Ancient Genes for Symbiosis Hint at Mitochondria’s Origins

The frequency of mast cell progenitors in the blood circulation is higher in asthma patients during the birch pollen season than outside of it. This has been demonstrated in a new study by Uppsala University, published in the scholarly journal Allergy.

Dan I Andersson, Professor of Medical Biology, and Lena Claesson-Welsh, Professor at the Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, are the joint recipients of the 2023 Björkén Prize. The prize is one of Uppsala University’s top scholarly awards for outstanding research.

One strategy that viruses use to take over a host cell is to mimic small parts of the cell's proteins called motifs. In a new study coordinated from Uppsala University, researchers have used a new method and doubled the available information on how viruses mimic human binding motifs. The results suggest new targets for the development of antiviral inhibitors.

A major international research project has surveyed and analysed the genomes of 240 different mammals. The results, now published in 11 articles in the journal Science, show how the genomes of humans and other mammals have developed over the course of evolution. The research shows which genetic changes have led to specific characteristics in different species and which mutations can cause disease.

Antibiotic resistance is a serious and growing public health problem both in Sweden and worldwide. This year's Göran Gustafsson Symposium brings together researchers to present and discuss research on antibiotic resistance. Increased knowledge about antibiotic resistance can influence more sustainable behaviour in society.

The use of broad-spectrum antibiotics increased drastically in intensive care at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. At first, this helped patients avoid urinary tract infections and seemed to prevent the growth of most bacteria. However, it also contributed to a sharp growth in enterococci, an antibiotic-tolerant group of bacteria, which rendered the treatment of urinary tract infections more difficult.

Researchers from Uppsala University (IMBIM) in collaboration with researchers from the Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP) and São Paulo University (USP), Brazil, have identified two compounds capable of inhibiting the growth of glioblastoma cells, which cause malignant brain tumors.

What can we learn from studying the behaviour of bacteria in the gut? In Mikael Sellin's lab, scientists have grown intestines and managed to film when weak spots are attacked by aggressive bacteria. By gaining a better picture of their methods and weapons, they hope to be able to understand other bacterial infections in the body.

The AXA Research Fund has selected eight research projects to advance scientific  knowledge and inform  decision-making around the health impact of climate change.

Climate change, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), is the single greatest health threat facing humanity. Climate hazards directly cause over 150,000 deaths annually, and the figure is expected to double by 2030.1 According to the IPCC, if global greenhouse gas emissions continue at their current rate, global warming will exceed 2°C above pre-industrial levels by 2050, with serious consequences for human health including severe dehydration, respiratory diseases, acute cerebrovascular accidents, and thrombogenesis. Furthermore, climate change is one of the most frequently implicated "drivers" of infectious disease threats. More scientific knowledge is urgently required to accelerate awareness and develop effective adaptation and mitigation strategies to preserve planetary and human health.  

A new study from researchers at Uppsala University presents novel findings on why human lymph nodes lose their function with age and the consequences for the effectiveness of our immune system. The article has been published in The Journal of Pathology.

Using new gene mapping methods, researchers have found connections between atopic dermatitis (eczema) in dogs and several regions of the genome. Some of the genes identified coincide with genes linked to similar problems in humans. The filaggrin gene region, for example, which is regarded as the most powerful risk factor for atopic eczema in humans, has now also been linked to this disease in Labrador retrievers.

The Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellowship programme is one of the European Union’s flagship programmes for postgraduate and postdoctoral training of researchers.

Åke Lundkvist has been awarded SEK 3 million in laboratory support from SciLifeLab for the period 2023 - 2024 for the project ZSC – National core facility for Pandemic Preparedness

För flera typer av cancer finns ett starkt kliniskt samband mellan att tumörceller har spridit sig till lymfkörtlarna, så kallad lymfkörtelmetastas, och en sämre prognos för patienten. Detta gäller cancertyper såsom bröstcancer, malignt melanom, prostatacancer och cancer i pankreas. Effekten av att tumörer sprider sig till lymfkörtlar kan vara stark. Den genomsnittliga tioåriga överlevnaden hos bröstcancerpatienter med lymfkörtelmetastas låg i äldre studier på runt 40–50 procent medan patienter utan lymfkörtelmetastas visade siffor runt 85 procents överlevnad. Här beskriver forskarna Tove Bekkhus och Maria H. Ulvmar vid Uppsala universitet den senaste kunskapen på området.

Mikael Sellin’s research group has been awarded the Swedish Research Council Consolidator Grant. The grant, amounting to 10 million SEK over 5 years, aims “…to give the most prominent junior researchers the opportunity to consolidate their research and broaden their activities as independent researchers.”

Grant decision has been made by The Swedish Research Council on proof of concept within the infection area 2022. In total, nearly 20 million SEK for 2022–2024.

The Swedish Research Council has decided which applications will be granted grants in medicine and health in 2022. A total of just over SEK 1.2 billion will be granted for the years 2022–2027.

Cancerfonden´s research committee has this year decided to distribute SEK 900 million to 230 research projects. 

Vertebrate genomes are repositories for retrovirus code that was deposited into germ line as inherited endogenous retroviruses during evolution. Researchers from Uppsala University and Princeton University now provide new findings about retroviral establishment and distribution among Darwin’s finches. The findings are being published in Nature Communications.

Utvecklingen av cancervaccin kan snabbas på tack vare den internationella kraftsamling som gjordes för att framställa covid-19-vaccin. På sikt kan cancerformer som i dag saknar bot bli möjliga att behandla. Men vad är egentligen ett cancervaccin? 

Treating severe infections with a combination of antibiotics has long been standard practice in Swedish medicine. Despite this, at present there is no clinical test to prove how well it actually works. Researcher Nikos Fatsis-Kavalopoulos wants to change that.

Historic virus infections can be traced in vertebrate genomes. For millions of years, these genomes have been repositories for retroviruses that incorporated their code into germline cells and were inherited as endogenous retroviruses (ERVs). Researchers from Uppsala University now provide new findings about retroviral establishment in the koala genome. The findings are being published in the journal PNAS.

Erik Schubert presented results on how human adenovirus can affect homeostasis in mitochondria, focusing on which viral protein may be responsible for mitochondrial DNA release.

Researchers at Uppsala University have discovered that the ancestors of legionella bacteria infected eukaryotic cells as early as two billion years ago. It happened soon after eukaryotes began to feed on bacteria. These results, described in a new study published in Molecular Biology and Evolution, also contribute to the chicken-or-egg debate about whether mitochondria or phagocytosis came first.

“I’m passionate about understanding the genetic background of biodiversity development and I’d like our research to culminate in more sustainable use of herring and sprat, which are a superb resource,” writes Leif Andersson, Professor of Functional Genomics at IMBIM.

Cancerfonden´s research committee has decided to distribute SEK 732 million to 230 research projects. In total this year, there will be SEK 850 million for Swedish cancer research.