We just received the Feasibility Fund grant to develop membrane protein nanoparticles based baculoviruses. The aim is to develop technology to improve and simplify the production and use of membrane proteins in biomedical studies, as this is one of the limiting steps in drug development. We produce membrane proteins is Sf9 insect cells, which can also be used to express membrane proteins on baculovirus nanoparticles. These stable particles can then be used in various bioassays to test if drugs are interacting with specific membrane proteins.
You can read more about it in here (in Estonian).

We are proud to announce that Tõnis was chosen to attend the 74th meeting with Nobel laureates in Lindau, Germany, this summer. Scientists from different generations will gather from June 29 to July 4 for a meeting dedicated to chemistry. Central topics will include artificial intelligence in chemistry, sustainability, science diplomacy, and science communication. Additionally, Nobel laureates will share valuable insights from their careers and personal lives. 
Tõnis focuses on the application of artificial intelligence, bioinformatics, and fluorescence-based measurements to study G protein-coupled receptors, which are targets for many drugs. His work improves the fundamental understanding of receptors and develops measurement methods suitable for finding new drugs and drug targets. The Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded in 2012 to Robert J. Lefkowitz and Brian K. Kobilka for their research on G protein-coupled receptors, and in 2024 to John J. Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton for their foundational research and inventions enabling machine learning based on artificial intelligence and neural networks.

Argo Aljand was awarded the 3rd prize in the BSc students engineering and technology category for the thesis „Open Source Trapjaw Platform prototype for cleaning Microscope Coverslips for Single Molecule Fluorescence Microscopy (Trapjaw)“. The thesis was supervised by Dr. Tõnis Laasfeld. Congratulations for the achievement! More information available here. 

Three of our workgroup members are presenting their work in the conference "FEBS3+ Baltics: Biochemistry at the Fore Line".

• Dr. Tõnis Laasfeld will talk about "Deep learning based high content live-cell microscopy image analysis: Focus on quality beyond blind metrics"
• Dr. Anni Allikalt will present her project "In vitro testing of genetic mutations of G protein-coupled receptors"
• Dr. Darja Lavõgina will share her research about "Adding third dimension: changes in response to cytotoxic agents, radiation or endocrine disruptors in 3D vs 2D cell culture"

We will also introduce some of our new research projects during the poster session. We are looking forward to meeting You there!

In 2025, the theme week "Women in Science" is from 5 to 11 February with the aim to highlight the work and achievements of women researchers. Our workgroup member Dr. Darja Lavõgina had the opportunity to share her thoughts. Her advice to other female scientists is very inspiring: "However, my most important advice is: ask questions. Ask your supervisors, those you supervise, colleagues, and experts from entirely different fields. Firstly, asking a good question requires quite detailed preliminary work, which hones the mind and language use. Secondly, asking questions ultimately creates a more adequate environment: many problems can be solved at an earlier stage if there is open discussion about the knowledge, opinions, and possibilities of the parties involved. Thirdly, who knows, you might get truly fascinating answers to your questions?"

• Link to Darja's interview (in Estonian)

A new COST Action No. CA23156 “European Network for Sigma-1 Receptor as a Therapeutic Opportunity (SIGMA-1EUROPE)” was launched on October 25, 2024. The SIGMA-1 EUROPE network will bring together disciplines and expertise across Europe to advance the exploration and identification of the role of Sigma-1 receptor in physiology and pathologies, to design innovative ligands and train young researchers. The Management Committee from Estonia is represented by Dr. Edijs Vavers and Prof. Allen Kaasik. Dr. Edijs Vavers was confirmed as the lead of WG5 and will be responsible for the Dissemination, Communication and Outreach of the network activities.

The University of Tartu Youth Academy is organising a program "Talents to Tartu" for first year bachelor students who have excellent academic results and keen interest in specific fields to already start their academic research. We are welcoming four new talents who will have the opportunity to work in two important research directions:
​1) How is cholesterol influencing the interaction between the drug and the drug target?
2) Creating genetically modified viral particles for bioluminescence-based assay to screen for drug candidates. 

The second edition of "Muscarinic Receptor. From Structure to Animal Models" was published. This receptor family has been in our research focus for quite some time.  Futhermore, scientists Oswald Schmiedeberg and Richard Koppe were the first to isolate muscarine from the mushroom Amanita muscaria (commonly known as fly agaric) at the University of Tartu in 1869. We are happy to contribute to this historical research topic by sharing our recent assay developments in two chapters:

• Chapter 6: Exploring Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptor Binding Kinetics with Fluorescence Anisotropy​​
• Chapter 7: MultiBacMam Technology for Studying the Downstream cAMP Signaling Pathway of M2 Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptor

These chapters provide detailed protocols for carrying either ligand binding or functional assays for muscarinic acetylcholine receptors.