As a result, we finally understand how our cells track and combat viruses causing e.g. herpes, shingles or cervical cancer," Hornung said. "Now we can trigger these defense mechanisms in a targeted manner with synthetic pieces of genetic material and use them against viruses and tumors." This will soon be tested on humans for the very first time at the University Clinic in Bonn.

Adjunct Professor Dr. med. Jürgen Ruland, head of the research group at the Third Medical Department, Klinikum rechts der Isar, of Technical University of Munich and head of the working group on "Signal Transmission in the Immune System" at Helmholtz Center, Munich, identified how the alarm is triggered for fungi, influenza viruses and tuberculosis bacteria. Among others, these findings can be used to produce better vaccines, because vaccines can create even more dependable and sustained protection against a disease if they optimally "alarm" the body.

On the other hand, switching off part of the alarm systems in a targeted manner would be helpful for treating lupus. In this autoimmune disease, human genetic material (instead of viral genetic material) triggers a false alarm and therefore a severe inflammation. Exact knowledge of the alarm systems should now facilitate the targeted development of suitable pharmaceuticals.

The Paul Martini Foundation

The non-profit, Berlin-based Paul Martini Foundation promotes pharmaceutical research as well as research on pharmaceutical therapy and intensifies the scientific dialog between medical scientists at universities, hospitals, the research-based pharmaceutical industry, other research institutions, and representatives from health policy and government agencies. The foundation is sponsored by the German Association of Research-based Pharmaceutical Companies (vfa), Berlin, and its currently 45 member companies.

The foundation was named after the outstanding scientist and physician from Bonn, Professor Paul Martini (1889 - 1964), in honor of his special achievements and service with regard to the advancement and continued development of clinical-therapeutic research, which he impacted significantly for decades with his "Methods of Therapeutic Examination" published in 1932.

The press release, CVs and photos of the prize winners can be downloaded here.