How a virus hijacks a host cell to make new virus particles is a key question in the prevention and treatment of virus-caused diseases.

The study used HDX-MS to map the epitope and paratope of the new high-affinity tumor-specific antibody developed against a variant of HER2. Antibodies directed against HER2 are already used in breast cancer therapy, and the new antibody developed by the collaboration has potential to be used as a diagnostic tool or future cancer treatment.

The so-called NKCC1 protein is found throughout the human body where it has important functions in organs that process fluids or perform neurotransmission. A Danish research team has now determined a three-dimensional atomic structure of the NKCC1 protein, which supports future work to identify novel compounds that interfere with NKCC1 function. Such compounds may help in, for example, kidney and brain disorders.

NCMM Group Leader Dr Emma Haapaniemi will collaborate with centre leaders and NCMM Associate Investigators Prof Johanna Olweus and Prof Karl-Johan Malmberg as part of the new centre, Precision Immunotherapy Alliance (PRIMA).

A Finnish-led international research team has discovered novel gene variants that increase the risk of a rare but severe lung disease, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. The results also demonstrate notable genetic similarities with susceptibility to severe COVID-19 infection.

For the first time, researchers at Umeå University can now show how the dreaded poliovirus behaves when it takes over an infected cell and tricks the cell into producing new virus particles. Polio was thought to be almost eradicated, but infection has now been rediscovered in London and New York.

Meet DANDRITE Group Leader, Taro Kitazawa, and learn how he is looking for epigenetic and transcriptional mechanisms that underlie neuroplasticity.

Where are they now? Meet NCMM alumnus Jaime Castro-Mondragón and learn how he used his network to build relationships and his career.

For five years, a European research project will investigate the long-term neurological and psychiatric symptoms following infection with SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19, something that is becoming a societal problem. Umeå University is one of ten universities in seven countries that are part of the project.

Overall, the Neurocov project is about understanding the interaction between the central and peripheral nervous system and the inflammatory response that the immune system triggers during COVID-19 infection.

Dr Tatiana Belova (NCMM), Dr Salim Ghannoum (Oslo University Hospital) and Saikat Das Sajib (University of Tromsø) have been awarded the funding by the national network for breast cancer research