Our research activities fall within 3 main areas, which all relate to the study of the kinetics and thermodynamics of protein conformational changes, namely membrane protein folding, protein-detergent interactions and protein fibrillation. These areas are linked by a keen interest in understanding the mechanistic and thermodynamic behaviour of proteins in different circumstances by quantifying the strength of internal side-chain interactions as well as contacts with solvent molecules, whether it be detergents, denaturants, stabilizing salts and osmolytes or lipids. Ultimately we hope this will lead to a greater manipulative ability vis-a-vis processes of both basic, pharmaceutical and industrial relevance. The general approach is to use available spectroscopic techniques (fluorescence, CD, stopped-flow, FTIR, NMR and dynamic and static light scattering) to generate data which can be analyzed in a quantitative manner to develop models and mechanisms for conformational changes at the molecular level.
2020.12.16 | iNano
Kidney diseases, atherosclerosis, colon cancer, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and neurological disorders are five global health problems that the first five research projects in the Open Discovery Innovation Network (ODIN) are now addressing. In the projects, Ken Howard, Jørgen Kjems, and Daniel Otzen are among AU researchers and the…
2020.12.10 | iNano
Associate Professor Ken Howard is collaborating with 11 European partners in a new consortium funded by the European Commission. Through the training of young researchers, the aim is to pave the way for developing regenerative medicine for osteoarthritis and intervertebral disc degeneration by means of non-viral gene therapy.
2020.12.10 | iNano
Associate Professor Victoria Birkedal has received a grant from the Nordisk Foundation with which she will be able to establish Aarhus single molecule fluorescence infrastructure (ASiMoF) for advanced studies of molecular structure, dynamics and function in nano- and bio-systems.
