Molecular Medicine Partnership Unit

The Molecular Medicine Partnership Unit (MMPU) is an alliance between the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) and the Medical Faculty of the University of Heidelberg. Its primary aim is to uncover the molecular basis of disease and to speed the transformation of biomedical discoveries into personalized medicine strategies.

Founded in 2002, the MMPU currently comprises five international research teams. The MMPU is presently co-directed by Prof. Andreas Kulozik from the Angelika-Lautenschläger Hospital for Children and Adolescents at the University of Heidelberg and by Prof. Matthias Hentze from EMBL, and is housed in the Otto-Meyerhof-Research Center on the Medical Campus of the University of Heidelberg, Germany.

EMBL campus in Heidelberg. Photo: Photolab EMBL

Otto-Meyerhof-Research Center in Heidelberg. Photo: Medienzentrum Universitätsklinikum Heidelberg

Research themes

Research themes place emphasis on common diseases, particularly blood disorders, cancer, chronic lung diseases (in particular cystic fibrosis), diseases of cholesterol metabolism, and iron metabolism disorders.

In 2011 more than 50 scientists from across the world work on these 5 research themes:

• ‘Diseases of mRNA metabolism’, headed by Andreas Kulozik and Matthias Hentze
• ‘Cystic fibrosis/Chronic airway disease’, headed by Marcus Mall and Carsten Schultz
• ‘Pathogenesis of colorectal cancer and development of novel approaches for early detection, diagnosis and prevention’, headed by Magnus von Knebel Doeberitz and Peer Bork
• ‘Iron homeostasis in health and disease’, headed by Martina Muckenthaler and Matthias Hentze
• ‘Cell biology and disorders of cholesterol homeostasis’, headed by Heiko Runz and Rainer Pepperkok.

Selected recent publications

• Castoldi, Mirco; Vujic Spasic, Maja; Altamura, Sandro; Elmén, Joacim; Lindow, Morten; Kiss, Judit; Stolte, Jens; Sparla, Richard et al. (2011). "The liver-specific microRNA miR-122 controls systemic iron homeostasis in mice". Journal of Clinical Investigation 121 (4): 1386–96. doi:10.1172/JCI44883. PMC 3069782. PMID 21364282. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pmcentrez&artid=3069782. 
• Danckwardt, Sven; Gantzert, Anne-Susan; Macher-Goeppinger, Stephan; Probst, Hans Christian; Gentzel, Marc; Wilm, Matthias; Gröne, Hermann-Josef; Schirmacher, Peter et al. (2011). "P38 MAPK Controls Prothrombin Expression by Regulated RNA 3′ End Processing". Molecular Cell 41 (3): 298–310. doi:10.1016/j.molcel.2010.12.032. PMID 21292162. 
• Hentze, Matthias W.; Muckenthaler, Martina U.; Galy, Bruno; Camaschella, Clara (2010). "Two to Tango: Regulation of Mammalian Iron Metabolism". Cell 142 (1): 24–38. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2010.06.028. PMID 20603012. 
• Mall, M. A.; Button, B.; Johannesson, B.; Zhou, Z.; Livraghi, A.; Caldwell, R. A.; Schubert, S. C.; Schultz, C. et al. (2010). "Airway Surface Liquid Volume Regulation Determines Different Airway Phenotypes in Liddle Compared with  ENaC-overexpressing Mice". Journal of Biological Chemistry 285 (35): 26945–55. doi:10.1074/jbc.M110.151803. PMC 2930694. PMID 20566636. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pmcentrez&artid=2930694. 
• Woerner, S. M.; Yuan, Y. P.; Benner, A.; Korff, S.; Von Knebel Doeberitz, M.; Bork, P. (2009). "SelTarbase, a database of human mononucleotide-microsatellite mutations and their potential impact to tumorigenesis and immunology". Nucleic Acids Research 38 (Database issue): D682–9. doi:10.1093/nar/gkp839. PMC 2808963. PMID 19820113. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pmcentrez&artid=2808963. 
• Cobos-Correa, Amanda; Trojanek, Johanna B; Diemer, Stefanie; Mall, Marcus A; Schultz, Carsten (2009). "Membrane-bound FRET probe visualizes MMP12 activity in pulmonary inflammation". Nature Chemical Biology 5 (9): 628–30. doi:10.1038/nchembio.196. PMID 19648933. 
• Bartz, Fabian; Kern, Luise; Erz, Dorothee; Zhu, Mingang; Gilbert, Daniel; Meinhof, Till; Wirkner, Ute; Erfle, Holger et al. (2009). "Identification of Cholesterol-Regulating Genes by Targeted RNAi Screening". Cell Metabolism 10 (1): 63–75. doi:10.1016/j.cmet.2009.05.009. PMID 19583955. 
• Gehring, Niels H.; Lamprinaki, Styliani; Kulozik, Andreas E.; Hentze, Matthias W. (2009). "Disassembly of Exon Junction Complexes by PYM". Cell 137 (3): 536–48. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2009.02.042. PMID 19410547. 

References

• Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung/Nr. 22, "Gemeinsam für eine molekulare Medizin", 28.01.2011:
• EMBL newsletter article on the development of science at the MMPU, February 2006: http://www.embl.de/mmpu/mmpu/history/hist_feb06_pdf.pdf
• EMBL and University of Heidelberg Press Release on the second phase of the MMPU, 18.07.2005: http://www.embl.de/mmpu/mmpu/history/hist_jul05_pdf.pdf
• NATURE Vol 423/15 May 2003, "The Muenster match": http://www.embl.de/mmpu/mmpu/history/muenster_match_nature_pdf.pdf
• EMBL Press Release on the establishment of the MMPU, 25.01.2002: http://www.embl.de/mmpu/mmpu/history/hist_jan02_pdf.pdf

External links

• MMPU page at the EMBL
• MMPU page at the University Medical Center