Edit
Øyvind Halskau

Øyvind Halskau

Position

Professor

Affiliation

E-mail
oyvind.halskau@uib.no
Phone number
+47 55584563
Visitor address
Thormøhlens gate 53 A/B
5006 Bergen
Room: 524C2
Postal address
P.O. Box 7803
NO-5020 Bergen
Norway

Øyvind Halskau

Position

Professor

Affiliation

Research groups

Short info

My research interests lies within the interface of protein and lipids. In biology, health and disease many underexplored events take place here, and researching it involve both biochemistry, lipidomics and cell biology as well as structural biology and biophysics.
Research

Lipids and proteins -- their mutual influence and role in neurodegeneration and ageing.

Interested in a glimpse of one of my research projects? See this video of an invited talk where we use lipid nanodiscs to explore blind spots in the interaction between the Parkinson's Disease related protein alpha-synuclein and the lipid bilayer.

In the complex and constantly changing environment of the membrane it has remained a challenge to understand how each component may affect each other. And understanding this interplay is critical for understanding the molecular foundation of the cell. One of the main questions asked is whether some lipids or states of the membrane can cause certain proteins to misform, and how these misformed proteins can further affect the integritey of the cell and especially its metabolism. Proteins normally need to twist their shape into a specific structure, or fold, to gain their function. If this process, which is usually spontaneous, is disturbed, they can form damaging states instead. This is normally referred to as protein misfolding, and we asks whether some lipids can prompt certain membrane-associated proteins to misfold at a quicker pace than they normally would. Such misfolding events are implicated in many diseases, including age-realted diseases such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's.  Findings so far indicate that cells and tissues change their lipid composition to a large extent throughout their life-time and disease state. The lipid mixes are so different that that the physical properties of the membrane changes significantly, leading to possible feedback effects on proteins associated with membranes or involved in lipid handling. In vitro, we find that different lipid mixes affect the aggregation-rates of model peptide systems.

We use zebrafish and human brain tissue to conduct neurolipidomics related to ageing and neurodegenerative diseases. Using biophysics, computer modelling and structural biology, we will investigate whether certain lipids and membrane associated proteins, such as phosphoinositides and so-called scaffold proteins, act as moderators of misfolding that can help explain how neurodegenerative diseases start and propagate. The biophysics and structural biology of this is being investigated, with a focus on “invisible protein states”, i.e., states that are not detectable by normal means. We also wish to know where in a cell misfolded protein accumulates, and whether this localization can be linked to lipid metabolism, thereby establishing a link between misfolding and lipidome. 

I also have a number of exciting collaborations. In a recent and very interesting work with Bodil Holst, we explored the lipid-related anti-icing adaptation of polar bear fur. I also work with the structural biology of honey bees in collaboration with Gro Amdam, and have investigated the structural biology and biophysics of Chromatine Regulation.

Teaching

Courses taught

MOL310 - Structural Molecular Biology

MOL210 -  Lipid Biochemistry (with A. Lewis)

MOL200 - Metabolism: Reactions, Regulations and Compartmentalization (with Fergal O'Farrell and many others)

MOL270 - Bioethics (With Anders Goksøyr, Gyri Haugland and many others)

MOL220 - Techniques, model systems and current research topics in molecular biology

Supervision

By 2025, I have supervised 5 PhD students to completion as main supervisor, as well as 13 master students and 14 project students. I have also co supervised 6 PhD-students and mentored two post-docs. I have been responsible for MOL399, the Master degree at MOL since 2017, with a gap year in 2024-2025.

Discontinued courses:

MOL320 - Advanced Biophysical Techniques
 

Minor contributions:

2015: MBV 9520 (2x45 min lecture in protein dynamics, national-level Biostruct-course)

2014: MOL950 (a practical NMR module, national-level Biostruct-course)

2011-13: Lecture in BMED325 -  Nanobiochemistry

2012: Lecture in Atomic Force Microscopy (national-level Biostruct-course)

2007-11: Guest lectures and leading discussions in BMED310 - Philosophy of Science

1998-2001: Statistics (SOK33B) and Inorganic chemistry

Publications
2025
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2005
2003
2002
2000

See a complete overview of publications in Cristin.

Here is my academic production in:

PubMed

Google Scholar

Web of Science

Below is also my CRIStin publication list. 

Projects

2014:The membrane as a catalyst of damaging protein misfolding events (Research Council of Norway grant #240063)

2009: Interfaces as folding templates for polypetides (With associate professor Wilhelm Glomm)

2008: From details to drugs – a thorough structural and dynamic analysis of 14-3-3, tyrosine hydroxylase and membranes (Lie and Jensens fund/Norwegian Cancer Society, grant #58240001, with Professor Aurora Martínez)

2007: Dissecting molecular properties of honey bee vitellogenin (Research Council of Norway, grant #185306, with Professor Gro Vang Amdam)

2006: Linking new paradigms in protein chemistry to membrane-protein interaction, apoptosis and signalling (Norwegian Cancer Society, grant #06109/01, with Professor Aurora Martínez)

2002: Structural characterization of protein folding variants that induce apoptosis in tumor cells (Research Council of Norway, grant #149117, with Professor Aurora Martínez)