Stockholm university
Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics

News

News

Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics

Scientists reveal how energy is delivered into the cells major “shipping port”

A team of scientists has answered a long-standing question in cell biology, uncovering how the cell’s main energy currency, ATP, is transported into the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Disrupted energy transport could affect diseases such as type 2 diabetes, cancer, and neurodegenerative disorders. The study, published in Nature, confirms that the transporter protein SLC35B1 is the key gateway for ATP entry into the ER.

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Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics

Birds and mammals build advanced brain circuits using different developmental mechanisms

The area in the brain responsible for complex cognitive functions have different origin in different species such as mammals, birds, and reptiles new research show. These findings indicate that these structures and circuits are not homologous, but rather the result of convergent evolution.

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Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics

Revealing mechanism of potential anti-TB drug opens possibilities for further cure development

One of the greatest challenges of modern-day science is to address the rise of multidrug-resistant diseases and the need for new functional antibiotics. In a study published in PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences), researchers at Stockholm University describe the mode of action of a potential anti-tuberculosis (anti-TB) compound, lansoprazole sulphide.

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Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics

DBB represented at ForskarFredag

On Friday, September 27, the Stockholm ForskarFredag exhibition was held at the AlbaNova campus. The Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics was represented on the day by several research groups.

Iskra följer forskare som jobbar med mikroskop
Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics

Mapping the brain's serotonin pathways increases knowledge of our emotions

Fear and curiosity are emotions that determine how adventurous or cautious we are. But how are our emotions controlled by biological factors in the brain's nerve cells? New research shows that clearly defined serotonin pathways in the brain and their connections to for example amygdala and hypothalamus affect how we feel and act.

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Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics

The Swedish Brain Foundation (Hjärnfonden) awards scholarship to DBB Postdoc

Letian Zhang, Postdoctoral Fellow at The Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, has been awarded a two-year postdoctoral fellowship for a study on a specific brain tumor that mainly affects children. Dr. Zhang hopes the study will lead to improved diagnosis and treatments.

Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics

New instrument at SciLifeLab reduces common cryo-EM problem

The long-term problem in cryo-EM about insufficient data due to uneven protein molecules distribution can now be reduced thanks to a new instrument for specimen preparation of cryo-EM grids, the Chameleon.

Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics

Radical Tool in Nature's Chemistry Toolbox Depicted

Researchers at DBB have determined the structure of one of nature's sharpest chemical tools, a protein radical. The results help us understand how nature can carry out very challenging chemical reactions and can ultimately be used in both medicine and green chemistry applications.

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Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics

Young Investigator Grant awarded to DBB Postdoc

Débora Masini, Postdoctoral Fellow at the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, has been awarded a two-year Young Investigator Grant from The Brain and Behaviour Research Foundation.

Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics

Study visit from Mörbyskolan at DBB

On April 3, students in year 8 from Mörbyskolan visited the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics.

Marek Bartosovic
Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics

DBB Researcher receives SFSG funding to develop new methods in single-cell epigenomics

Dr Marek Bartosovic, researcher at the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, has received Swedish Foundations’ Starting Grant for research that will gain new insights into both normal human brain development and into what happens when it goes wrong and neurodevelopmental disorders occur.

The structure of the supercomplex
Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics

A massive supercomplex induces membrane curvature for cellular respiration

Researchers from the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics at Stockholm University, based at Science for Life Laboratory, together with collaborators from Helsinki University and UCL, have published a study that highlights the composition of a complete respiratory supercomplex, and how it shapes the membrane in order to support energy conversion for cellular life.

Department of Materials and Environmental Chemistry

"PRISMAS has a unique collaborative and multicomponent environment and connects fundamental science

A new intersectoral and interdisciplinary project between nine Swedish Universities and MAX IV – a Ph.D. programme called PRISMAS – launches in January 2023. The program is dedicated to the UN Sustainable Development Goals and Horizon Europe's essential research and innovation areas. The project will create a connected network of next-generation X-ray experts, enabling various stakeholders to take full advantage of world-leading synchrotron facilities such as MAX IV, while tackling current societal challenges in the same breath.

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Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics

Simultaneous mapping of several different epigenetic landmarks in a single cell

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet had in 2021 developed a technique making possible to examine how different versions of histones bind to the genome in tens of thousands of individual cells. Now the same team developed a new technology allowing simultaneous probing of several different histone marks in one individual cell and in thousands of cells at the same time. This new method allows to investigate in much greater detail how cells in the mouse brain acquire unique properties and specialize. The study is published in the journal Nature Biotechnology.

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Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics

New method for mapping cancer paves the way for treatment of incurable brain cancer in children

Children diagnosed with brain cancer often die within a year of their initial diagnosis because there are no effective treatments for this rare form of cancer. But by visualizing the cancer cells, researchers have now gained a better understanding of what the tumors look like. The hope is that it will lead to new treatment methods. This is shown by a study with researchers at, among others, Stockholm University and SciLifeLab, recently published in Nature Genetics.

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Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics

Physics provides new perspective on cellular function and evolution

Researchers have mapped the physicochemical properties of proteins in 20,000 organisms. The results, published in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), show that the properties not only provide clues to understanding evolution and adaptation, but also add new dimensions to the established taxonomical classification system.

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Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics

A repressor that monitors the supply of DNA building blocks

Ribonucleotide reductase (RNR) is an essential enzyme that catalyzes the synthesis of DNA building blocks. In a new study from Britt-Marie Sjöberg’s and Pål Stenmark’s groups at DBB, they present several cryo-EM structures and the mechanism of action of NrdR. NrdR is the RNR-specific repressor, that controls transcription of RNR genes in bacteria. The repressor uses an unprecedented nucleotide-sensing oligomerization mechanism to control NrdR-dependent transcription of ribonucleotide reductases.

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Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics

The world's most dangerous poison can be of great benefit as a drug

Pål Stenmark sees botulinum toxin – the world's most dangerous poison – as a lego building kit he can change so that it gets new features. One goal is to develop new and more effective drugs, including for pain. Through molecular genealogy, he has also found a new family of botulinum toxins, where a variant can fight malaria mosquitoes.

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Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics

Scientists show how a salt transporter linked to hypertension and diabetes works

NHA2 is a protein spanning the membrane in kidney and -cells that absorbs salt and its activity is linked with hypertension and diabetes in humans. The transporter-protein exchangers the movement of sodium ions across cell membranes with the movement of protons. Researchers at Stockholm University have now determined what the protein looks like and how the protein adapts to the membrane. These findings shed new light into this important biological mechanism, and provide a basis for structural-based drug discovery.

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Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics

Basic research for the benefit of ALS patients

By understanding why certain nerve cells and the muscles they control are resistant to fading in the deadly disease ALS, it is possible to create new possibilities for treatments. Researchers at Stockholm University are now trying to identify and transfer the properties of these resistant nerve cells.

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