One more LAT1-paper out!

We also recently got one more LAT1-paper out entitled "Molecular dynamics insights into structural and hydration dynamics of LAT1 bound to ligands and JPH203-induced inward-open arrest" (link). This was the last part of Käti's Ph.D. thesis, and was published in very precious Nature's Communications Chemistry. It was mainly beyond my expertise, and Käti has been working with this for ages, but I was very delighted to see how tightly the group work until the end, and special thanks go to Thales for finalizing it into such a great story! Congratulations to all! 👏

 

Sport Afternoon and others

Today we had the university's traditional sports afternoon (for staff and students), where you can get some discounts on certain events. We have tried to use this time to get together and do some fun with the research group, but also to extend beyond the group boundaries and invite other Pharmaceutical Chemistry staff members. This year, inspired by our "summer camp", we decided to go with a tournament of 3 events; volley ball, yard games Mölkky and King.

So it was a nice afternoon together, but also it has been nice to see happy faces and feel the real thrill of success among the group and beyond. The premium sake was directly from a Japanese brewery, as a celebratory gift for the SMVT-paper. So we need to take good care of it together! 😍 Waiting for the pre-Christmas party...!

SMVT-paper finally out!

This is something that we have been waiting to reveal for a while. The project was originally funded by Jane and Aatos Erkko Foundation (proof-of-concept funding, 2021), and the aim was to explore the sodium-dependent multivitamin transporter (SMVT) as a potential brain and neuronal transporter to enhance particularly, the delivery of creatine in diseases like creatine transporter deficiency syndrome (CTDS), where normal creatine transport to neurons is impaired. But of course, at the same time to look forward to the potential benefits in other brain diseases, like neurodegenerative diseases. And this was the funding that enabled the hiring of 2 new talented students, Adela and Ville, who have done a marvellous job tackling all the challenges in analytics and modelling (respectively) that we have faced. Andy's efforts to make these very annoying creatine derivatives are also highly appreciated, as is everyone's participation in the project! Originally, the idea was brainstormed with Prof. Tetsuya Terasaki, who is still working at the UEF as a Visiting Professor, and I clearly remember the day, when he proposed creatine, it wasn't my happiest moment, since I have a history with creatine and I do know very well that only thing that is does is the cyclization into creatinine, and that is a chemist's nightmare! 😂 The publishing process was also a bit of a horror story, as it is hard today to even get feedback due to the declining review activity vs. the number of submitted papers.

 

Anyway, all ended well, and the paper entitled Sodium-Dependent Multivitamin Transporter Facilitates Brain and Neuronal Uptake of a Creatine Analogue is now published by the American Chemical Society (ACS) - Chemical Neuroscience journal (link, open access). And I do have ideas for the future that have already been supported by a second JAE grant. More about that, hopefully soon!