News archive

A new publication in Nature Communications from researchers at Karolinska Institutet solves a long-standing problem by establishing a system that allows site-specific protein degradation within mitochondria, the cellular hubs for energy production and metabolism.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have developed a method to study liver function and disease without requiring invasive procedures. After transplanting liver cells into the eye of mice, the cornea can be used as a window into the body to monitor liver health over time. The study is published in the journal Nature Communications.

The abundance of unhealthy food in society means that obesity doctor and researcher Ylva Trolle Lagerros is working against certain headwinds. But the arrival of new medications have made her job more enjoyable. In parallel, she has developed apps that provide patients with support.

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.

Anna Wredenberg, Principal researcher in the Division of Molecular Metabolism at the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics at KI, has received a grant from Novo Nordisk; the Ascending Investigator Grant - Endocrinology and Metabolism 2023.

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.

Suad Efendic, Stockholm, internationally recognized leading clinical researcher in diabetes, has died at the age of 85 after a long illness. He is survived by wife Mensura, sons Nedim and Enes with their families.

Honoring the renowned Swedish diabetes scientist Rolf Luft, SRP Diabetes wishes to support the most excellent younger Principal Investigators (consolidator level) in the field of diabetes and metabolism at Karolinska Institutet to obtain critical instrumentation for their research.
Deadline to apply: October 1

A Distinguished Investigator Grant - Endocrinology and Metabolism 2022, from Novo Nordisk Foundation’s Research Leader Program, is awarded to Elisabet Stener- Victorin, professor and researcher at the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology.
The project title is "Dissecting the molecular, mechanistic and causal pathways of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome and how these are passed on across generations".

In a new study published in Nature Metabolism, KI researchers show how disturbances in the energy metabolism in human fat cells, can lead to the development of inflammation and insulin resistance.

Exercise causes the body to release hundreds of signalling molecules that improve our health in different ways. Now, an international research team including researchers from Karolinska Institutet have mapped how these signals are released by different organs in mice following exercise at different times of the day. Their atlas of exercise metabolism, published in the journal Cell Metabolism, may in the long term contribute to more effective exercise therapies that are timed to the body clock.

In a recent study published in the scientific journal EMBO Reports, the Nils-Göran Larsson group has identified responses to acute and chronic impairment of mitochondrial gene expression. These findings can be valuable for future mitochondria-targeted therapy for cancer and other mitochondrial-related disorders. We have talked to postdoctoral researcher and the study’s first author Mara Mennuni about their findings.

During the pandemic, it has become evident that people with cardiovascular disease and obesity are at much higher risk of developing very severe, even fatal COVID-19 disease. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have identified some metabolic processes that SARS-CoV-2 uses to attack lung tissue. The results, which are published in Molecular & Cellular Proteomics, could one day be used to treat COVID-19, and potentially for other viruses like the Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus and HIV-1.

Christer Betsholtz, professor at the Department of Medicine Huddinge, Karolinska Institutet, has been awarded the major Nordic Prize for 2021 by the Eric K. Fernström Foundation. He receives one million SEK for his research into blood-vessel cells and their vascular structure and function.

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.

Assistant Professors Nicolas Pillon at Department of Physiology and Pharmacology and Rongrong Fan at Department of Biosciences and Nutrition have both been awarded the 2021 Future Leaders Award by EFSD (European Foundation for the Study of Diabetes)/Novo Nordisk Foundation. This is a competitive 5-year grant to support PIs to become future leaders in diabetes research.

It is well known that fat cells can influence our sensitivity to insulin. Now, researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have discovered that there are three different subtypes of mature fat cells in white adipose tissue and that it is only one of these, called AdipoPLIN, that responds to insulin. The findings may be relevant for future treatments of metabolic diseases such as Type 2 diabetes.

With the application of a novel three-dimensional imaging technology, researchers at Karolinska Institutet have discovered that one portion of the autonomic nervous system in the liver undergoes severe degeneration in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. The study, which is conducted in mice and human liver tissue, shows that the degeneration of nerves is correlated with the severity of liver pathology. The results are being published in the journal Science Advances.

In a study published in Nature Communications, researchers at Karolinska Institutet provide insight into the sequence of events leading to formation of functional mitoribosomes and sheds light on the mechanism of action of nine mitoribosome assembly factors involved in this process. The results may help yield novel opportunities for diagnosis and therapeutic intervention for mitochondrial diseases as well as cancer or diabetes.

With this postdoctoral programme SRP Diabetes aims to support the next generation of exceptional young scientists within the diabetes area, including both experimental and clinical research. To promote cross-fertilization between research environments, we encourage scientists wishing to pursue postdoctoral training in a different university from where they carried out doctoral studies. Openings for fellowships in 5 different laboratories at Karolinska Institutet.
Deadline June 6!

Florian Schober from the research group Inborn Errors of Endocrinology and Metabolism, the Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, will defend his thesis "Systems biology of mitochondrial dysfunction" on May 7, 2021. Main Supervisor is Anna Wredenberg.

SRP Diabetes organize a new webinar series - "Diabetes Fridays" with internationally recognized speakers in the area of diabetes and metabolism, often in combination with a talk by a researcher from KI or UmU on a similar topic as the external guest.

Intake of a high-fat diet leads to an increased risk for obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and fatty liver. A study in mice from Karolinska Institutet shows that it is possible to eliminate the deleterious effects of a high-fat diet by lowering the levels of apolipoprotein CIII (apoCIII), a key regulator of lipid metabolism. The study is published in the journal Science Advances.

SRP Diabetes PI Juleen R. Zierath receives the 2021 Harold Rifkin Award for Distinguished International Service in the Cause of Diabetes from American Diabetes Association (ADA).

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet characterise a GTPase involved in ribosome biogenesis in mitochondria. The study, published in Nucleic Acid Research, reveals new details of a complex process that enables mitochondria to produce energy.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet and Danderyd Hospital have studied the risk of additional myocardial infarctions and early death in severely obese patients who undergo metabolic surgery following a myocardial event. The registry study covering 1,018 individuals shows a lower risk of additional myocardial infarctions and improved survival that cannot be simply attributed to the loss of weight. The study is published in the journal Circulation.

Nils-Göran Larsson receives a project grant in Endocrinology & Metabolism of DKK 2 million from the Novo Nordisk Foundation. We’ve talked to him about the project that investigates the role of mitochondria in the development of obesity-associated insulin resistance.

A recent study in Science Advances by researchers at Karolinska Institutet and Max Planck Institute, shows that neurons can counteract degeneration and promote survival by adapting their metabolism. It challenges the long-standing view that neurons cannot adjust their metabolism and therefore irreversibly degenerate. These findings may contribute to developing therapeutic approaches for patients with mitochondrial diseases and other types of neurodegeneration, such as Parkinson’s Disease.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have discovered that excessive degradation of the power plants of our cells plays an important role in the onset of mitochondrial disease in children. These inherited metabolic disorders can have severe consequences such as brain dysfunction and neurological impairment. The study is published in EMBO Molecular Medicine.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet uncover surprising features of mitochondrial protein synthesis. The study, published in Nature Communications, sheds light on the fundamental mechanisms used by the cell’s power plant.

Physical exercise can act prophylactically for people with the metabolic syndrome and protect them against cardiovascular diseases, a new study from the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences, GIH, and Karolinska Institutet published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology reports. Even light physical exercise has been shown to have good prophylactic effects, for both women and men.

Dr Franz Matschinsky, Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Institute for Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia receives the 2020 Rolf Luft Award for the discovery that glucokinase (GK) is the sensor controlling glucose-stimulated insulin secretion in the pancreatic beta cell.

Glutamine could help people with obesity reduce inflammation of fat tissue and reduce fat mass, according to a new study at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and the University of Oxford in the U.K. The researchers also show how glutamine levels can alter gene expression in several different cell types. However, more research is needed before glutamine supplementation may be recommended as a treatment for obesity. The study is published in the journal Cell Metabolism.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have discovered the essential role of the ribonuclease REXO2 in mitochondrial RNA degradation. The enzyme is essential for life, as a deficiency of it in mice has shown to be embryonic lethal. The study is published in the journal Molecular Cell.

Hello there, Sergiu Catrina - Associate Professor, Specialist Physician and Research Leader for the Growth and Metabolism Group at the Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery.

Children born to women who underwent gastric bypass surgery before becoming pregnant had a lower risk of major birth defects than children born to women who had severe obesity at the start of their pregnancy. That’s according to a matched cohort study by researchers at Karolinska Institutet and Örebro University published in the scientific journal JAMA. The findings indicate that weight-loss and improved blood sugar control could reduce the risk of major birth defects.

Many people struggle to keep their weight in check as they get older. Now new research at Karolinska Institutet has uncovered why that is: Lipid turnover in the fat tissue decreases during ageing and makes it easier to gain weight, even if we don’t eat more or exercise less than before. The study is published in the journal Nature Medicine.

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 Mitchell Lazar at Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia has been selected as recipient of the Rolf Luft Award 2019.

Knowledge of a newly discovered genetic disorder, which means that a person cannot produce the protein TXNIP (thioredoxin interacting protein) in their cells, can open for the development of new diabetes drugs. This is shown in a study from Karolinska Institutet published in the journal Diabetes.

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Maternal obesity and androgen excess induce sex-specific anxiety in the offspring, according to a study on mice by researchers at Karolinska Institutet published in The FASEB Journal. The findings may help explain why children born to mothers with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) have increased risk of developing anxiety later in life.

It is the pancreatic islets that have the overall responsibility for maintaining normal blood glucose levels in our bodies, according to a new study by researchers at Karolinska Institutet and the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, USA. The findings, published in the scientific journal Cell Metabolism, have important implications for certain diabetes treatments.

A new study from Karolinska Institutet shows that the same mechanisms behind the beneficial effects of exercise training on the brain also help to counteract fat and to strengthen the immune system. The results, which are published in the journal Cell Metabolism, can ultimately give rise to new obesity and diabetes drugs.