News archive

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.

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.

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.

Errors during cell division can lead to conditions such as cancer and infertility. Jan Ellenberg studies the molecular processes of cell division in order that these diseases can eventually be prevented and treated. Meet one of the new professors of Karolinska Institutet who will participate in this year's installation ceremony at Aula Medica on 3 October.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Proteins do not have a single shape, but are more like dynamic robots. But – how do they actually move? And what does this tell us about their function? Laura Orellana describes the movement of proteins using computer simulations – and has discovered a new drug target for glioblastoma brain tumours.

Katja Petzold has been awarded the Hugo Theorell Prize in biophysics 2022. The focus in her lab is to study structural changes in RNA – e.g. the RNA in the ribosome – and to develop methods for this purpose.

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.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have succeeded in mapping the neuron types comprising the enteric nervous system in the intestine of mice. The study, which is published today in the scientific journal Nature Neuroscience, also describes how the different neurons form during fetal development, a process that follows different principles to brain neurons.

While proteins on the surface of cells are the targets for most drugs, refined methods are needed to analyse how these membrane proteins are organised. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have developed a new DNA-based analytical method that could contribute to the development of future drugs for breast and other cancers. The study is published in Nature Nanotechnology.

A study lead by KI researcher and SciLifeLab Fellow Simon Elsässer elucidates a new flavour of heterochromatin, used by embryonic stem cells to silence ‘parasitic’ DNA-elements within the context of their highly dynamic pluripotent chromatin. The study was recently published in Nature Communications.

Cell surface receptors are essential for the communication of human cells. Simon Elsässer’s lab has developed a method to study these proteins on living cells. With very subtle alterations the method allows to label receptors with two different fluorescent probes in defined positions, as the authors show in Cell Reports. This can give detailed insights in how the conformation of a receptor changes as a result of for example drug binding, in the natural setting of the cell membrane.

Research from Karolinska Institutet published today in Nature shows that an RNA molecule involved in preventing tumour formation can change its structure and thereby control protein production in the cell. The finding can have important clinical implications as it opens for new strategies to treat different types of cancer.

Arne Holmgren, Senior Professor at Karolinska Institutet, died on January 6, 2020, 79 years old. Dr. Holmgren was widely known as one of the groundbreaking scientists establishing the rapidly growing field of redox biology.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have uncovered a chromosome-wide mechanism that keeps the gene expression of sex chromosomes in balance in our cells. The findings shed light on molecular reasons for early miscarriage and could be important for the emerging field of regenerative medicine. The study is published in Nature Structural and Molecular Biology.