News archive

Subtle changes in protein composition by a process called ‘citrullination’ are thought to be involved in causing several diseases, including multiple sclerosis. Researchers from Karolinska Institutet now show in the journal Cell Reports that the enzyme PAD2, the main protein responsible for this process in the brain, also plays an important role in the normal development of a subset of brain cells, known as oligodendrocytes, and in their function in stimulating neuronal communication.

Pregnant women with type 1 diabetes are at increased risk of delivering their baby prematurely. The risk increases as blood sugar levels rise, however women who maintain the recommended levels also risk giving birth prematurely. These are the findings from researchers at Karolinska Institutet and the Sahlgrenska Academy in Sweden, published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

The picture above shows a tuberculosis (TB) infection in a mouse lung, in which immune cells form a granuloma around the bacteria. The different symbols represent working copies of active genes, called messenger RNA, which are different in the granuloma centre in comparison to the surrounding cells.

An initial gene analysis may yield better outcomes when patients are treated with the antipsychotic drugs risperidone and aripiprazole. A novel study shows how the activity of a specific enzyme, which metabolises the two drugs, affects the individual dose that should be given for optimal treatment. The study is published in The Lancet Psychiatry and has been conducted by researchers at Karolinska Institutet, in collaboration with the Diakonhjemmet Hospital in Oslo, Norway.

In a new study, led by Professor Janne Lehtiö (SciLifeLab/Karolinska Institutet), researchers from SciLifeLab, University of Oslo, and MD Anderson Cancer Center have generated a detailed map of protein levels in breast tumors. The proteome complements the previously known DNA and RNA picture of breast cancer and sheds light on how different mutations give rise to changes on the protein level.

Hi there Linda P. Sturesson, PhD student at the Department of Learning, Informatics, Management and Ethics. Your new book "Diskvalificering av det positiva" (Disqualification of the positive) was released on April 11th.

Researchers from Karolinska Institutet have found a protein that is a critical regulator in the development of fatty liver disease in mice, according to a study published in the journal Nature Communications. Analysis of liver biopsies of patients indicate that the identified mechanisms may help explain the diverse susceptibility of patients to develop more severe stages of fatty liver disease.

Professor Janne Lehtiö and his colleagues at the department of Oncology-Pathology have together with Kajsa Paulsson and her group at Lund University published an article in Nature Communications where they have investigated the two most common subtypes of pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) using in depth proteomics and next generation sequencing techniques.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet present a publicly available resource that can accelerate the use of so-called FISH techniques for studying how the genome is spatially organised in the cell nucleus. The new platform, which enables more cost-effective analyses for both research and diagnostic labs, is described in the scientific journal Nature Communications.

A sleepless night not only leaves us fatigued and distracted, it also makes us interpret things more negatively and makes us more likely to lose our temper. Moreover, people suffering from a pollen allergy are at a high risk of some form of sleep disruption from the outset. This according to a new doctoral thesis from Karolinska Institutet that takes a neuroimaging approach to sleep loss.

The integration of the UN’s Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals into higher education and the importance of engaging students in the process were in focus at the recent conference, “Rethinking Higher Education: Inspired by the Sustainable Development Goals”.

Diseases affecting mitochondria, the powerhouses of our cells, are often caused by mutations in the mitochondrial DNA. Symptoms of such mitochondrial diseases in mice can be ameliorated by increasing their levels of mitochondrial DNA, according to a study by researchers at Karolinska Institutet. The study is published in Science Advances and can, according to the researchers, lead to a novel treatment strategy for such mitochondrial diseases.

New study shows that patients with acute Achilles tendon rupture who undergo surgery within 48 hours experience a considerably better result with a smaller number of complications compared to patients who undergo surgery after 72 hours. Researchers at the group Orthopaedics, Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery demonstrate this in a study recently published in The American Journal of Sports Medicine.

Hi Mats Hallgren, researcher at the Department of Public Health Sciences. You are first author of an article recently published in the British Journal of Psychiatry about links between sedentary behaviour and mental health. What are the most important results from the study?

The ERC Advanced Grant is one of the most prestigious funding programmes for research in Europe. Per-Olof Berggren, professor of experimental endocrinology at Karolinska Institutet, is now awarded this grant for the second time.

Hi there Guobin Su, doctoral student at the Department of Public Health Sciences at Karolinska Institutet. On Thursday 4 April 2019 you defended your thesis "Infections in patients with chronic kidney disease: patterns, outcomes and the role of vitamin D for future prevention". What is the main focus of your thesis?

More than 20 years ago an American research group released a spectacular idea that the red blood cell was capable of exporting the signaling molecule nitric oxide (NO) and by this mechanism participate in the classical physiological phenomenon known as hypoxic vasodilation, i.e. that our blood vessels automatically widen when oxygen levels become lower to ensure oxygen delivery to tissues (Jia Nature 1996).