Karolinska Institute

Nikon has partnered with the Karolinska Institutet to create a Center of Excellence to explore the performance of Nikon microscopes, confocal microscopes and NIS elements software for high content screening applications.

High Content Screening

Professor Staffan Strömblad has been Professor of Clinical Molecular Biology at the Department of Biosciences and Nutrition since 2009. Clinical molecular biology is the study of clinical processes at molecular level. Professor Strömblad's research is mainly focused on cancer and the interface between cancer cells and surrounding tissue. This includes the study of cell migration, i.e. how they move about, which is a central process in the spread of cancer and the development of secondary tumours. Professor Strömblad has developed a new method for this purpose, systems microscopy, which makes it possible to create mathematical models of dynamic cell processes, right down to molecular level.

Signal transduction refers to movement of signals from outside the cell to inside the cell as well as the movement of signals within a cell. Signal transduction can be initiated by the binding of ligands to membrane bound receptors or the entering of small molecules through the cell membrane. In the cellular environment signals are often propagated through phosphorylation events including kinases and phosphatases. Small molecules can also enter directly into the nucleus, effecting the activity of nuclear receptors that constitute a distinct class of transcription factors. The eventual outcome of signal transduction is an alteration in cellular activity and changes in the program of genes expressed within the responding cells.