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After the egg has been fertilized by a sperm, the surrounding egg coat tightens, mechanically preventing the entry of additional sperm and the ensuing death of the embryo. This is according to a new study led by researchers at Karolinska Institutet and published in the journal Cell. The work also explains how mutations in egg coat proteins can cause female infertility and may eventually lead to new contraceptive methods.

A new study published in Nature Communications gives insights into the underlying mechanisms of the formation of protein clumps in Alzheimer’s disease. The study, led by researchers from Karolinska Institutet, could pave the way for new treatments for this devastating neurodegenerative disorder.

The p53 protein protects our cells from cancer and is an interesting target for cancer treatments. The problem is, however, that it breaks down rapidly in the cell. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have now found an unusual way of stabilising the protein and making it more potent. By adding a spider silk protein to p53, they show that it is possible to create a protein that is more stable and capable of killing cancer cells. The study is published in the journal Structure.

A team led by Karolinska Institutet has combined Artificial Intelligence (AI) with structural biology to gain insights into two similar proteins that prevent bacterial infection in the urinary tract and the gastrointestinal system. Their results are published in "Nature Structural & Molecular Biology".

A scientist at Karolinska Institutet reports that machine learning can be used to gain insights into molecular events that change the shape of proteins after they are made, regulating their ability to interact with each other. This suggests that artificial intelligence (AI) may allow us, in the future, to accurately simulate highly complex biological scenarios in silico as well as leverage this information for therapeutic intervention.

We can produce spider silk fibers stronger than those created by the spiders themselves. This according to the Professors Jan Johansson (KI) and Anna Rising (KI and SLU).

We wish to congratulate Luca Jovine, Juha Kere, Janne Johansson and Eckardt Treuter at the Department of Biosciences and Nutrition, who have been awarded grants from the Swedish Research Council within the area of Medicine and Health as well as the area of Natural and Engineering Sciences for the years 2020-2024.

This year’s Sjöstrand lecture was held by Professor Jennifer Doudna, best known for having developed the CRISPR/Cas-9 tool with professor Emanuelle Charpentier. Apart from the lecture itself, she was also involved in several activities during the day at which she met researchers and students from SciLifeLab and Karolinska Institutet.
“I’ve read about her work and never thought I’d get to present my own project to such an important pioneer,” says KI researcher Mihaela Zabulica.