Research at Oslo University Hospital

The Norwegian Health Association (Nasjonalforeningen for folkehelsen) distributes the Heart Research Award each year as a recognition and reward to a researcher who has shown significant results in cardiovascular research.
This year's award went to Sigrun Halvorsen, who is head of the Department of Cardiology at Oslo University Hospital and professor at the University of Oslo.
Halvorsen received the award for her many years of contribution to better treatment and new guidelines within the cardiovascular field, both in Norway and internationally, her strong expertise in research communication and ability to translate her research results into clinical patient treatment.

Mitochondria are essential for cellular energy production and homeostasis, and their selective degradation through mitophagy is critical for maintaining cell function. However, the molecular mechanisms governing this process remain incompletely understood.

Now, Laura Trachsel-Moncho and co-workers in Anne Simonsen’s group identify the endosomal protein SNX10 as a modulator of piecemeal mitophagy, a process involving the selective degradation of mitochondrial components. They show that SNX10 localizes to early endosomes in normal conditions but associates with mitochondria-containing endosomal structures under hypoxia-mimicking stress. Loss of SNX10 leads to increased turnover of specific mitochondrial proteins, reduced mitochondrial respiration, and elevated reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels. Furthermore, zebrafish larvae lacking Snx10 exhibit reduced COX-IV levels and increased oxidative stress and cell death, demonstrating the physiological relevance of Snx10 in mitochondrial homeostasis.

These findings uncover an unexpected role for SNX10 in mitochondrial quality control and highlight its importance in cellular adaptation to metabolic stress.

Mev Dominquez-Valentin from the Department of Tumor Biology at the Institute for Cancer Research is senior author on a study recently published in the prestigious journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, entitled: "Characterization of Screening Strategies for Lynch Syndrome in Latin America.” The study involves the collaborations of more than 50 investigators from 24 representative genetic cancer registries/center of 8 countries from Latin America, highlighting the significant insights we've gained into Lynch Syndrome (LS) screening methods across the region. The results emphasize challenges in hereditary cancer syndrome screening in Latin America and the need for enhanced strategies. Other OUS researchers involved in the study are Eivind Hovig, Pål Møller and Vessela Kristensen.

Oslo University Hospital was introduced as a new partner of the EUCAIM consortium at a meeting in Brussels on February 6th where the European Commission, together with the European Society of Radiology (ESR), and EUCAIM brought together 160 leading experts to explore how the European Cancer Imaging Initiative harnesses health data and Artificial Intelligence to advance cancer detection and treatment.  
The OUH activities in EUCAIM will be co-organized by research group leaders Kyrre E. Emblem (MRI Research & Technology) and Atle Bjørnerud (Computational Radiology & Artificial Intelligence), at the department of Physics and Computational Radiology, Division of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine.

The European doctoral network Mac4Me (Macrophage Targets for Metastatic Treatment) is a 48-month project that addresses both technical and social challenges in cancer metastasis, focusing on three tumour types that show poor response to current immunotherapies: neuroblastoma, breast, and prostate cancer. Mac4Me is a Horizon Europe MSCA (Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions) Doctoral Network. The network will train 18 Doctoral Candidates to study the tumour microenvironment at metastatic sites. The project is led by a consortium of 14 partners, that includes Oslo University Hospital.
Tero Aittokallio, leader of the Computational Systems Medicine research group at the Institute for Cancer Research, is one of the supervisors, who were selected for their exceptional academic qualifications. The doctoral researcher at OUS will apply multi-modal AI algorithms to define new targets for improved immunotherapy.

Drug resistance remains a major challenge in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). A study led by Martina Seiffert (German Cancer Research Center) in collaboration with Sigrid S. Skånland (Institute for Cancer Research) suggests that alterations in the proteasome activity drive resistance to the BTK inhibitor ibrutinib, and that proteasome inhibitors are effective in ibrutinib resistant or refractory CLL.

Treatment with ibrutinib can induce remissions for several years, yet development of drug resistance represents a major challenge. Mutations in BTK and the downstream protein PLCG2 are commonly detected in resistant disease, while mechanisms of resistance that are not explained by these mutations have not yet been understood. 

In the largest study conducted to date on the genetics of bipolar disorder, researchers have identified 36 genes linked to the condition. This marks a significant step toward understanding the genetic factors behind bipolar disorder, which could lead to improved diagnosis and treatment in the future.
Together with a large international research consortium, Kevin O’Connell and Ole Andreassen have conducted the most extensive study on bipolar disorder and genetics to date, involving over 2.9 million people. The findings are published in the prestigious journal Nature, with O'Connell and Andreassen as first and last author respectively.