Nitrogen metabolism plays a central role in any organism. We are interested in more specifically identifying the difference in the pattern of proteins expressed when the bacterium fixes nitrogen compared with conditions when nitrogenase is not synthesized.

Our research group investigates the fundamental question of how proteins are synthesized, folded and assembled into functional multicomponent bioenergetic complexes that drive the cellular energy production.

Our group works at the intersection between basic and applied biophysics using experimental and computational methods.

The main interest our research group is the study mechanisms for chemically induced acute, developmental neurotoxicity by using neuronal cell models. The usefulness of the cell models for risk assessment is evaluated by integrating in vitro data from the cell models with in vivo data from rat and clinical observations from human in predictions models.

Neurodegenerative diseases like Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Alzheimer’s and polyglutamine diseases are characterized by the gradual loss of neurons in the central nervous system (CNS). While these disorders are distinct in their clinical manifestations, they share pathological hallmarks like protein misfolding, aggregation and oxidative stress.

Combining large scale life-science data with artificial intelligence is crucial for the continued progression of our understanding of the molecular processes that govern life. We propose developing novel deep-learning methods to provide an unprecedented accurate description of the human proteome.

The Gräslund group works on two groups of biomolecules - ribonucleotide reductase and bioactive peptides - with a special focus on their membrane interactions. The aim is to relate structure, dynamics, and interactions studied by spectroscopy to the biological reactions and functions.

Enzymology is a cornerstone in the molecular life sciences. Rates of chemical reactions in cells and cellular signaling are governed by enzymes. It is becoming increasingly evident that enzymes are integral components of more wide-ranging molecular interactions such that the study of enzyme functions should be extended to their cellular context.

The enzyme ribonucleotide reductase (RNR) catalyses the reaction that provides new DNA building blocks. RNR is therefore a prerequisite in all living cells, and also regulates cellular replication and proliferation. Some antiproliferative drugs (e.g. hydroxyurea and gemcitabine) that are used clinically today are specific inhibitors of RNR.

In our laboratory, we are interested in the organization of brain circuits that control innate behaviours, such as aggression, reproduction, feeding as well as sleep. These circuits often originate in the hypothalamus, an evolutionarily old part of the brain, and include the neuroendocrine system, the interface between the brain and the endocrine system.

Research in the Daley laboratory explores how proteins are trafficked, folded and assembled in bacterial cell factories. The research provides molecular insight into fundamental processes, such as protein secretion and cell division. The knowledge gained in these studies is used to engineer more efficient bacterial cell factories.

The Drew group investigates the alternating-access mechanism of solute transporters for sugars and ions. These transporters are critical to cell homeostasis and their dysfunction is associated with human diseases, such as cancer and diabetes.

Human diseases such as cancer have been tied to proteins in Nuclear Pore Complexes (NPC). It has become increasingly clear that the proteins of the nuclear envelope orchestrate many functions involving cell signalling and chromatin organisation. The Hallberg Group is progressing on the path of discerning the nature of the pivotal role these proteins serve.

Our research is focused on understanding the doors and windows of our cells in the form of membrane proteins in general, and in particular the functions of ion channels and pumps that transport ions to make our nervous system work.

We are only starting to understand the functional networks of the proteins encoded in the now sequenced human genome. The group is addressing this issue using computational approaches, such as hidden Markov models, evolutionary models, and discriminant statistical methods - aiming to predict function, both with regards to biochemical activity and pathways.

We are focused on understanding mechanisms of selective neuronal vulnerability and resilience in neurodegenerative diseases, with particular emphasis on the lethal motor neuron disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

Membrane proteins serve a number of very important functions in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. They are built according to structural principles different from those of globular proteins.

Alzheimer’s disease followed by dementia with Lewy bodes is the main cause of neurodegenerative dementia. The neuropathological hallmarks for these disorders are different, but still share many similarities. In our group we investigate biological mechanisms promoting/leading to neurodegenerative dementia.

The immense complexity of the brain emerges from its vast connectivity and cell type diversity. We study the diversity of neuromodulatory neurons and circuits in the brain. By using a combination of molecular and system neuroscience tools to visualize, record and manipulate neural populations, we aim to understand their particular contribution to behavior.

Our most important goal is to identify the bottlenecks hampering protein production and utilise this information to further engineer bacterial strains with improved production characteristics.

The Computational Microscopy for Cell Biology (CMCB) laboratory is a multidisciplinary team developing cutting-edge image analysis strategies to answer fundamental biology questions with advanced light microscopy.

For many years, the Mäler group has focused on biophysical investigations of the interactions between membrane proteins and lipids - a crucial but in some ways experimentally intractable area of research. We explore different aspects of these interactions; protein structure and, lipid dynamics and their dependence on interactions with membrane proteins.

The Bartosovic group is interested in epigenetic programs that regulate gene expression in the central nervous system.

In our group, we use mainly cryo-EM to discover molecular regulatory mechanisms. We combine the technique also with cryogenic electron tomography (cryo-ET) and work at developing combinatory methods with fluorescence microscopy. We follow two main lines of research.

Our main area of interest and expertise is how protein structure relates to function, in particular in proteins that utilize redox active metal cofactors or radicals for catalysis.

Our work is focused on the development of novel molecular analysis concepts for research and diagnostics, focused on infectious and cancer diagnostics. Our approach is interdisciplinary, spanning from physics to clinical research, with the goal of providing industrial products available to the scientific community and hospital laboratories.

The botulinum neurotoxins are the most toxic substances known. Despite this, their therapeutic properties are becoming increasingly evident. We study these toxins using a variety of methods, including X-ray crystallography, to understand their mechanism of action, thereby enabling the development of their therapeutic properties. 

We use time-resolved spectroscopic techniques to study each component of the respiratory chain of aerobic bacteria - assemblies of components and intact mitochondrial membranes. A long-term goal is to visualize the dynamic processes of respiration in 3D - to reconstruct “molecular movies” showing functional dynamics of complex molecular machines in action.

The Ädelroth group aims at elucidating the structure-function relationship, assembly, cross-reactivity, energy conservation and evolution of the NO and O2-reducing heme-copper oxidases. An important application for this line of research is the feasibility drug/antibiotics development.

The Harryson group investigates the molecular function of the dehydrins, a class of structurally disordered stress proteins that are induced under drought, cold or high salt content in soils, to broaden our understanding of how plants adapt to altered environmental conditions. 

What do we do once the world's genomes have been sequenced? There is still the question of what these molecules look like once they are transcribed into RNA (we work on this) and from there translated to protein (where Google's AlphaFold has made great progress) and what they do in the cell. 

Nitrogen metabolism plays a central role in any organism. We are interested in more specifically identifying the difference in the pattern of proteins expressed when the bacterium fixes nitrogen compared with conditions when nitrogenase is not synthesized.

We develop methodology consisting of computational biochemistry in combination with biochemical and biophysical experiments in order to better understand the energy conversion enabled by complex enzymes.