Per Hammarström

Professor

News

Electron microscopy image showing amyloid of corona virus spike protein.

Possible discovery of mechanism behind mysterious COVID-19 symptoms

The immune system can affect the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, leading to the production of a misfolded spike protein called amyloid. A new study points to a possible connection between harmful amyloid production and symptoms of COVID-19.

Master’s programme in protein science now open for international students

Linköping University will open its Protein Science master’s programme to international students starting next year. The programme combines theoretical and practical components, with a heavy emphasis on laboratory work.

Alzheimer plaque affects different brain cells differently

Amyloid beta, a protein linked with Alzheimer's disease, has different properties in different cell types in the brains of fruit flies, according to a new study. It seems that certain cell types are hardly damaged at all by amyloid aggregates.

Organisation

Chemistry (KEMI)

The division's research is being performed in the areas of biochemistry, molecular biotechnology, organic chemistry, analytical chemistry, chemical engineering, inorganic chemistry and in physical chemistry, especially computational chemistry.

Person with transmission electron microscope.

Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology (IFM)

Excellent undergraduate teaching and research in the areas of biology, chemistry, materials and applied physics and theory and modelling are conducted at this department.

Research

Hammarström Lab

We are interested in protein misfolding, amyloid formation and disease, both on the molecular level and in the cellular perspective.

Campus US with cherry blossom in the foreground.

SciLifeLab Linköping

SciLifeLab Linköping is both a local and a national research infrastructure, with unique technologies and expert competence accessible for academic and industrial researcher in the field of life sciences, health and data-driven life science.

Publications

2026

Priyanka Swaminathan, Vasileios Theologidis, Hjalte Gram, Debdeep Chatterjee, Per Hammarström, Nathalie van den Berge, Mikael Lindgren (2026)

Human and Mouse Alpha-Synuclein Fibrillation: Impact on h-FTAA Binding and Advancing Strain-Specific Biomarkers in PD Animal Models International Journal of Molecular Sciences, Vol. 27, Article 3807 (Article in journal)

https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms27093807

Johan Larsson, Ranjeet Kumar, Fiamma Ayelen Buratti, Sofie Nyström, Pernilla Wittung-stafshede, Per Hammarström (2026)

Heat shock protein 10 as a chaperone modulating a-synuclein amyloid fibril formation Protein Science, Vol. 35, Article e70452 (Article in journal)

https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/pro.70452

Sofie Nyström, Davide Odino, Annalisa Relini, Claudio Canale, Raffaella Parlato, Yari Knelissen, Alessia Lasorsa, Wouter H. Roos, Patrick C. A. van der Wel, Soren V. Hoffmann, Nykola C. Jones, Vincent van Hemelryck, Jehan Waeytens, Vincent Raussens, Per Hammarström (2026)

Standardization of cross-site biophysical studies of bovine insulin amyloids is challenged by structural polymorphism European Biophysics Journal, Article PMID 8409413 (Article in journal)

https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00249-025-01811-6

2025

Henrik Westman, Per Hammarström, Sofie Nyström (2025)

SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein Amyloid Fibrils Impair Fibrin Formation and Fibrinolysis Biochemistry, Vol. 64, p. 4818-4829 (Article in journal)

https://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.biochem.5c00550

Priyanka Swaminathan, Karsten Saettem Godo, Eline Baeroe Bjorn, Therése Klingstedt, Debdeep Chatterjee, Per Hammarström, Rajeevkumar Raveendran Nair, Mikael Lindgren (2025)

Spectral Profiling of Early asyn Aggregation in HEK293 Cells Modified to Stably Express Human WT and A53T-asyn Cells, Vol. 14, Article 1542 (Article in journal)

https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/cells14191542