Hanna Wacklin-Knecht
Principal Investigator
Hanna Wacklin-Knecht works at the European Spallation Source (ESS) and Lund University. Her primary research topic is biophysical chemistry of lipids and proteins at interfaces.
Project in third call:
Lipid alterations in cancer – deuteration as contrast agent for imaging cell membrane properties at the molecular scale using neutron scattering
Principal Investigator
Hanna Wacklin-Knecht works at the European Spallation Source (ESS) and Lund University. Her primary research topic is biophysical chemistry of lipids and proteins at interfaces.
Project in third call:
Lipid alterations in cancer – deuteration as contrast agent for imaging cell membrane properties at the molecular scale using neutron scattering
Principal Investigator
Hanna Wacklin-Knecht works at the European Spallation Source (ESS) and Lund University. Her primary research topic is biophysical chemistry of lipids and proteins at interfaces.
Project in third call:
Lipid alterations in cancer – deuteration as contrast agent for imaging cell membrane properties at the molecular scale using neutron scattering
Short Biography
Hanna Wacklin-Knecht is the Head of the Scientific Support Division at European Spallation Source (ESS) in Lund, Sweden, and also. works at the Division of Physical Chemistry at Lund University as an adjunct senior lecturer in 2014. Her research interests include biophysical chemistry of lipids and proteins at interfaces, including their formation, structure and interaction with bioactive molecules such as enzymes, toxins and antimicrobial agents.
She obtained her PhD in Physical Chemistry at University College, Oxford University in 2003, which was followed by postdoctoral positions at the Physical Chemistry Laboratory at Oxford University and at the National Deuteration Facility at ANSTO in Sydney. Prior to her appointment as Instrument Scientist at ESS, she was instrument co-Responsible for FIGARO Neutron Reflectometer at ILL in Grenoble.
AMBER postdoctoral fellowship subject (third call)
Lipid alterations in cancer – deuteration as contrast agent for imaging cell membrane properties at the molecular scale using neutron scattering
Alterations in the lipid composition of cells are often related to the mechanisms of cancer development, proliferation as well as treatment response. Such alterations may be hereditary, dietary, result of environmental factors, or arise from the altered metabolism of cancer cells. Lipidomic profiling is beginning to yield information about the types of changes occurring, but obtaining information of the biophysical consequences of cancer lipid alterations at the molecular level remains challenging.
In this project we focus on detecting the changes induced in cancer cell membranes by lipid alterations using neutron scattering techniques. Advanced mimics of human cancer cell membranes built from eukaryotic lipids expressed in deuterium labelled cell cultures will enable modeling different types of cancer cell membranes closely. The main focus will be on developing the use of deuterium labeling and membrane reconstitution methodologies for neutron reflectometry (membrane structure) complemented by infra-red and solid-state NMR methods. The isolation and purification of biologically deuterated lipids will be carried out at the DEMAX chemical deuteration laboratory of the European Spallation Source, with the research in membrane reconstitution and characterisation carried out Lund University at the Division of Physical Chemistry.
Location: Lund, Sweden
Organisations: European Spallation Source ERIC
Lund University, Department of Chemistry, Division of Physical Chemistry
Links
AMBER call in EURAXESS main call (starting point for application)
Hanna Wacklin-Knecht's profile in Lund University Research portal