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SFB 655:  Cells into Tissues: Stem Cell and Progenitor Commitment and Interactions during Tissue Formation

Subject Area Medicine
Biology
Term from 2005 to 2017
Project identifier Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 12447019
 
Final Report Year 2018

Final Report Abstract

During its funding period (2005-2017), the SFB 655 has played a pivotal role with regard to two principal aspects – scientific advance and building a biomedical campus. As to the latter, the SFB 655 has been an essential basis for the success of the Technische Universität Dresden (TUD) in the Excellence Initiative, being a major motor in the impressive rise, over the past decade, of the Dresden biomedical research campus to international visibility. Thus, the SFB 655 laid the foundation for the DFG Research Center 111 and the Excellence Cluster Center for Regenerative Therapies Dresden in 2006 and was instrumental for the establishment of additional biomedical centers in Dresden, such as the German Center for Neuro- degenerative Diseases (DZNE), the German Center for Diabetes Research – Paul Langerhans Institute (DZD-PLID), and the German Consortium for Translational Cancer Research (DKTK). Moreover, the existence of the SFB 655 greatly promoted the Dresden International Graduate School for Biomedicine and Bioengineering (DIGS-BB), one of the largest and most prestigious PhD programs in Germany, which was awarded to the TUD in the Excellence Initiative in 2006 and renewed in 2012. As to scientific advance, the SFB 655 has pioneered the scientific vision to understand the basic biology of somatic stem and progenitor cells in the context of tissue formation and, eventually, clinical application. Here, the SFB 655 has been focusing on two paradigmatic somatic stem cell systems – the nervous system and the hematopoietic system – and has brought together the traditionally separate disciplines of cell biology, developmental and evolutionary biology, molecular bioengineering and medicine, establishing the first institutional forum in Germany with this concept. For the nervous system, major themes included the dissection of neural stem and progenitor cell subtypes in various systems and the analysis, at the molecular level, of signaling pathways that govern neu- ral stem and progenitor cell proliferation versus differentiation, and of their impact on neurogenesis. For the hematopoietic system, a major theme was the dissection of the hematopoietic niche at the molecular, cell biological and bioengineering level. The concept of integrating research on human cells and tissues with that on various vertebrate model organisms (zebrafish, axolotl, and mouse) has been instrumental for uncovering common principles of tissue formation during development and adulthood, in disease, and in the context of evolution. Thanks to this integration, the discoveries made in the SFB 655 range from the functional analysis of key molecular players to the study of the complex behavior of stem and progenitor cells in tissues. A tremendous advance has been the implementation of the "Genome Center" as an SFB 655 Z-project, which has been critically important not only for SFB 655 members, but also for the whole Dresden biomedical campus. The SFB 655 matured further as a platform supporting the career of young scientists. Thus, the SFB 655 has confirmed its track record with regard to promoting advanced career stages, with six project leaders receiving offers for professorship positions. In summary, the SFB 655 had delivered in producing excellent research results, stabilizing the core of a growing campus engaged in one of the most promising areas of biomedicine, and training and in promoting researchers of the future.

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