Research at Oslo University Hospital

Although the mechanisms that mediate chromosome condensation have been extensively studied for decades, little is known about the molecular mechanisms that initiate and control chromosome condensation at mitosis entry. Furthermore, how cells discriminate between normal chromosomes and potentially harmful non-chromosomal DNA during mitosis remains mysterious.

A collaborative work by the groups of Jorrit M. Enserink (OuH), Pierre Chymkowitch (OuH) and Yves Barral (ETH, Zurich, Switzerland) suggesting that centromeres play a so-far under-explored role in chromosome condensation and immunity mechanisms is published in Cell and now available online.

In a recent paper in EMBO Journal, postdoc Maja Radulovic and her co-workers in Harald Stenmark's group reveal a novel mechanism that promotes cell survival, namely repair of damaged lysosomes.

Work in Harald Stenmark's group has previously shown that a protein machinery known as endosomal sorting complex required for transport (ESCRT) mediates important cellular functions such as lysosomal downregulation of growth factor receptors and sealing of the nascent nuclear envelope during mitotic exit 

Now, postdoc Maja Radulovic and her co-workers in Stenmark's group have found that ESCRT proteins repair damaged lysosomes, and that this is essential for cell viability upon lysosomal damage. Compounds that selectively damage lysosomes of cancer cells are in clinical trials as cancer drugs, and the newly discovered mechanism may provide us with tools to increase the efficacy of such drugs.

Anders Jahre's Awards for Medical Research honor research of outstanding quality in basic and clinical medicine. The prizes are awarded by the University of Oslo and are among the largest within Nordic biomedical research. 

Espen Melum is the 2018 receipient of the Anders Jahre's medical award to young researchers for his work on primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC). He shares the prize with Martin Roelsgaard Jakobsen, Århus University.

The prize ceremony takes place on Thursday 11th of October at 18 hrs in the University aula at Karl Johans gate, while the Jahre lectures are held on Wednesday 10th of October at 14 hrs at Domus Medica.

NORMENT's director Ole Andreassen has received the Honorary Award 2018 from the Bergesen Foundation for his outstanding research on psychotic disorders.

Professor Andreassen receives the prize for his contribution within the field of mental disorders research, both also for his role as a director of NORMENT. Through the NORMENT centre, Andreassen has created a strong and multidisciplinary research environment, and he has succeeded in combining different scientific and methodological approaches in his research.

The paper entitled "Light-enhanced VEGF₁₂₁/rGel: A tumor targeted modality with vascular and immune-mediated efficacy" by Anette Weyergang et al. includes a collaboration with the Rosenblum lab at MD Anderson Cancer Center and the core facility for advanced light microscopy at the Institute for Cancer Research (OUS).

The manuscript was published in Journal of Controlled Release a highly recognized journal in the field of delivery science and technology.

A new study by a team from the Institute for Cancer Research and the Norwegian Centre of Excellence CanCell provides novel in sight in the mechanisms by which cells maintain synchrony in their biosynthetic processes. Using the model organism budding yeast, Herrera et al discovered a new regulatory mechanism by which cells may keep protein synthesis in synchrony with cell division. In brief, they discovered that a protein called cyclin dependent kinase (Cdk1), which is the master regulator of the cell cycle, localizes to tRNA genes during a brief period in the cell cycle. The results have recently (22 September) been published in the prestigious journal Nucleic Acids Research.

What happens to skin cells when they are confronted with blood? A team of researchers from Oslo University Hospital, led by Emma Lång and Stig Ove Bøe, performed experiments on blood-deprived cells that were subsequently exposed to blood serum. Remarkably, all the cells started to move and grow in the same direction as soon as the blood serum was added. Assistant Professor Liesbeth Janssen and student Marijke Valk from Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) developed a matching simulation model, revealing new insights into the mechanisms of wound healing. The results have recently been published in the journal Nature Communications.

On Monday September 3rd professor Harald Stenmark from the Department of Molecular Biology at the Institute for Cancer Research will receive the prestigious University of Oslo Research Award for 2018 during the annual anniversary party in the University Aula. Stenmark has been interviewed by Martin Toft for the UiO newpaper Uniforum, where his very successful ongoing career is chronicled. The article is entitled "Hunting for the Achilles heels of Cancer".
Together with other award winners Stenmark gave a short lecture about his research in the library in the Vilhelm Bjerknes building the same Monday.