News archive

A team of international researchers led by Karolinska Institutet has revealed in unprecedented detail how tetracycline antibiotics impair T cell function by binding mitochondrial ribosomes and inhibiting oxidative metabolism (OXPHOS). The study, reported in Nature Communications, raises mechanistic considerations for antibiotic therapy and the design of new molecules that can better discriminate between pathogen and host.

A new study in Life Science Alliance reveals a key genetic connection between cancer susceptibility and tissue regeneration. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet identified a super-enhancer region upstream of the MYC gene essential for tumor development and tissue repair.

Dr. Karolina Borankova, a member of Professor Nils-Göran Larsson's group at the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics at Karolinska Institutet, has been awarded the prestigious Postdoctoral Fellowship from Cancerfonden. The project aims to investigate whether mitochondrial DNA mutations that affect mitochondrial function, impact lung cancer growth and tumor burden.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have identified a new mechanism that may improve the treatment of ischemic stroke. The study, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, shows that the growth factor PDGF-CC and its receptor PDGFRα play a crucial role in scar formation in the brain after an ischemic stroke.

The developing fetus is more susceptible to external influences than previously thought. A new study, published in Science Advances, shows that factors such as stress could affect the development of the fetal brain.

In a recently published study in Nature Structural and Molecular Biology, scientists from the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics at Karolinska Institutet, have discovered that water molecules play a crucial role in helping proteins, specifically transcription factors, read and regulate the human genome.

In diabetic kidney disease, fat accumulates in the kidneys, leading to lipotoxicity and kidney damage. A recently published study by Ulf Eriksson's research group at the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics at Karolinska Institutet shows that elevated levels of the protein VEGF-B in the kidney and adipose tissue correlate with increased fat accumulation in the kidney and impaired kidney function in patients with diabetic kidney disease.

A new collaborative study from Karolinska Institutet published in Science Advances shows that the levels of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) directly influence lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) progression in mice. LUAD is a common subgroup of human lung cancer that typically contains high levels of mtDNA. The link between high mtDNA levels and tumor progression suggests that mtDNA may provide a new therapeutic target and a biomarker for stratifying patients.

Ernest Arenas, professor at Karolinska Institutet, passed away on September 15th at the age of 62. Dr. Arenas was widely known both within and outside Sweden as one of the pioneers in Parkinson’s disease research, with a strong commitment to developing better treatment strategies through cell replacement therapy.

Researchers have developed an industry-standard tool to facilitate drug development and translational research in collaboration between labs at Karolinska Institutet and the Gygi Lab at Harvard Medical School.

Researchers at the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics at Karolinska Institutet, recently published a book “Mass Spectrometry Based Single Cell Proteomics”, for researchers planning to perform SCP analysis.

Docent Georgios Sotiriou is awarded the ERC Proof of Concept grant from the European Research Council (ERC). The aim of the project is to investigate whether a light-activated nanocomposite film can be an effective treatment for severe, infected wounds such as diabetic foot ulcers. But also to prepare the step from innovation to medical device. This is the second time Georgios Sotiriou has been awarded the prestigious grant, and the third time he has received funding from the ERC.

Researchers at the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics at Karolinska Institutet characterize a novel GTPase involved in ribosome production in mitochondria. The study, published in Nature Communication, provides new insights into the process that enables mitochondria to produce energy.

New findings from an international collaborative project highlight the pivotal role of TRP14 in health and disease.

Joanna Rorbach, Principal Researcher at the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics at Karolinska Institutet, receives The Ascending Investigator Grant from Novo Nordisk 2024.

A preclinical study from Karolinska Institutet offers hope for treating severe neurodegenerative diseases with an existing drug. The study suggests that the leprosy drug clofazimine may be effective in the treatment of Huntington’s disease.

The Berzelius Medal in gold from the Swedish Chemical Society is 2024 awarded to Roman Zubarev, professor of medical proteomics at the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics at the Karolinska Institutet.

The 2024 Svedberg Prize is awarded to Björn Reinius, Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics at Karolinska Institutet, for his discoveries regarding the gene regulation mechanisms of the X chromosome and his substantial impact on COVID-19 clinical diagnostics.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have used DNA origami, the art of folding DNA into desired structures, to show how an important cell receptor can be activated in a previously unknown way. The result opens new avenues for understanding how the Notch signalling pathway works and how it is involved in several serious diseases. The study is published in Nature Communications.

In a recently published study, researchers at the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics (MBB) at Karolinska Institutet have questioned the old paradigm surrounding isotopes of light elements—carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen. These isotopes have now emerged as more powerful than one thought.

The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research has awarded an 8 million SEK ASPIRE II Award to the Bennie Lemmens Research Group at the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics (MBB) at Karolinska Institutet. Supported by a previous ASPIRE I award, the team of Bennie Lemmens established state-of-the-art microscopy and DNA labeling techniques to study how human cells copy their DNA and respond to anticancer therapies, with unprecedented precision in time and space.

KI-researcher Pauliina Damdimopoulou has been awarded a EUR 2 million ERC Consolidator Grant (European Research Council) for the SAFER project (SAfeguarding female FERtility-development of human-relevant in vitro tools for reproductive toxicity). The research will investigate the impact of commonly occurring environmental chemical contaminants on women's reproductive health. The grant is awarded under Horizon Europe, the EU's programme for research and innovation.

In the Swedish Research Council (VR) latest call for medicine and health and natural and engineering sciences 2023, research grants of 26 197 750 SEK were distributed to six researchers at the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics for the years 2023-2028.

Although a simple molecule, nitric oxide is an important signal substance that helps to reduce blood pressure by relaxing the blood vessels. But how it goes about doing this has long been unclear. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden now present an entirely novel principle that challenges the Nobel Prize-winning hypothesis that the substance signals in its gaseous form. Their findings are presented in the journal Nature Chemical Biology.

A major study published in JAMA led by researchers at Karolinska Institutet suggests that a possible cause of spontaneous brain haemorrhage could be transmitted via blood transfusion. At the same time, it is very unlikely that anyone should suffer a brain haemorrhage after receiving donated blood.

A new study published in Cell Metabolism by the research group of Professor Nils-Göran Larsson, at the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Karolinska Institutet, shows that so-called supercomplexes have no major role in cellular energy production and that altered levels therefore are unlikely to affect physiology and disease.

KI researchers Georgios Sotiriou and Haipeng Li at the Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology have developed an inexpensive, fast, and reproducible manufacturing process of nanosensors for food safety diagnostics. A new study in Chemical Engineering Journal shows that the sensors can detect pesticides in fresh orange juice.

Jelena Misic, PhD in Nils-Göran Larsson Group at the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics at Karolinska Institutet, has been selected to participate in the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings in June 2023. Jelena studies different aspects of mitochondrial gene expression in mammals.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the 2022 Nobel Prize in Chemistry to K. Barry Sharpless, Morten Meldal and Carolyn R. Bertozzi for the development of click chemistry, a quick and efficient way to build molecules. Several KI researchers use the technology in their daily research, one of which has co-authored a study with one of this year's prize winners. Here, they comment on the prize.

EU-OPENSCREEN is a European network that provides infrastructure for high-capacity screening in chemical biology and early identification of drug candidates. As of July 2022, Sweden is represented in the network, through the Chemical Biology Consortium Sweden (CBCS) at Karolinska Institutet, one of two selected Swedish nodes.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet present new insights into the role of small molecules, microRNAs, in skin wound healing. The study, published in the journal eLife, highlights possible future approaches for treating venous ulcers, a common type of chronic non-healing wounds.

In a new study, researchers at Karolinska Institutet show that the activation of specific cell surface proteins – cortisol, oestrogen and vitamin A – in mice with human neuroblastoma cells results in the neuronal differentiation of cancer cells which leads to reduced mortality. The results, published in the Journal of Experimental and Clinical Cancer Research, could, in the future, lead to a more gentle and effective treatment of this severe form of cancer in children.

Roberta Filograna has been awarded a grant from the Loo and Hans Osterman Foundation.

Using advanced microscopy techniques, researchers at Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm University have visualized in unprecedented detail the machinery that the cells’ powerhouses, the mitochondria, use to form their proteins. The results, which are published in Nature, raise hopes of more specific antibiotics and new cancer drugs in the future.

Mara Mennuni has been awarded a grant from the Alex and Eva Wallström foundation.

What smells we like or dislike is primarily determined by the structure of the particular odour molecule. A collaborative study involving researchers from Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, and the University of Oxford, UK, shows that people share odour preferences regardless of cultural background. The study is published in the journal Current Biology.

A new study shows how antibodies select the antigens that they bind to, as they navigate the surface of pathogens like coronaviruses. Researchers from KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Karolinska Institutet have created a model that suggests the migration of these pathogen hunters may be akin to the random movements of a child playing on stream laden with stepping stones.

Using novel analytical technique developed at KI, the team of scientists led by Roman Zubarev found in seal bones twice as much deuterium as in sea water; extra deuterium cannot come from seals’ diet.

The gold complex auranofin has traditionally been used for treating rheumatism but is also being evaluated as a treatment for certain forms of cancer. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden now show that other molecules that inhibit the same biological system have a more specific effect than auranofin and therefore may have greater potential as cancer therapies. The results have been published in the journal Redox Biology.

The 2021 Nobel Prize in Chemistry rewards Benjamin List and David MacMillan for a new and ingenious tool for building molecules, asymmetric organocatalysis, which has contributed to more environmentally friendly chemical and pharmaceutical manufacturing. Here, KI researcher Per I Arvidsson, Head of the Drug Discovery and Development Platform at SciLifeLab, comments on the discovery. He was one of those who introduced organocatalysis in Sweden and believes that the prize was expected.

Scientists hope that tiny sacs of material excreted by cells – so-called extracellular vesicles – can be used to deliver drugs inside the body. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet now show that these nano-bubbles can transport protein drugs that reduce inflammation caused by different diseases. The technique, which is presented in Nature Biomedical Engineering, shows promising results in animal models.

The discovery that the anaesthetic ketamine can help people with severe depression has raised hopes of finding new treatment options for the disease. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have now identified novel mechanistic insights of how the drug exerts its antidepressant effect. The findings have been published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.

For a cell to grow and divide, it needs to produce new proteins. This also applies to cancer cells. In a new study published in Science Advances, researchers at Karolinska Institutet have investigated the protein eIF4A3 and its role in the growth of cancer cells. The study shows that by blocking or reducing the production of this protein, other processes arise that cause the growth and cell division of cancer cells to cease and eventually die.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have developed a detailed molecular atlas of the fetal development of the brain. The study published in the top journal Nature is based on so-called single-cell technology and has been done on mice. In this way, researchers have identified almost 800 different cells that are active during fetal development – many times more than previously known.

Determining who is the biological father of a child is a sensitive subject, but the answer can be crucial in important issues. In a nationwide study published in the Journal of Internal Medicine, researchers from Karolinska Institutet, by using two different models, have been able to show that the proportion of incorrectly established paternities in Sweden is as low as 1.7 percent, a figure that has decreased over time.

Researchers at the Karolinska Institutet, University of Oxford and University of Copenhagen have shown that elevated levels of lipids known as ceramides can be associated with a ten-fold higher risk of death from cardiovascular disease. Treatment with liraglutide could keep the ceramide levels in check, compared with placebo. The results have been published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Glaucoma involves a high risk of losing sight. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet and St. Erik Eye Hospital, among others, have now studied the effects of nicotinamide, the amide of vitamin B₃, on animal and cell models for glaucoma. The study, published in Redox Biology, may be a future neuroprotective therapy in glaucoma in humans. A clinical trial will start in the autumn.

New research at Karolinska Institutet suggests a link between psychosis and a genetic change that affects the brain's immune system. The study published in Molecular Psychiatry may impact the development of modern medicines for bipolar disorder or schizophrenia.

Karolinska Institutet hopes to establish a new professorship in anti-doping and public health named after Arne Ljungqvist, who turns 90 this year. The university is now seeking donors for the professorship, which can be consequential in the fight against a grown public health problem.

Most drugs operate via the membranes that surround the body’s cells. A study by researchers at Karolinska Institutet has now mapped the structure and mechanism of MGST2, a membrane enzyme that, amongst other things, plays a part in chronic inflammation and cancer. The study, which is published in the journal Nature Communications, can make a significant contribution to the development of future drugs.