Magnar Bjørås
Background and activities
Prof Magnar Bjørås is a Principle Investigator of the research group of Cellular responses to DNA damage at Department of Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim and at Oslo University Hospital/University of Oslo. Bjørås is an expert on genome dynamics with particular emphasis on oxidative stress, DNA base lesion repair and maintenance of epigenetic DNA methylation (epigenome stability).
Our main focus has been on repair of endogenous DNA base lesion repair mechanisms and genome stability. We have made major contributions to characterization of many new DNA repair enzymes from bacteria, yeast and mammalian. Our group has solved the atomic 3D-structure of many DNA-protein complexes revealing several new mechanisms of DNA base damage recognition and catalysis. We have also established research on the role of DNA base lesion repair in neurodegeneration, cognition and behavior, which is a new direction in the DNA repair field revealing novel functions beyond canonical DNA. Furthermore, we have established collaborations with clinicians to study the impact of DNA base lesion repair on diseases such as infections, heart failure, rare neurodegenerative disorders and cancer. We develop new nanoparticle technology for genomics
Project
- Role of oxidative DNA base lesion repair in cancer. Project leader: Magnar Bjørås
- Aberrant Oxidative DNA Modifications and DNA Structures in Genome Regulation. Project leaders: Magnar Bjørås
- Bacterial Toxin-Antitoxin peptides in biological responses to DNA damage. Project leaders: Magnar Bjørås and James Booth
- Pathomechanisms of lysosomal storage disorders in rare neurodegenerative diseases: Project leaders: Magnar Bjørås and Mirta Mittelstedt de Sousa
- Applications of nanoparticle technology in genomics: Project leader: Magnar Bjørås
Scientific, academic and artistic work
A selection of recent journal publications, artistic productions, books, including book and report excerpts. See all publications in the database
Journal publications
- (2021) Non-flipping DNA glycosylase AlkD scans DNA without formation of a stable interrogation complex. Communications Biology.
- (2021) Increased p53 signaling impairs neural differentiation in HUWE1-promoted intellectual disabilities. Cell Reports Medicine. vol. 2 (4).
- (2021) NEIL1 and NEIL2 DNA glycosylases modulate anxiety and learning in a cooperative manner in mice. Communications Biology. vol. 4.
- (2021) Nafamostat–interferon-α combination suppresses sars-cov-2 infection in vitro and in vivo by cooperatively targeting host tmprss2. Viruses. vol. 13 (9).
- (2021) Synergistic interferon-alpha-based combinations for treatment of sars-cov-2 and other viral infections. Viruses. vol. 13:2489 (12).
- (2021) Active components of commonly prescribed medicines affect influenza a virus–host cell interaction: A pilot study. Viruses. vol. 13 (8).
- (2021) NEIL3-deficiency increases gut permeability and contributes to a pro-atherogenic metabolic phenotype. Scientific Reports. vol. 11 (1).
- (2021) Endonuclease v regulates atherosclerosis through c-c motif chemokine ligand 2-mediated monocyte infiltration. Journal of the American Heart Association (JAHA). vol. 10 (14).
- (2021) DNA repair enzyme NEIL3 enables a stable neural representation of space by shaping transcription in hippocampal neurons. iScience. vol. 24 (12).
- (2021) Epitope-resolved profiling of the SARS-CoV-2 antibody response identifies cross-reactivity with endemic human coronaviruses. Cell Reports Medicine. vol. 2 (1).
- (2021) Insight into ALKBH8-related intellectual developmental disability based on the first pathogenic missense variant. Human Genetics.
- (2021) Synthesis and antimicrobial activities of chitosan/polypropylene carbonate-based nanoparticles. RSC Advances. vol. 11 (17).
- (2021) DNA glycosylase Neil3 regulates vascular smooth muscle cell biology during atherosclerosis development. Atherosclerosis. vol. 324.
- (2021) Loss of Mediator complex subunit 13 (MED13) promotes resistance to alkylation through cyclin D1 upregulation. Nucleic Acids Research (NAR). vol. 49 (3).
- (2021) Impact of oxidative DNA damage and the role of DNA glycosylases in neurological dysfunction. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. vol. 22 (23).
- (2021) ALKBH3 partner ASCC3 mediates P-body formation and selective clearance of MMS-induced 1-methyladenosine and 3-methylcytosine from mRNA. Journal of Translational Medicine. vol. 19 (1).
- (2021) In situ cofactor regeneration enables selective CO2 reduction in a stable and efficient enzymatic photoelectrochemical cell. Applied Catalysis B: Environmental. vol. 296:120349.
- (2020) Discovery and development of safe-in-man broad-spectrum antiviral agents. International Journal of Infectious Diseases. vol. 93.
- (2020) Structural basis for substrate and product recognition in human phosphoglucomutase-1 (PGM1) isoform 2, a member of the α-D-phosphohexomutase superfamily. Scientific Reports. vol. 10 (1).
- (2020) Antibiotic-induced DNA damage results in a controlled loss of pH homeostasis and genome instability. Scientific Reports. vol. 10 (1).