Our research group tries to understand bacterial adhesion.
As part of our work on the molecules that mediate adhesion to host cells and to medical implants, we serendipitously identified a peptide that can bind lipopolysaccharides with extremely high affinity.
Lipopolysaccharides (LPS) act as endotoxins, and are key molecules in causing septic shock - "blood poisoning". Our peptide might be useful in developing sensitive assays for endotoxin detection, and for removing endotoxins from biopharmaceutical production pipelines or even from patient blood.
In this lecture, I will describe how this connects to the horseshoe crab, a living fossil and endangered species.
Coffee/tea are served. Everyone is welcome!
The lecture is in English, and will be streamed. You can watch the stream at Realfagsbiblioteket YouTube-channel.
Foredraget er på engelsk, og blir strømmet på Realfagsbibliotekets YouTube-kanal.