The Academy of Finland’s Research Council for Biosciences, Health and the Environment has granted funding to one new Academy Research Fellow and eight new Postdoctoral Researchers at the University of Eastern Finland. Academy Research Fellow funding was awarded to Senior Researcher Astrid Subrizi from the School of Pharmacy. Postdoctoral Researcher funding, on the other hand, was secured by Postdoctoral Researcher Laura Hellinen from the School of Pharmacy, by Postdoctoral Researcher Sanna Honkala and Postdoctoral Researcher Samuli Junttila from the School of Forest Sciences, by Postdoctoral Researcher Paula Korhonen and Postdoctoral Researcher Hanne Laakso from A.I. Virtanen Institute for Molecular Sciences, by Postdoctoral Researcher Mari Takalo from the Institute of Biomedicine, and by Postdoctoral Researcher Carolina Voigt and Postdoctoral Researcher Henni Ylänne from the Department of Environmental and Biological Sciences. Academy Research Fellow funding is awarded for five years, and Postdoctoral Researcher funding for three years.
The success rates of applications for Academy Research Fellow funding and Postdoctoral Researcher funding were 14% and 16%, respectively. The University of Eastern Finland succeeded very well in the call for Postdoctoral Researcher funding, with the university’s share of the funding amounting to 22.9%.
In addition to the high scientific quality of the application and the applicant’s competence, the Research Council also focused on career advancement and the potential for scientific renewal when selecting the new Academy Research Fellows. When selecting the new Postdoctoral Researchers, the Research Council put particular emphasis on the applicants’ existing national and international cooperation networks, in addition to the high scientific quality of the application and the qualifications of the applicant.
Drug delivery platform for the local biological therapy of ocular inflammation
Subrizi’s project focuses on inflammation of the eye (also called uveitis), which affects young adults aged 20–50 (sometimes also children) and can lead to blindness. Biological therapeutics are very effective in the treatment of ocular inflammation; however, they must be administered systemically and can cause serious side-effects, including cancer. The project aims to develop a novel treatment that allows the safe and effective delivery of biological therapeutics directly to the eye. This local delivery is achieved by using short pieces of RNA called aptamers that can target the biological therapeutics to the inflammation site inside the eye. The method used to find these aptamers is called SELEX. Aptamer-targeted biological therapeutics are also embedded inside hydrogels, this allows their prolonged release and thus decreases the administration frequency. Overall, the project will develop a safer and more comfortable treatment for patients with ocular inflammation and thus decrease their risk of getting blind.
New drugs for dry age-related macular degeneration
Hellinen’s project focuses on retinal diseases, including age-related macular degeneration (AMD), which are the main causes of vision loss in industrial countries. The wet form of AMD can be treated with ocular injections, but the more common dry form is currently untreatable. The aim of the project is to identify druggable target proteins and to investigate the effects of promising drug candidates in dry AMD. The potency and kinetics of the drug candidates will be examined with e.g. cell studies, and the natural pigment in the target cells will be utilised to target the drugs to the retina (back of the eye). Based on the cellular studies, a computer-aided model describing the drug distribution inside the target cells will be build. This model can guide retinal drug discovery to detect most promising compounds for further development. The findings of the project may lead to breakthroughs in the dry AMD treatment.
Mechanisms behind impaired brain glucose metabolism in insulin resistance: effects of exercise training
Honkala’s project focuses on obesity and insulin resistance, which are associated with metabolic disturbances in several tissues, including the brain. Previous studies have shown that insulin-stimulated brain glucose uptake is increased in obese and insulin resistant subjects. In addition, weight-loss and high-intensity exercise training has shown to decrease brain glucose uptake. To date, little is known about the neurometabolic and molecular mechanisms underlying this positive effect. The project aims to explore the effects of baseline glucose tolerance and physical activity on brain metabolism, inflammation and morphology and quantify the relationship between brain energy metabolism and neuroinflammation in a rodent model of type 2 diabetes using in vivo 18F-FDG and [11C]-(R)-PK11195 PET-imaging and ex vivo brain autoradiography. This pre-clinical research aims to gain new system-level understanding of the brain glucose metabolism and inflammation and expand our knowledge of mechanisms leading to insulin resistance.
Capturing tree canopy water dynamics over time – from single canopies to landscape and global dynamics (CAWA)
Junttila’s project focuses on climate change, which causes more intensive droughts that result in widespread tree mortality. To better understand the effects of climate change on vegetation, we need more detailed measurements of plant water status at large-scale. The project aims to solve this problem by utilising multispectral laser technology and satellite microwave measurements that measure the entire globe daily. By using these novel remote sensing technologies, the project aims to measure the detailed variation in leaf water content between night and day in both single trees and entire Finland in unpresented detail. The knowledge created in this project opens up new possibilities to understand global changes in the interaction between vegetation and water. The research will be carried out at the School of Forest Sciences at the University of Eastern Finland.
Use of 3D immunocompetent organoids for the study of the impact of microglia on neuronal development
Korhonen’s project focuses on brain development, which is mainly studied in animals due to the unavailability of human brain cells. The project will deliver a ground-breaking novel human immunocompetent 3D model by growing induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cerebral organoids with incorporated microglia and use this model in studying microglial impact on neuronal development, lineage determination and function. The project will also assess the effect of maternal infections and APOE genotype, both linked to neurological diseases with developmental component, such as autism, schizophrenia and epilepsy, on microglial functions and neurodevelopment. Using state-of-the-art methods, such as MEA, single-cell sequencing and multiplexed sm-FISH, the project seeks to uncover fundamental information on how human microglia shape developing neurons and how altered pathways may lead to neurological diseases. Ultimately, this project will narrow the gap between preclinical and clinical studies and give means to develop new treatments for neurological diseases.
Novel methods of functional MRI of the spinal cord for applications in neuromodulation
Laakso’s project focuses on spinal cord stimulation, which is a neuromodulatory tool used, for instance, to treat chronic pain. There are studies showing that spinal cord stimulation is beneficial also in spinal cord injury, but the results are heterogeneous. The aim of this study is to understand the complex circuitry underlying the functional responses to spinal cord stimulation in the spinal cord of healthy rats and in the case of spinal cord injury. This will be done by combining novel technology for functional magnetic resonance imaging and stimulation methods and by multimodal characterization of the spinal cord structure. The study will be conducted in the Biomedical Imaging Unit in the University of Eastern Finland. The outcomes of this project will be translatable to clinical use for the treatment of spinal cord injury and monitoring recovery.
Mechanistic and functional characterization of a novel microglia-specific PLCG2 p.P522R variant in aging and Alzheimer’s disease-related cellular processes
Takalo’s project elucidates how a recently identified variant in the microglia-specific PLCG2 gene (P522R, protective variant) is associated with molecular, cellular, pathophysiological and behavioural aspects of aging and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). State-of-the-art in vitro and in vivo models and techniques in combination with up-to-date methodologies will be used to facilitate mechanistic characterization of the variant. It is expected that untangling the protective action(s) exerted by the variant will shed light into the role of microglia and immune system upon aging and AD-associated cellular stress. Furthermore, it is expected that the project pinpoints new therapeutic targets and paves the way for potential treatment strategies, which are based on PLC?2-related modulation of microglia in AD and in other neurodegenerative diseases involving altered immune system function.
Methane uptake by permafrost-affected soils – an underestimated carbon sink in Arctic ecosystems? (MUFFIN)
Voigt’s project focuses on the Arctic, which is currently warming twice as fast as the rest of the world. Arctic ecosystems are important in the global climate debate due to their large stocks of carbon. This carbon pool can be released as greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, increasingly so as the Arctic warms. While Arctic wetlands are known to be large sources of methane (CH4), not much is known about the capacity of Arctic uplands to consume atmospheric CH4. CH4 uptake could have important repercussions on the global climate by counteracting emissions, thereby cooling our climate. Project “MUFFIN” will explore CH4 uptake with sites located in the Canadian and European Arctic. The project will show how CH4 uptake varies on a diurnal and seasonal scale and identify the dominant environmental controls on CH4 uptake. Using a multi-scale approach of high-precision gas flux measurements, stable isotope and microbial studies, MUFFIN will shed light upon whether the Arctic may be an underestimated CH4 sink.
Towards mechanistic understanding of reindeer impacts on wetland carbon balance (ReindeerPaths)
Ylänne’s project aims to provide novel insights into the drivers behind long-term reindeer impacts on the carbon balance of high latitude wetland areas. This will be achieved using a unique natural experiment that captures the impacts of different long-term reindeer management types. In addition to this natural set-up, I will explore the drivers of carbon exchange with two additional experiments. In the first of those, the assumed drivers of grazing-induced changes – damage to shrub cover and alleviated nutrient availability – will be manipulated on an area with a long-term history of low grazer influence. In the second, the capacity of the wetland ecosystem to recover from grazing will be assessed using 20-year-old reindeer excluding fences. The combination of these studies will increase mechanical understanding of reindeer impacts on wetland carbon sequestration, and help understanding the conditions and the time-frame when reindeer-induced changes are expected.
For further information and the researchers’ contact details, please see UEF Connect