🔋How Cells Secure Their Energy Researchers at the @riemerlab.bsky.social #UniCologne have uncovered a surprising link between two fundamental processes in our cells: oxidative protein folding and the production of heme, a vital molecule. Read more ➡️https://uni.koeln/RA3JK

🔋Wie Zellen ihre Energieversorgung sichern Forschende @riemerlab.bsky.social haben einen Zusammenhang zwischen zwei zentralen Prozessen in unseren Zellen entschlüsselt: der oxidativen Proteinfaltung und der Bildung des lebenswichtigen Häm-Moleküls. Mehr dazu ➡️ uni.koeln/V4JH2

Finally, our paper on XRF measurements of antique coins is online! Congrats to Malte! ejournals.uni-muenster.de/ozean/articl... @chemunicologne.bsky.social @unicologne.bsky.social 🧪

We are very happy to share our new publication in the European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry on #antiviralpeptides against SARS-CoV-2 and their #NMR-based structural characterisation: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Aromatic π-Stacking Stabilizes an α-Helical SARS-CoV-2 MPER Peptide that Mimics the Post-Fusion Spike and Enables Potent Antiviral Activity

Membrane fusion between SARS-CoV-2 and host cells is mediated by the spike protein and involves the membrane-proximal external region (MPER), a trypto…

sciencedirect.com

Our radionuclide card game "Know Your Nuclides" is now available in both German and English. 🧪 Great to learn applications and and science and stories about what we consider are the 32 most important radionuclides. www.simonschemiebaukasten.com/category/all...

Stellenangebot! Das Schaefer-Labor sucht eine*n BTA (m/w/d)! www.age.mpg.de/job-cf7ab6db...

🎉Important day for our Department! The construction of the new building for Chemistry and for Teacher Education is progressing at pace. Completion of the first part is anticipated for 2029🤞, enabling research and teaching in close proximity. And it already looks FANTASTIC!

Universität zu Köln@unicologne.bsky.social · 2mo ago

⚗️🧪 Universität zu Köln legt Grundstein der neuen Chemie Heute, am 1. Juni, wurde der Grundstein für die Neubauten der Chemischen Institute für die Bereiche Chemie und Biochemie und der Didaktiken in einem feierlichen Akt gelegt. Mehr dazu ▶️ uni.koeln/EX7YJ #uniköln #unicologne #unibaut #chemie

Congratulations @gabriellapetti.bsky.social and @teamthomma.bsky.social on this fantastic study! It has been a pleasure collaborating with you, and we are very happy to have contributed with #NMR to such an exciting project. We truly enjoyed working together with you!

Gabriella Petti@gabriellapetti.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Excited to share our latest study with @nicksnelders.bsky.social and @teamthomma.bsky.social! We uncover the mode of action of the V. dahliae antimicrobial effector Ave1 and show that it binds LTA and disrupts bacterial membranes 🦠 www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...

Many thanks again for the great collaboration @gabriellapetti.bsky.social and @teamthomma.bsky.social!

Team Thomma@teamthomma.bsky.social · 2mo ago

📣Last week another @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social dropped: "A fungal pathogen effector that shapes host plant microbiota kills bacteria through lipoteichoic acid binding and membrane disruption" a joint effort by @nicksnelders.bsky.social & @gabriellapetti.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

📣 Looking for a #PhD position in #organic #electronics, #molecular #templates or #optoelectronic devices? Then check out the new funding round of the research training group TIDE! Up to 13 projects available 👇

TIDE (RTG 2591)@tide-rtg.bsky.social · 3mo ago

The #DFG funded TIDE RTG invites applications for up to 13 #PhDPositions starting in April 2027 across the @unicologne.bsky.social, @unibonn.bsky.social, and @uni-wuppertal.bsky.social. Learn more and apply: tide.uni-koeln.de/open-positions jobportal.uni-koeln.de/bewerben/2616 #PhD #Hiring #jobs

New publication from the lab of Prof. Mathur: "Mannose-Conjugation Resolves the Efficiency–Toxicity Trade-Off in Amine Functionalized Silica Nanocarriers via Tunable pH-Responsive Drug Release" pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10....

Mannose-Conjugation Resolves the Efficiency–Toxicity Trade-Off in Amine Functionalized Silica Nanocarriers via Tunable pH-Responsive Drug Release

Mesoporous silica nanoparticles (mSiO2–NPs) are efficient drug delivery vehicles, yet their surface chemistry critically dictates payload uptake, therapeutic efficiency, and biocompatibility. Conventional organic coatings on the surface, such as polyethylenimine (PEI), improve drug loading capacity but substantiate cytotoxicity, while inorganic coatings/surface functionalization (e.g., (3-aminopropyl)trimethoxysilane (APTMS)) grafting reduces toxicity but offers uncontrolled drug release. Here, we present the first systematic comparison of APTMS- and PEI-functionalized mSiO2, with and without mannose conjugation, to establish how sequential surface modification governs nicotinic acid (NA) loading, release kinetics, and cellular response. Using NA as a model drug, PEI-coated carriers achieved the highest loading (DEE = 83%) and sustained, pH-responsive release (41% in 24 h at pH 5.5) but displayed pronounced cytotoxicity in breast cancer cells (MCF-7) and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). Mannose conjugation substantially reduced this toxicity, while maintaining drug loading efficiency and enhancing cellular uptake in both epithelial and immune cell cultures. Notably, mannose-functionalized PEI carriers exhibited targeted, stimulus-sensitive release and selective enrichment in monocyte subsets without inducing immune activation, consistent with uptake mediated by carbohydrate-binding receptors confirmed via confocal colocalization analysis. These findings establish mannose coating as an effective strategy to reconcile efficiency and safety in amine-functionalized silica nanocarriers, providing a practical design principle for targeted and biocompatible drug delivery systems.

pubs.acs.org

Optical sensing of biological #forces with #microlasers, now published in @opg.optica.org. Data from Melisa's master thesis, with additional cell data measured by David. So great to have a solid+soft material as alternative to oil droplet microlasers. doi.org/10.1364/OME.... (open access)

📰 Das neue #Unimagazin ist da🎉 Diesmal mit einer Allianz fürs Leben, Verschwörungstheorien am Küchentisch und wie Forschung auf den Markt oder auch ans Krankenbett kommt. 🤝📈🏥 Alle Artikel sind auch online und als PDF verfügbar 🔗 uni.koeln/MHWK8 📲 #uniköln #unicologne #unimagazin #liebedeineuni

The 3rd retreat of TIDE #ReserachTrainingGroup with the second cohort of #PhDstudents took place in Bad-Honnef. We spent three days sharing ideas and learning from each other through talks and poster sessions. We also enjoyed plenty of coffee breaks and had a great time on a fun excursion. #PhDLife

Clarence's new paper on Alkali-crownether-pertechnetates and perrhenates reveals surprising structures... congrats! chemistry-europe.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... @chemunicologne.bsky.social @unicologne.bsky.social 🧪

🚀 Ready to explore AI? Der Onlinekurs über ILIAS zeigt dir, wie Künstliche Intelligenz funktioniert, welche Chancen und Risiken ihr Einsatz bietet und vieles mehr. Dich erwarten 💡 kompakte Lerninhalte 💻 praxisnahe Beispiele 🤖 interaktive Elemente Mehr dazu 🔗uni.koeln/6JUAN #uniköln #unicologne

Excited to share a new preprint from our group @chemunicologne.bsky.social @unicologne.bsky.social! chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.... Big thanks to our collaborators at University of Florence! #NMR #StructuralBiology #AntiviralResearch #Peptides #SARSCoV2 #DrugDesign #Biophysics #Collaboration

39th "Technetium Matters" online seminar on zoom Thursday March 19th 16:00 MET Vijay Kumar (HZDR Dresden) "Pyrite solubility and its capacity to immobilize technetium-99 in metabolite-rich environments" Please send me a DM if you like to participate. 🧪

Nuclear Chemistry Cologne @chemunicologne.bsky.social @unicologne.bsky.social meets André "Dr Dre" Isaacs www.instagram.com/drdre4000/?h... at the @jungchemikerforum.bsky.social spring symposium. 🧪

To support and empower our female PhD students, TIDE organizes the Women at Science event. This week, three #FemaleRoleModels shared insights into their career journeys during relaxed small-group discussions, giving students the chance to ask questions and connect. #WomenInScience #PhDLife

TIDE’s #SpringSchool for the 2nd cohort took place this month with partners in Bayreuth and Erlangen. Through poster sessions and talks, students exchanged ideas, built connections, and strengthened their networks. #PhDLife #Research

🧬🔬 A research team led by @kathlab.bsky.social has developed an artificial DNA base pair that works according to a new chemical principle. In contrast to natural bases, the novel artificial base pairs use halogen bonds that are enzymatically incorporated into DNA. Read more: ➡️ uni.koeln/AP4XF

Artificial DNA base pair developed based on halogen bonds

A research team at the University of Cologne has developed an artificial DNA base pair that works according to a new chemical principle. In contrast to natural bases, the novel artificial base pairs u...

uni.koeln

✂️ Tie off When Professor Dr Sanjay Mathur arrived in Cologne, he soon experienced a culture shock: during his first Carnival, a colleague snipped off his tie to great applause. Coming from India and having worked in Saarbrücken and Würzburg, he wasn’t prepared for this tradition ▶️ uni.koeln/VGD7X

New paper in @jacs.acspublications.org 🎉: A de novo designed unnatural base pair that exploits halogen bonding as pairing force in DNA for genetic alphabet expansion. 🧬 ⚗️ @unicologne.bsky.social @chemunicologne.bsky.social @breugstlab.bsky.social pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1...

Investigating Halogen Bonds as Pairing Force in an Artificial DNA Base Pair

The past decades have seen significant expansion of the nucleic acid space with the development of modified artificial base pairs based on natural nucleic acid analogues and even entirely new designed base pairs. This expansion has led to tremendous potential for applications such as site-specific labeling and structural investigations. However, natural nucleic acids rely strongly on hydrogen bonding as the attraction force, which has driven the development of artificial base pairs that adapt this mechanism. To achieve orthogonality with natural bases, unnatural base pairs with alternative attraction forces, such as hydrophobic interactions, have been developed which however can perturb duplex structures. Our work introduces a completely newly designed artificial base pair that leverages halogen bonding (R–Hal···) as a directional hydrogen bonding-like interaction. We report computational studies that led to the development of this novel unnatural base pair and its synthesis. Our results demonstrate the successful acceptance of a bulky iodinated nucleoside triphosphate by KlenTaq DNA polymerase, enabling the selective enzymatic synthesis of a DNA strand containing the dIIPO–doIPP base pair. Our work presents the first demonstration of a novel base pair with halogen bonding potential that is enzymatically incorporated into DNA.

pubs.acs.org

Congratulations to Robert Herzhoff on the successful completion of his #PhD on "Atomistic modelling of organic electrodes for electrochemical devices". We are proud to celebrate this important academic milestone and wish him every success in his future career. #ProudPI #PhDone #Research

Some of the TIDE members attended the #MRSFallMeeting in Boston, where they presented their latest research results and exchanged ideas with fellow scientists. The conference offered a valuable platform for scientific discussion and networking. An inspiring and rewarding experience! #ResearchLife

Very happy to finalize a few projects after a busy year, starting with a pre-print of Melisa's work on #flexible #microlasers made from #elastomers! A great material to prepare soft microlasers to measure biological #forces. #biophotonics #biosensing arxiv.org/abs/2512.22707

Season’s greetings from @kathlab.bsky.social ! 🎄✨ Grateful for a year of great science 🧪📄, strong teamwork 🤝, and shared moments 🚢🎉 - and excited for what lies ahead 🚀 @chemunicologne.bsky.social @unicologne.bsky.social

@chemunicologne.bsky.social @unicologne.bsky.social

New paper with Stefan of the Wickleder group. Radioactive Technetium meets aggressive SO3. What can/might/will happen? @unicologne.bsky.social @chemunicologne.bsky.social 🧪 doi.org/10.1002/chem...

(NH4)2[Tc2O2(S2O7)4]: An Unexpected Technetium(V)‐Sulfate From the Reaction of (NH4)(TcO4) With SO3

The reaction of the radioactive pertechnetate (99TcO4)− with the oxidizer SO3 leads to blue crystals of (NH4)2[Tc2O2(S2O7)4]. The complex dimeric [Tc2O2(S2O7)4]2− anion exhibits the technetium in the...

doi.org