The Faculty of Medicine of the Georg-August-University Göttingen (UNIGOE) is represented by the
Department of Clinical Chemistry
Department of Clinical & Experimental Endocrinology
Department of Nephrology & Rheumatology
Department of Neurology

The Faculty of Medicine at the University of Göttingen is one of the 6 largest faculties of human medicine in Germany. It is one of the partners within the Network of European Universities in Life Science (EUROLIFE) and the thematic network EUROSTERONE. The University Hospital of Göttingen has 1500 beds and 4800 employees and consists of preclinical and clinical research departments.

The Department of Clinical Chemistry provides laboratory analyses (clinical chemistry, haematology, haemostaseology, immune chemistry, drug monitoring, molecular diagnostics) for the University Hospital and for clinical trials. The department is equipped with modern autoanalysers, two LC-MS/MS systems, AAS, LightCycler PCR, DNA sequencer, cell-culture facilities etc. It is currently establishing a Proteomics platform for inter-disciplinary projects. Research priorities of the members of the department are: oxidative stress including liver injury and atherosclerosis; clinical pharmacokinetics, drug metabolism, and drug monitoring of immunosuppressants; pharmacogenetics and gene regulation. This research work together with the determinations of pertinent clinical chemistry variables (e.g. electrolytes, plasma proteins, lipoproteins, creatinine, creatinine clearance), and haematology highlights the pivotal role of this department within the EUPEAH network.

Members of the Department of Clinical & Experimental Endocrinology are experienced in studying the effects of hormones in bones of prepubertal, pubertal, adult, and aged laboratory animals with molecular, biochemical and morphological tools. In addition, many of these methods are developed for studying human bone physiology and pathophysiology. Importantly, the members of the Department can measure bone mineral density and fracture thresholds in laboratory animals utilising computer-assisted tomography (CT). A main research topic of the Department deals with the impact of steroid hormones, in particular estrogens, with special emphasis on differentiation of effects on the expression of steroid regulated genes and proteins mediated via the two receptor types, ERa, ERß and their splice variants. This includes the regulatory effects mediated by these two estrogen receptors in the bone, the brain, the cardiovascular system, and the urogential tract. Moreover, members of the department are experienced in studying postnatal effects of prenatal treatment with androgens and estrogens on development.

The Department of Nephrology & Rheumatology has special expertise in the clinical assessment of patients with renal, joint and vascular diseases with specific emphasis on arterial hypertension and progression of renal diseases. Research focuses on the following topics: Unravelling the pathomechanisms of disease progression with special emphasis on renal fibrosis; characterisation and differentiation processes of renal cells especially of renal stem cells; investigations on the genetics and pathomechanisms of arterial hypertension; identification and cloning of different transporters along the human nephron and analysis of their particular importance for the cellular release of glucocorticoids; application of proteomics in renal disease progression and in renal cell cancer and immunotherapy of metastatic renal cell cancer.

Research priorities of the members of the Department of Neurology are related to diseases such as stroke, neurodegenerative diseases, multiple sclerosis, infectious diseases including meningitis and Creutzfeldt-Jakob-Disease. The Department‘s experimental work in several model systems is devoted to the study of molecular pathogenesis and experimental treatments of the diseases with the ultimate goal to improve therapy in humans. Consequently, the research focuses on the following topics: Mechanisms of neurodegeneration and –regeneration, mechanisms of apoptosis and neuroprotection, gene regulation under various physiological and pathological conditions. Furthermore, the consequences of several diseases including bacterial and viral meningitis on hippocampal volume and on executive functions in patients are exploited.

Contribution to the project:

• determination of pertinent clinical chemistry variables (e.g. bone physiology and pathophysiology at postnatal, pubertal and adult stages)
• measurement of bone mineral density and fracture thresholds in laboratory animals via computer-assisted tomography (CT)
• analysis of vascular and renal pathophysiology via
  -cellular,
  -molecular (PCR-technology, gene expression, cloning),
  -biochemical (protein and peptide analysis, DNA sequencing, massspectrometry),
  -morphological (lasercapture microscopy, immunohistochemistry, in situ hybridisation) tools.
• genetic analysis with regard to endothelin polymorphisms in arterial hypertension
• determination of  lipoproteins, autoantibodies against oxidised LDL, lipid peroxidation products, free radical scavenging enzyme activity and gene expression, antioxidants using LC-MS/MS techniques and quantitative RT-PCR as markers for hypercholesterolemia and oxidative stress, hemoprotein CYP 3A4
• neuronal and glial histopathology and cell morphometry of the brain

For the research group:
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Wuttke
Faculty of Medicine
University of Goettingen
Robert-Koch-Str. 40
D-37075 Goettingen
Germany
Phone: +49 551 39 6714,  Fax:+49 551 396518
e-mail: ufkendo@med.uni-goettingen.de

For the departments of
Clinical Chemistry: moeller@med.uni-goettingen.de
Clinical & Experimental Endocrinology: ufkendo@med.uni-goettingen.de
Nephrology & Rheumatology: gmueller@med.uni-goettingen.de
Neurology: rnau@med.uni-goettingen.de

www.uni-goettingen.de

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updated: 26.03.07              Created and maintained by Ursula Buchhorn               Impressum