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Neurotargeting Research Group

News archive for Neurotargeting Research Group

Congratulations to Peter on becoming a PhD holder!
Peter Daniel Szigetvari will defend his PhD degree at the University of Bergen on 14 February 2024 with the thesis "Monoamine synthesis in neurometabolic disorders affecting catecholaminergic functioning".
Olga Therese Ousdal received the award for her research at the intersection between radiology, neurology and psychiatry.
Olga Therese receives the Consul Søren Falch and ophthalmologist Sigurd Falch's junior prize for younger researchers 2022.
Elaheh Mahootchi is defending her dissertation on 31.3.2022 at the University of Bergen with the title "Characterization of the PLP-dependent decarboxylases GADL1 and CSAD".
We’re so happy to have Lucia working with us in the Haavik lab this year. Check out her perspective on being a Fulbright Scholar.
Recently, University of Bergen arranged its yearly Teachers Day conference where teachers get updated on recent and relevant research in the community. One of our PhD students, Selina Cannon Homaei presented some general scientific information on usage of creatine, caffeine, and beta-alanine, as well as relevant research from the Haavik group. The usage of supplements and energy drinks is rapidly... Read more
A Norwegian study shows that maternal daily intake of sweetened carbonated beverages during pregnancy can be associated with offspring ADHD symptoms
Researchers from Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands have found that genetic factors play a more prominent role in ADHD symptoms with higher sugar intake and unhealthy foods.
Ebselen, a promising drug candidate against cancer, bipolar disorder and the virus infection Covid-19, covalently bonds to cysteine residues in 14-3-3 adaptor proteins, triggering 14-3-3 destabilization and degradation in cells and intact brain tissue when used in therapeutic concentrations, potentially explaining the behavioral and anti-neoplastic effects of this drug.
Our research project BIOPROM (Biomimetic Proteolipid Multilayers - Structure and Properties) was awarded a research grant of 12 MNOK by the Research Council of Norway. The BIOPROM project will reveal unprecedented details of the molecular structure and properties of myelin, from the nano to the meso scale.
Fundamentally new discoveries in biology or medicine are rare. The mentioned article is an example of such a discovery. The findings of this study will probably soon be found in standard textbooks in biochemistry and physiology.
Research conducted by ADHD researcher Berit Skretting Solberg shows a strong connection between ADHD in children and parents. The sons had the highest absolute risk, but the daughters had the highest relative risk.
Petri Kursula receive the prize for best teacher in preclinical medicine 2020.
Carnosine plays an important roles as antioxidant, pH buffer, and neuromodulator and recently received increasing attention as biomarker for many disease states such as Alzheimer disease and Parkinson disease. The Neurotargeting group at the Department of Biomedicine discovered a novel enzyme, Glutamate Decarboxylase Like 1 (GADL1) that plays a role in carnosine production.
Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT) is the most common inherited neuropathy in humans, linked to mutations in dozens of different genes. Two of these genes encode the proteins GDAP1 and NDRG1. We have solved the crystal structures of these two proteins, in order to better understand their structure, function, and involvement in disease.
Myelin, the insulative multilamellar sheath that enwraps axons, speeds up our nerve impulses by two orders of magnitude – a prerequisite for an efficient nervous system that we humans and other vertebrates enjoy. Myelin gains its structure and function from a high abundance of lipids and proteins, many of which are specific to this enigmatic biological system.

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