Our group performes research within the diciplines clinical and experimental pharmacology and toxicology. Our goals are to increase the understanding of drug and xenobiotic actions, interactions and adverse affects with the aim of contributing to improved patient care and public health.
Our research group has extensive experience in the application of molecular modelling methods to study the structure and function of proteins and their ligand interactions – indeed, our research group was the first to use molecular modelling methods in drug research in Norway. The molecular modelling methods were introduced to the research group by Prof. Svein G. Dahl (1942-2012), who in 1985 left for San Fransisco to spend a year at the University of California in the research group of the world’s leading expert in molecular modelling at that time, Prof. Peter Kollman. Upon his return in Tromsø, Prof. Svein G. Dahl started the work of financing a computer graphics laboratory and its staff, and in 1989 both the equipment and staff were in place at the University of Tromsø. The group began predicting the structures of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) and in 1991 became the first to publish a 3D model of a GPCR - the dopamine D2 receptor, which is an important target for antipsychotic drugs (Dahl et al., PNAS; 1991, 88(18):8111-5).
Today, we use a wide range of molecular modelling techniques, such as homology modelling, docking and scoring, virtual screening, and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, to study the structure and function of GPCRs. In addition, we combine these methods with in vitro radioligand competition binding assays and functional assays to study receptor-ligand interactions. We also have extensive experience in using in silico approaches to study other drugs targets such as the serotonin, noradrenaline, dopamine, and GABA transports (SERT, NET, DAT, and GAT), other types of receptors (incl. nuclear receptors) and enzymes, and in the use of molecular modelling methods to study how toxic compounds interact with proteins.
Giovanni Allaoui
Blood biomarkers and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus - Repeated measurements of blood biomarkers in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus cases and controls; longitudinal assessments and associations (PhD thesis)
Fatema Amatur Rahman
Zinc binding and chelating compounds as inhibitors of bacterial metalloproteases and human matrix metalloproteases (PhD thesis)
Linn Samira Mari Evenseth
Ligand binding and dynamics of the GABAB receptor Venus flytrap domain (PhD thesis)
Thibaud Freyd
Allosteric modulation of GABAergic and glutamatergic metabotropic receptors (PhD thesis)
Marte Renate Thomassen
Occupational exposure, respiratory health and sensitisation among crab processing workers. A study among processors of king crab (Paralithodes camtschaticus) and edible crab (Cancer pagurus) in Norwegian land based crab processing plants (PhD thesis)
Sampada Satchidanand Bhagwat
Biological exposure agents relevant to the seafood industry work environment as inducers of inflammatory responses in skin and airway cell models (PhD thesis)
Inger Lindin
Mitogen-activated protein kinase-activated protein kinase 5 - Structure, function and inhibition (PhD thesis)
Olga Shiryaeva
Respiratory symptoms, lung function, and occupational exposure among seafood industry workers. A study among employees at Norwegian salmon factories and Russian North-West trawl fleet (Arkhangelsk) (PhD thesis)
Imin Wushur
Structure and fuction of Scaptodrosophila lebanoensis alcohol dehydrogenase (PhD thesis)
Mari Gabrielsen
Structure, function and inhibition of the serotonin transporter studied by molecular docking, -dynamics and virtual screening (PhD thesis)
Stian Sjøli
Kinetic and docking studies of inhibitors targeting the catalytic zinc in MA clan enzymes (PhD thesis)
Anett Kristin Larsen
Proteases from seafood as activators of protease-activated receptor-2 in airway epithelial cells (PhD thesis)