News archive

As of August 2022 Christina Johansson is new head of administration at the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology (FyFa). Christina has worked in various roles and departments at KI since 2015, most recently as head of administration at the Unit for Teaching and Learning (UoL).

In a recently published article in the journal Trends in Microbiology, author Alberto J. Martin-Rodriguez, Senior Research Specialist at the Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology at Karolinska Institutet, explains how he found that distinct bacterial strains selectively use respiration for surface colonization.

In a new publication in Nature communications, Martin Rottenberg and Ruining Liu, professor and PhD student at the Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cellbiology, explains how T cell protection against Tuberculosis is controlled by their oxygen responses.

New research from Yihai Cao research group at the Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cellbiology, MTC, shows that the so-called brown fat in the human body seems to be able to prevent cancer tumors from growing. The result is published by Nature and has been widely disseminated in the media lately.

In a recently published review article in Cell, researchers Jon Lundberg and Eddie Weitzberg at the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology at Karolinska Institutet summarize research in nitric oxide (NO) with a focus on what is happening right now.

A new study from the Department of Neuroscience at Karolinska Institutet characterises a novel neuronal population in the basal ganglia, responsible for the interaction between two types of neurotransmitters, GABA and acetylcholine. The study was recently published in Cell Reports.

Using gene expression data from different cell types in the inner ear and brain, researchers have been able to identify the cell types that mainly contribute to hearing loss. The findings confirm that hearing loss does not derive from the brain but from a distinct compartment in the cochlea, called the stria vascularis, which is the “powerhouse” of the inner ear. The study has been published in the American Journal of Human Genetics.

Heart progenitors spontaneously regenerate cardiac muscle via a tight junction “honeycomb” in salamanders. Whether there are endogenous adult heart progenitors that can replenish damaged muscle cells remained controversial.

Tinnitus is the experience of annoying sounds that no one else can hear, a kind of phantom sound. The problem is increasing, probably due to exposure to high noise levels.

The Selivanova's group at MTC recently established a multidisciplinary collaboration together with Dr. Marie-Stéphanie Aschtgen, microbiologist in the Henriques-Normark groups (also at MTC) to study the interplay between bacteria and cancer, focusing on how specific bacterial systems influence host tumor supressors. Together they recently got their first collaborative paper accepted in Oncogene, entitled "Enterobacteria impair host p53 tumor suppressor activity through mRNA destabilization".

On November 24, H.M. Queen Letizia of Spain, H.M. Queen Silvia and H.R.H. Crown Princess Victoria Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska University Hospital.

Biofabrication and Tissue Engineering (Biofab) is a new core facility at Biomedicum, Karolinska Institutet.

Six researchers at FyFa have been granted project funds from the Swedish research council to the amount of 22 million SEK.

Federico Iovino, Assistant Professor and group leader at the Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, has been recognised "World Expert" in the field "Streptococcus pneumoniae” by Expertscape, a website that objectively ranks physicans, researchers and institutions by their expertise in more than 29,000 biomedical topics.

Medicinska Föreningen (MF) in Stockholm is the largest student union at Karolinska Institutet. Every year MF awards a teacher with the award Mäster, to someone who has been teaching for an extended period of time, in an inspirational and pedagogical way or who initiated and implemented lasting improvements in the education. This year the award goes to Ellinor Kenne. It's the first time in a long time that someone at FyFa receives this award, and with the large amount of teaching that the departm

Professor Juleen R. Zierath receives the 2021 prestigious EASD Claude Bernard Award. This award recognizes an individual’s innovative leadership and lifetime achievements in diabetes research and is the EASD’s highest award.

Four questions to FyFa employees Rebecka Jakobsson, HR-partner and Duarte Ferreira, Assistant professor, about their experiences participating in FyFa Health Challange.

Jill Ziesmer, PhD student is interviewed in Karolinska institutets podcast Medicinvetarna no 77. The podcast is available on Spotify and podcasts.nu, among others.

Unfortunately, there have been a number of thefts both from the bicycle garage and from other places in Biomedicum during the past month.
We therefore ask you to think about locking your bikes and electric scooters properly, to not leave any valuables in the open, and
call the Biomedicum security guard if you see anything suspicious or someone unauthorized in the building.

Patients with chronic rhinosinusitis sometimes suffer from the growth of polyps in the nasal cavity. These polyps are difficult to treat and often require surgical intervention. Even after removal by surgery, polyps can return and present a significant health burden for patients.

Assistant professor Nicolas Pillon at the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, has been awarded the prestigious Novo Nordisk Foundation Future Leaders Award from the European Foundation for the Study of Diabetes (EFSD).

Fyfa professor Magnus Ingelman- Sundberg has been appointed honorary doctor at the University of Southern Denmark.

This year Ulf von Euler lecture; "Molecular genetic studies of central nervous system vascular development and disease" is held by Professor Jeremy Nathans, Professor of molecular biology and genetics, neuroscience and ophthalmology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (Baltimore, MD. USA). He is also a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator.

Gunnar Schulte, professor in receptor pharmacology at FyFa was interviewed by Dr Yamina Berchiche earlier this year in the podcast Dr. GPCR.

In a recently published review article in Nature Reviews Endocrinology, two researchers at the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology at KI, concludes where the field of research is today regarding causes behind and development of, Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) and how epigenetic processes can contribute to the development of the syndrome.

New results presented by the Schulte lab at Karolinska Institutet in collaboration with researchers in Shanghai and Montréal, help us understand how the cell surface receptor FZD7 is activated and provides a platform for drug discovery to inhibit this process for therapeutic purposes.

Andrea Carmine Belin, researcher at the Department of Neuroscience, has been nominated and elected to the International Headache Society's Board of Directors for a two-year period (2021-2023), which will also be announced in conjunction with the Members' Annual Meeting on September 9, 2021.

Researchers from Karolinska Institutet have discovered how platinum-chemotherapy can enhance the treatment resistance of ovarian cancer cells, by progressively changing the cancer cell-intrinsic adhesion signaling and cell-surrounding microenvironment.

An article in Nature Reviews Nephrology summarizes the significant role of nitric oxide in the regulation of renal function and the link to cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Mattias Carlström, Associate Professor of Physiology at KI, is the author behind the article.

Hi there, Haohao Wu, PhD student at the Department of Neuroscience at Karolinska Institutet! You will defend your thesis entitled "The molecular basis of the development and diversity of proprioceptive neurons : a story of surviving and thriving" on 21 May 2021.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet show how a certain type of immune cells, macrophages, can be recruited into breast cancer tumors, where they are reprogrammed to support and drive tumor growth. In a study published in the scientific journal PNAS, they describe that low levels of the tumor suppressor protein TAp73 lead to hyperactivation of NFkB signaling and an inflammatory condition in breast cancer as well as secretion of molecules that recruit tumor-promoting macrophages into the tumor.

AIMBE fellows represent two percent of the top scientists working in medicine and life science, and are regularly recognised for their contribution in teaching, research and innovation. Yihai Cao was recently elected to become one of them.

Swedish Foundations' Starting Grant 2020 is awarded to KI researcher, Carl Sellgren Majkowitz for his research in schizophrenia.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet explain that the neurotrophin brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) binds to the receptor tropomyosin receptor kinase B (trkB) present on the surface of many neurons, triggering signaling pathways critical to the maturation and growth of neurons during development. In their latest article however, they show that BDNF-trkB signaling also plays a significant role in the functioning of the adult brain.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have revealed a large diversity of proprioceptive neurons and unveiled a new type of plasticity suggesting neuronal individuality in the nervous system to adapt its performance to changing environment. The article was recently published in Nature Communications.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have revealed a central proprioceptive organ built directly into the central nervous system that acts as an inner movement sensor. The article was recently published in the Scientific Journal Neuron.

A fundamental process by which cellular components are degraded is Autophagy. Defects in Autophagy pathways are strongly associated with multiple human diseases, including neurodegenerative disorders and cancer. Despite their importance, to date, a comprehensive characterization of the extent and selectivity for Autophagic degradomes has remained largely uncharacterized. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have in two studies published in the journal Autophagy mapped out how this happens.

In a new study published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry, researchers at Karolinska Institutet have studied CYP2C19 and CYP2D6 genes impact on treatment with antidepressants and antipsychotic drugs. The study shows that a control of the patient’s genotype can be used to individualize the drug treatment and lead to a more effective treatment.

Georgios Sotiriou, Researcher at the Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology receives the Smoluchowski award for his research contribution to the fields of aerosol science and technology. The award consists of a certification and a personal prize of 2.000 €.

The Center for the Advancement of Integrated Medical and Engineering Sciences, AIMES, is a collaboration between KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Karolinska Institutet, in partnership with Getinge, with the vision to enhance the exchange of expertise within academia and industry. The center was officially inaugurated on 30 September 2020, in Biomedicum, Solna (and via Youtube).

How does our body affect the way we think about our personality? Would our sense of self change if one day our mind woke up, for example, inside the body of our best friend? A recent study published in the journal iScience shows that the above questions are no longer exclusively reserved for science-fiction movies.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet reveal mechanisms of neuron vulnerability and resistance in spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) by investigating gene activity dynamics of different neurons in a mouse model. The study was recently published in the journal Genome Research.

In an interdisciplinary study combining stem cell biology and tumor biology, researchers from Karolinska Institutet (as well as Uppsala and Lund University, together with researchers in Canada, Germany and France), have succeeded in creating a new type of stem cell models for studies on cancer of the brain. The study was recently published in PNAS.

The human perception of pain may have been influenced by events taking place 50,000-70,000 years ago when our ancestors met the Neanderthals. A Neanderthal gene confers increased sensitivity to pain according to new research from Karolinska Institutet and Max Planck Institute published in Current Biology. These findings could lead to more tailored treatments.

Sophie Erhardt's research group, at the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology Karolinska Institutet, has been awarded a research grant of in total SEK 1,200,000 from The Swedish Brain Foundation.

Professor emeritus Torgny Svensson has passed away following complications of covid-19 on Friday, June 12th, at the age of 75. He will be sorely missed by his family, as well as friends and colleagues in Sweden and around the world.

Researchers from Karolinska Institutet discovered that the retinoblastoma associated protein RB and the mitochondrial ribosomal protein S18-2 (MRPS18-2) play the essential roles in homeostasis of cell stemness. Rb1-/- mouse primary cells expressing both, S18-2 and RB exhibited a stem cell phenotype. Downregulation of S18-2 and RB in human mesenchymal stem cells resulted in decreased expression of stem cell-related genes. Loss of the S18-2 protein resulted in embryonic lethality in zebrafish.

Hello Ingmar Ernberg, co-editor and professor at the Department of Microbiology, Tumor- and Cell Biology (MTC). Congratulations to your new book “Kvantfysiken och livet” that has just been released. What is it all about?

In a study recently published in Nature Methods, researchers from Karolinska Institutet and Oxford University have developed a method to identify molecules that are attached to proteins in the membrane.

The enzyme dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODH), an essential component for the de novo pyrimidine ribonucleotide biosynthesis, has reemerged in the last few years as a target for the development of small molecules with anticancer and antiviral activity.