Frontiers of Science: Prof. Kristian Strømgaard

Frontiers of Science

23rd April 2026 at 12:00
Onsite event
in Presidentti auditorium, BioCity
Spring 2026 program

Prof. Kristian Strømgaard, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Targeting receptor complexes with therapeutic peptides

Host: Pekka Postila (pekka.postila@utu.fi)

Coffee and sandwich served at 11:45, first come first serve!

Six PhD researchers and early-career postdocs are welcome to have a lunch and discuss with Prof. Strømgaard after the seminar. This is a great possibility to learn hosting skills in a friendly environment and create connections for future. Everyone is welcome to join, BioCity Turku will offer the lunch.

If you got interested, please send an email to biocityturku@bioscience.fi

Strømgaard lab combines solid-phase peptide synthesis, organic chemical synthesis, and peptide microarrays with protein expression, biochemical assays, and biophysical techniques in order to develop modulators of protein-protein interactions. Examples include development of dimeric peptide-based inhibitors of PSD-95, and super-binding peptides targeting gephyrin.

The team employs peptide microarrays, incorporation of unnatural amino acids and protein semi-synthesis to address molecular determinants of protein-protein interactions, for instance regulation of interactions by post-translational protein modification. Examples include site-specific introduction of cross-linking amino acids, backbone modifications, and post-translational modifications, in particular site-specific phosphorylation, of therapeutically relevant proteins.

Strømgaard group employs peptide and protein engineering to study the molecular details of protein-protein interactions (PPIs), and develop and design specific inhibitors for these interactions. They develop in vivo active peptide-based inhibitors of PPIs with putative therapeutic relevance. In parallel, they also study the molecular mechanisms of these PPIs, including the engagement of hydrogen-bonding networks, and regulation of PPIs by post-translational modifications (PTMs)

Selected publications

Fan Y, Lyu L, Vazquez-Uribe R, Zhang W, Bongers M, …, Kulakova A, Wierer M, Harris P, Gæde J, Rossing P, Knop FK, Pers TH, Hansen TH, Nielsen T, Li L, Strømgaard K, Yang G, Sommer MOA, Pedersen O. 2025. Polypeptides synthesized by common bacteria in the human gut improve rodent metabolism. Nat Microbiol. 2025 Aug;10(8):1918-1939.

Nielsen AL, Bartling CRO, Zarda A, De Sadeleer N, Neeser RM, Schwaller P, Strømgaard K, Heinis C. 2025. Bulk Measurement of Membrane Permeability for Random Cyclic Peptides in Living Cells to Guide Drug Development. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2025 Jul;64(27):e202500493

Gangwar SP, Yelshanskaya MV, Aktolun M, Yen LY, Newton TP, Strømgaard K, Kurnikova MG, Sobolevsky AI. 2024. Trapping of spermine, Kukoamine A, and polyamine toxin blockers in GluK2 kainate receptor channels. Nat Commun. 2024 Nov 26;15(1):10257.

Rosenbaum MI, Clemmensen LS, Bredt DS, Bettler B, Strømgaard K. 2020. Targeting receptor complexes: a new dimension in drug discovery. Nat Rev Drug Discov. 2020 Dec;19(12):884-901.

General information

• Registration is not needed, participation list is circulated in the audience
• If you are a student and later wish to get a certificate of attendance from the Frontier of Science seminars, print out the seminar diary and after the seminar ask the BioCity coordinator to sign it https://seafile.utu.fi/f/0cd08ce7e61b419b88cb/
• Please note that any audio or video recording of the seminars is strictly forbidden.
• Spring 2026 image credits to Jan Kaslin: Motor neurons (green) and newly produced cells (red) are organized around the central canal (blue cells surrounding channel that crosses the image) in the adult zebrafish spinal cord. Image taken using Leica SP8 confocal microscope.